Lila picked up her pack and opened it, wondering if the collar was in it. She dug through the powerbar wrappers to the bottom of the pack and felt the familiar hard yet flexible roundness of the magical collar that had held her captive. With trepidation, she pulled it out and studied it. It was not nearly as intimidating now as it had been when on her and suppressing her magic. She allowed herself to explore it with her magic, and she immediately felt in tune with it. That was odd, considering that it had been used against her. Holding it in her hands, she felt its flexibility and strength. Then it came apart into two halves in her hands. Lila blinked in surprise, and brought the two halves back together to see if they would join again. They did, and with a simple twitch of her wrists, they came apart again. So, now the collar responded to her, interesting.
“What is it, Love?” Evan asked.
Lila turned to him, the collar in her hands.
“This is what cut me off from my magic,” Lila began, ”When it was on me, I couldn’t reach my magic, and I couldn’t take it off. Lash took it off me easily, and now that it’s off, I can open it too…”
“Lash… your shifter.”
“Yes,” Lila answered distractedly, still playing with the collar.
“Your shifter who helped you escape, was also your captor.”
Lila picked up on Evan’s tension, and she looked up at him. He was looking at her intently, but more importantly, Lila felt his tension and concern through their bond. Lila had no intention of holding anything back from her mate, so she turned to face Evan. Leaning her back against the wall, she told him of her experience of being held captive, Lash’s role as her guard, and how he helped her escape.
Evan tried to listen with neutrality, but anger began to simmer in his gut the longer Lila spoke. How dare the shifter hold her hostage and then turn around and tell her she was his mate. Evan didn’t care that he fed her and shielded her from the other shifters, he was still a captor, and apparently the one who’d collared her magic. If Evan got the opportunity, he’d rip the asshole to shreds.
“Evan?”
“Yes?”
“You’ve got a scary look on your face, like you want to kill something.”
“Not something, someone.”
“Oh.”
Lila didn’t know what to say or feel. She had just started to wrap her head around the idea that Lash might be an acceptable second mate, and now Evan wanted to kill him. She understood the inclination. What would happen if Lash died? Would magic simply provide an alternate mate? Was there a waiting list? Lila chuckled at the absurd thought.
“What?”
“I was just thinking about what might happen with the prophecy if Lash dies before he’s mated to me.” She gave Evan a pained look.
“He didn’t bite you, did he?” Evan’s sudden alarm showed.
“No Baby, he only kissed me,” Lila was tired of thinking about her potential mates. It was exhausting, frustrating, and demoralizing. Evan sat down next to her.
“I want to kill him for what he put you through,” Evan confessed.
“I thought you might.”
Lila sounded so tired to Evan.
“And I thought you’d object more.”
“I told you I didn’t like the idea of having another mate.” Lila rested her head on Evan’s shoulder. Evan sighed and rubbed her thigh to comfort her.
“If he’s really your mate, I won’t kill him, but he’s starting off on the back foot.”
Lila smiled.
“You have my permission to beat him up, even if he has a reasonable explanation for why he was going along with Ramirez’s--Oh.”
“Oh?”
Lila sat up and looked at Evan, her epiphany showing on her face.
“He told me he was undercover for the last year. I think he said he was working for the ISF. Shouldn’t James or Alexander be able to confirm that?”
“Yes. Let’s go tell Adam, and get you some breakfast.”
Lila tucked the two halves of the collar into a pocket and they left the room.
They met the rest of the north and south American ISF teams in the mess hall. A breakfast buffet had been laid out, and Lila filled her plate. She told everyone what she knew of Lash Sawyer, his personal history, and his claims of being undercover. All aspects of the kidnapping and recovery were discussed, analyzed, and dissected.
After a couple of hours of debriefing, Guerra gave Lila and her team a ride to the airport. The rest of the northys followed in a truck. They said their good-byes and thank yous, and boarded the military transport that brought the northys to Peru. It was the kind of airplane that Lila had seen in the movies: two benches faced each other with enough harnesses for about two dozen men. There was a back hatch that they entered from, the same that Lila imagined they’d jump out of at twenty thousand feet, or whatever.
On board, and secured in her harness, Lila looked at the men who had dropped everything to fly to a South American jungle to help rescue her from kidnappers. Adam had told her that they were his unit, meaning they had all trained and worked together for years.
Adam had been in charge of this mission. She wondered if that had always been the case, or if it depended on the assignment. She would have thought that one of the Magiques would be in charge of the unit. There were only three humans in it, including Adam. The rest consisted of three shifters, a sentior, and a mage.-Battle mage, Lila corrected herself. She had spoken to him briefly at breakfast, and he had proudly explained that his talent was with explosive magic, rendering the need for incendiary devices null. A handy talent for a special ops soldier. Then he’d fist bumped her, letting her know that he’d been impressed by the evidence of her explosive magic.
The sentior also intrigued her. She had only read about them during her Magique studies. They could get information from objects by touching them and reading the emotions of the people who had handled the object before. The drawback was that they had to wear gloves so they wouldn’t get overwhelmed by casually touching doorknobs, furniture, or anything that had been handled by many people. Apparently, everyone left something behind when they touched things, not just fingerprints. She guessed that having a sentior in a unit would be very helpful when hunting bad guys.
Once the plane took off, the noise was too loud to have a conversation. Lila leaned her head back against her head rest and let her mind drift. She wondered where Lash was, and if he was okay. The day before she’d kept expecting him to show up, but he never had. She wondered if she’d ever see him again, and the unexpected pain of regret pierced her heart. Evan squeezed her hand, and she knew he was trying to lend her his support. She opened her eyes to look at him. He smiled at her lovingly, and she sighed, determined to enjoy what she had right in front of her.
The flight back to Houston took seven hours, and then Lila, Evan, Sebastian, and Adam switched to a commercial flight which took them back to Albany, New York. Alexander sent a car to pick them up, and by midnight, everyone was home.
Lila was mentally exhausted but physically wired from sitting all day, so she started a bath for herself to try and relax. Her body still felt the vibrations of the military plane, and her ears were still ringing with the low hum of jet engines. Before the tub was half full, she got in, needing to recalibrate her body’s equilibrium.
Evan came into the bathroom wearing only a pair of sleep pants, and sat on the closed toilet opposite her. They hadn’t talked much all day between the engine noise and the chaos of the terminal and rushing for the commercial flight. Then Lila had slept on the last leg of the journey.
“How are you feelin’, Angel?’
“Like I’ve been inside a jet engine for the last fourteen hours. My whole body is still vibrating, and not in a good way.”
“How can I help you?”
The question was so sincere, that Lila opened her eyes and looked at her mate. He wasn’t leering or smirking at her.
“You can get in here with me.”
Evan eyed the tub and t
hen met her gaze again. The tub was an old fashioned claw foot. It was long and narrow. He wasn’t sure they’d both fit, but then he supposed that Lila was looking for a different kind of comfort.
Without a word, Evan stood and pushed his pants down. Lila sat up and made room for him behind her in the tub. He stepped in and sat, and Lila laid her back against his front. There was just enough space for his legs to fit on either side of Lila’s waist, and she guided his feet so that they landed between her legs. Evan crossed his arms over her breasts, fondling them, and making her giggle. Lila traced her fingertips up and down his shins, and dropped her head to his shoulder, and relaxed into him.
Lila sighed. Evan kissed the side of her head. Her magic tingled through his veins lazily, telling him that she was content.
"I love you Evan. I will always love you more than anyone. How is that fair to Lash? How is any of this fair to any of us?"
Was this what she had been thinking about all day?
"I don't know, Angel. I only know that you and I will stay together forever. The details might also involve one or two others joining us, but I'll remain happy as long as you are happy.
"You need to let go of your human ideas and accept your Magique status. You are a queen among the Magiques, you are the Chosen One.
“I vow to stand beside you, to guard you, and to love you, no matter what else may come our way."
Evan's words soothed Lila’s restless soul, and she turned sideways so that she could look at Evan. She slid up and kissed him tenderly, and then rested her head on his shoulder. Evan held her that way until the water cooled, and then he helped her get out and dry, and took her to bed.
Westin ended the phone call with the mage, satisfied that they could work together. Of course they both wanted control of the Chosen One, but he was confident that when she was in his possession, he could easily dispose of the mage. Now he just had to get himself east for a visit to his old friends in Buffalo, and from there find a way to meet this Chosen bitch.
Lila and Evan spent the next three days in her bed, naked. They emerged only twice in the middle of the night, to sneak food back upstairs for Lila to eat. They ignored all calls, and responded to all messages with: ”Indisposed until further notice.” As far as Lila was concerned, if Sebastian did not pound on her door yelling, everyting it could wait.
Lila was happy. She was mated to the most beautiful vampire. He had the body of an underwear model, the stamina of a bull, and he adored her. They made love for hours and then held each other and talked until one of them aroused the other and they made love again. It was exactly what Lila needed; to be intimate with her mate, both physically and intellectually. By the end of the third day, she was ready to face her life as the Chosen One again.
She and Evan sat naked in bed looking over the messages that they had ignored for days. The first thing that needed doing was that Lila had to call her mom. She did, and spent an hour telling her that she was well and whole. She got away with not telling Lily about the kidnapping by saying that the team was investigating it, so she couldn’t talk about it. When Lily asked about a wedding, Lila lobbied for a simple courthouse visit and no ceremony. Lily acquiesced that a small wedding would be acceptable, but insisted that a ceremony would be mandatory. Lila sighed and said she’d think about it, and hung up. Evan was curious about why Lila wanted a small affair.
“Why don’t you want something big?” He asked.
“Because since I’ve become a Magique my whole life has been big. It’s been overwhelming, scary, fantastic, and full, and I don’t think that the life of the Chosen One will be less than that. I want this wedding to be for us. Intimate, the way our love is. It feels like this is our last chance to share us intimately with the most important people in our lives.”
“So why not explain that to Lily?”
“I guess I’m afraid of letting her down.”
“Do you really think she’ll be disappointed?”
“I don’t know. She’s so excited to plan something big, and it just makes me cringe.”
“Then we need to figure out something that will satisfy both of you.”
“Okay, what do you think?”
“You just said you want something intimate. Why don’t we send Lily and Jerry a plane ticket for Christmas? I’m sure that Sebastian would be happy to have a small party for the holiday.”
Lila’s eyes got big with excitement.
“I want it to be on Christmas Eve. Family only, no dates---James is not allowed to bring a bimbo. In fact, let’s keep it a secret from everyone. We can just stand up in front of everyone, say our vows, and then have a toast.”
“Do we have to invite James?”
Lila smirked at Evan.
“Yes. If we invite people over for Christmas Eve, I’m sure that Bastian will invite him. Do you think we can get away with keeping it secret from the team?”
“The team? Yes. Sebastian, however, might be a challenge.”
They both laughed, and Lila hugged Evan.
“I’m so glad I found you, Evan, you make every part of my life worthwhile.”
She kissed him, and the kiss became heated. Evan plundered her mouth with his tongue and rolled on top of Lila. Lila undulated under him, enjoying his rock hard body. She reached down between them, took him in hand and stroked his shaft slowly and deliberately. Evan slid a hand underneath Lila and slid his fingers through her cunt ‘till he found her clit. He teased her as she teased him, and they moaned into each other's mouths.
Lila’s nipples hardened, and she broke the kiss to arch up, thrusting her breasts in Evan’s face. He chuckled, and latched onto a nipple, sucking and nibbling at it. He took the other in his hand, rolling it between two fingers, pinching gently.
“Harder, pinch me harder,” she said breathily as she panted with need. Evan pinched harder, but it wasn’t enough. Lila rolled on top of him, straddled his hips, and ground her sex against his length, hard. She stroked herself up and down his cock. She arched up, throwing her head back and let out a keening moan of pleasure. Evan cupped her full breasts and kept up with his pinching and squeezing. Lila’s movements on his cock got more frantic as her juices soaked his cock.
Evan lifted her hips and in one long and glorious thrust, drove into her core. Lila came instantly, and Evan held her hips still as he reveled in her rippling cunt. The spasming muscles made Lila tighten even more and her channel gripped him like a vice as she cried out. Evan watched her as she rocked herself on him, making her orgasm go on, and on. When he couldn’t take any more of her exquisite torture, he flipped her and began stroking into her with long steady strokes that sparked another orgasm in her. This one massaged his length as he pulled out to the tip and then pushed all the way in. He looked down her body to watch his dick sliding in and out of her. The sight pushed him closer to his own climax, and he stroked faster. Feeling his balls tighten, and his fangs descend, Evan couldn’t help the wordless cry of ecstasy that escaped his throat. As he felt his seed release, he bit into Lila’s neck and drank from her, triggering a third climax in her, and even more cum to shoot into her as he slowed his strokes and then stopped, holding himself inside her. Still breathing heavily, he licked the punctures on her neck to close them, and then licked his lips.
“You taste so sweet to me,” he whispered in her ear, and then kissed it, causing a shiver to race down her spine. Lila squirmed away from the ticklish feeling and clenched her inner muscles around him again. He smiled down at her, thrust his hips into her playfully, and rolled them to their sides so he wouldn’t crush her. He wrapped her in his arms, and she wrapped herself around him. Her arms caged his head and her leg over his hips locked him to her. Evan traced her ear and cheek with the tip of his nose.
“I love you, Angel.”
“I love you, Evan. I always will.”
They lay in each other’s arms; Lila slept, and Evan allowed his mind to rest. For a long time he floated on a fog, aimless, directionless. Eventually he felt a pull i
n a specific direction, and the floating turned into a kind of flying, but since he was still surrounded by a thick fog, the experience was directionless and weightless.
Slowly the fog began to dissipate and the floating turned into walking, and suddenly Evan found himself in a wild garden. There were rows of plants roughly laid out in a sunny patch surrounded by forest. The near rows were close to the ground, but the further away from him, the taller the plants became until the fifth row that was tied to a woven fence. Everything was green, so he had no idea if these were vegetables or flowers. Evan turned in a circle trying to understand where he was. All that was visible was this crude garden surrounded by forest.
“Hello, Evan.”
The voice came from behind him and Evan turned again to see Lila’s friend T approaching from a small trail. He took a deep breath and let it out, understanding now that this was some kind of dream or vision.
“Where is this place?” He asked.
“This is close to where I was born,” T said. “My mother was an herbalist, and a wonderful gardener. This was one of her gardens that she often took me to.”
“It’s lovely.”
T smiled at Evan, his gaze penetrating in the afternoon sun. Evan noticed that the bright light did not bother his eyes here.
“Who are you? Are you real, or imagined?” Evan asked,
T smiled wider, and then studied Evan before finally speaking.
“I have something to give you, Evan O’Connell, first mate of the Chosen One.” Evan
waited.
”I hesitate to call it a gift, because it is not.”
“What is it then?”
“I suppose it would be best described as a burden.”
Magic's Love Page 34
