Today, Tomorrow and Always

by Bailey, Tessa

  It’s real.

  It’s really happening.

  Long ago, when Tilda started orchestrating the fae-vampire alliance, she’d floated the possibility to Mary, but they’d tacitly declined to discuss it ever since. Afraid to get Mary’s hopes up. They weren’t only up now, they were expanding and testing the confines of her bones.

  Could this really be real?

  With three more stairs to go, Mary’s toe caught on the edge of something that felt like a raised nail and she pinwheeled, time seeming to slow down to a snail’s crawl. I’m falling. It had been a while since she’d walked down the steps—and never by herself. Where would she go, anyway? Tilda had everything delivered or went out and got it alone. It occurred to Mary to scream, because it was her greatest asset, but wouldn’t that deter a potential rescuer?

  As soon as she thought the word rescuer, she shouted, “Tucker!”

  The door at the bottom of the steps crashed open loudly, metal slamming against the wall and she landed safely in a pair of arms, surrounded by the guardian’s energy signature. She recognized it immediately. Her suitcase didn’t fare quite so well, bumping noisily down the stairs, but considering it could have been Mary’s skull, instead, she considered herself lucky. And then she could think of nothing but the man crushing her to his big chest in a manner that was almost violently gentle. Like a giant protecting a doll.

  They swayed like that a moment, her breasts flattened to his chest, bodies flush.

  Mary had never been held like that before. So intimately. He’d caught her out of necessity, to keep her from falling. Right. But the longer they remained like that, the more her skin started to warm, the flutter of shock and adrenaline moving lower, to her belly, and growing dense. Almost…confusingly so. Her body seemed to be communicating with Tucker’s after a long absence, embracing, curves molding to muscle, making her toes curl where they dangled at his knees.

  “Is this a test?” Tucker rasped into her hair.

  Oh. It felt so terribly good having his mouth move there, sort of between her ear and temple. “A test?” She barely resisted leaning closer, rubbing herself against those hard lips. “I don’t understand.”

  “You’re making sure I’m up to the job of protecting you on the road. Or…” His fingers splayed on her back and dragged an inch up Mary’s spine, before curling inward, but her lips were wide open by the time he showed that restraint, sucking in a shaky dose of air. “Maybe it’s a test to see if I can remember you’re supposed to be meant for someone else.”

  With her feet elevated several inches off the floor and this vampire holding her like she might crack if he set her down, it didn’t feel as if she was meant for someone else. Not in the slightest. And then that hand slipped another quarter inch up her spine and she had the most pressing urge to circle his hips with her thighs. What was happening to her?

  Could she really be jeopardizing everything after what she’d just learned?

  No. No, she couldn’t do that.

  Even if she’d almost missed Tucker while she’d been packing upstairs, two floors away.

  Valiantly, Mary searched for a distraction so she’d stop thinking about how nice his thick belly felt against her slight one. Or how glad she was to have changed into a tank top tucked into a short, loose skirt, leaving her legs bare so they could rub against his denim ones. “I, um…had this whole speech prepared about how I can carry my own luggage and be totally independent. That you don’t have to babysit me just because I’m blind.” She dropped her chin to his shoulder, lulled by his strength, despite her best efforts. “Have I gone and blown my credibility?”

  “Are you serious?” His voice sounded a little unnatural…but then, so did hers. They seemed to turn their heads at the same time, bringing his mouth to her ear, allowing Mary to bury her nose in his hair, inhaling smoke and nighttime. “There are a hundred slayers picking glass out of their butts right now because of you, kid. You’re a legend. I’m in full fan girl mode.”

  She laughed. Still, “I’m not a kid,” Mary managed, swallowing, testing the hardness of his shoulders with a squeeze of her fingertips. “I’m an adult.”

  “Yeah, unfortunately, I noticed,” he said, roughly, that hand sliding sideways to one of her hips, testing the groove with his thumb. “What happened to the nightgown?”

  “Hey, I don’t wear it all the time,” she said, doing her best to sound exasperated, but not quite pulling it off. It came out like more of a half-gasp, half-gulp. “Fine, I wear it almost exclusively. I don’t get a lot of reasons to dress in regular clothes.”

  Tucker hummed beside her ear, causing an outbreak of goosebumps down her arms. “You been inside a long time, Mary?”

  She nodded, slowly curling her arms around his neck. “Yeah.”

  This time, he gulped. Pulled her closer. “Well we can’t have you all dressed up with nowhere to go. Let’s get you out of here.” He made no move to leave the stairwell. “I would say it’s one last adventure before you join the dark side, but it sounds like your first.”

  “Are you going to call them the dark side the whole time?

  His chuckle was strained. “Nah, I’ve gotten it out of my system.” A long pause ensued, followed by Tucker’s jagged sigh. “Dammit, Mary. How long can I pretend I’m just holding you to save you from falling?”

  More than ever, she wanted to wrap herself around his big body. Felt almost compelled by her own femininity to do so. His bluntness and honesty only magnetized her more. Still, she had to stay true to her obligations. Her upcoming marriage was not a love match. It was in name only. A bargain being struck. This apparent attraction to Tucker didn’t mean she lacked loyalty. But after just a brief space of time, she was already beginning to bond to him and that—that was dangerous. A distraction she couldn’t afford. “I think m-maybe we passed that time limit a few minutes ago.”

  Mary wiggled in his embrace, trying to get her feet back on the floor. In the course of getting down, the juncture of her thighs rode hard and downward over a bulge in Tucker’s pants and she sucked in a labored breath. His hands flew to her backside and gripped, rocking her against that protrusion once, hard. Stumbling forward, stopping just short of the opposite wall. Mary whimpered in her throat, giving in to one squeeze of her knees around his hips, another mutual grind of soft to hard, before he quickly settled her on the ground, both of them leaping backward as if they’d been burned.

  “Jesus.” Tucker’s footsteps paced away, came back. “I’m sorry.”

  “No, it was me, too…I…”

  Despite their apologies, despite the fact that they’d just learned the importance of keeping some distance, they gravitated closer, closer, again, until they were inches apart, his body heat warming her front. Everywhere. They were so close, she could almost feel his concerned eyes tracking over her, hear the grinding of his jaw. “You don’t belong where you’re asking me to take you, Mary.”

  Mary thought of the conversation she’d just had with Tilda. What was at stake. Everything. “Please. Don’t try and dissuade me.”

  Tucker made a harsh noise, as if a small explosion had gone off in his chest and his body heat deserted her. “Me? Trying to dissuade you, kid? Nah.” She listened to him pick up her suitcase and then their fingers were hesitantly intwined, so he could pull her down the stairs and out into the cool nighttime air. “I’m, uh…” He cleared his throat. “I’m going to say a quick goodbye to my friends. Do you want to wait in the car? I warmed it up for you.”

  “Thanks,” she said slowly, trying to reach out and read his emotions, but he’d locked them down tight. Why did that cause a finger of dismay to trace up her spine? Almost like she’d been robbed of the ability to draw air. “Yes, I would.”

  Sitting inside the car a minute later, Mary centered herself. Took some deep inhales and exhales, running her hands over everything. The heat-giving vents, the cross dangling in the rearview mirror, the worn leather of the seats. She touched the steering wheel where his palms
would curl and circled a finger around the cup holder. Touched her cheek to the glass of the passenger window. Getting her bearings, learning her surroundings. And all the while, she chewed on what Tucker said. How he’d said it.

  Me? Trying to dissuade you, kid? Nah.

  Something about the way he’d said those words caused Mary to repeat them over and over. By the time Tucker climbed into the driver’s side and started the car, she realized why.

  He’d been lying.

  “Are you kidnapping me?”

  “That’s the plan.”

  “Oh dear.” The car was already moving and her fingers curled into the edges of the seat. “I misjudged you, did I?”

  She heard his swallow. “That depends. How did you judge me?”

  “Um. Kind of…like a boat on the lake in the sunshine.”

  The vehicle jerked a little, as if he’d accidentally depressed the brake. When he spoke again, his voice was hoarse. “Well this boat can’t bring you somewhere dangerous. I can’t, Mary. Can’t leave you on the dark side of a war and drive off.”

  “But you have to bring me to Hadrian.”

  “Hadrian?” The leather steering wheel creaked. “Is that his name?”

  “Yes. You need to leave me in his care. You have to, Tucker.”

  “Why? Your mother’s alliance? It’s going to cause death and destruction. I’ve only known you for one night and that can’t be something you want. So why?” He laughed, but the sound cut itself off quickly. When he spoke again, his voice was so low she could barely hear it. “Do you have feelings for him? I assumed you didn’t. It sounded like you’ve never met.”

  “I don’t.” Why did this exchange seem so deeply important? “We haven’t met and I don’t have feelings for him. In fact, our marriage will be in name only.”

  The car swerved a little and he let out a long breath. Several moments passed before he continued. “All right.” His tone was far less tense. “Then why?”

  “Because in exchange for wedding Hadrian, he’s going to give me sight.”

  Chapter 4

  Once an idiot, always an idiot.

  For a minute there, he’d actually fancied himself a hero.

  Rescuing the damsel in distress.

  That had to be why she’d chosen him, right? Out of a room full of capable people. Because she wanted help. Needed to get out of her current predicament of being betrothed to a monster—and Tucker was just the sucker for the job. An easy to convince puppy dog with a set of wheels and hearts in his eyes for the pretty girl, to say nothing of the wood he’d be sporting for the rest of his “life” after holding her in that stairwell.

  Damn. The smell of her neck, the taut give of her hip. The way she’d granted him just one single grind of her pussy, before taking it away like forbidden fruit. Was it wishful thinking that she’d wanted to kiss him? Maybe allow him even more? It had to be. Unfortunately, his stiff johnson was all too ready to believe it. And that wasn’t good, because she was forbidden fruit. Betrothed to someone else. Whether for love or underworld clout, there was a wedding set to take place and he wasn’t even the ring bearer, let alone the groom.

  Get your head together.

  Both of them.

  Here was his chance to do something important. To help this beautiful fairy who made his heart feel like it was being ransacked. But his rescue mission had been nothing but a ridiculous scenario he’d created in his own mind. She wanted to be taken to Hadrian.

  This vampire could give her sight.

  Honestly, if he didn’t laugh about that, he might cry.

  Other men always had their trump cards over Tucker. Good looks, job in finance, humanity. But this. Curing her blindness? He hadn’t seen that coming. No pun intended.

  They weren’t even out of Coney Island yet and he was already pulling the Impala over.

  “He’s going to give you your sight.” He stared at his white-knuckled hands on the steering wheel. “How is he going to do that?”

  “Hadrian is a vampire now, but before that, he was a sorcerer. He’s been practicing in the dark arts for a century.” She twisted a button on her shirt. “My family has something of a history with sorcerers. I was born with my sight, but an enemy of my grandfather cursed me before I was born. I lost the ability to see on my first birthday.”

  “God, Mary. I’m sorry,” Tucker managed.

  “I don’t remember what it was like,” she said quickly. “Normally a powerful fae would be able to restore my sight, but that was part of the curse, you see. That no fae would be able to heal me. Only a formidable sorcerer—and if more of them live, they don’t exactly advertise their existence. My mother, with all of her power and contacts, couldn’t find anyone who could offer me what Hadrian can. She’s been trying my whole life.”

  “How do you know he’ll actually do it? How do you know it’s not a false offer?”

  “I won’t marry him otherwise.”

  “He could force you,” Tucker pointed out.

  “He could try.” She tilted her head in his direction, her eyes focused over his shoulder. “But we’ve seen what I can do when my back is against the wall. I was only getting warmed up.”

  “Speaking of. Can I get the number for your vocal coach?”

  Mary covered her mouth to smother a laugh, her eyes sparkling over the top of her hands. After a moment, she dropped them away. “You’re probably wondering about the scream. The first time it happened was after the curse took effect.” She paused. “I don’t remember that, either. To me, the scream is just something I’ve always had. But sight? That’s what I really want. I want to see the world. Colors, faces, board games, food, the ocean. I want to…” She trailed off, ducking her head. As if there were even more reasons she wanted her blindness cured, but she wasn’t willing to share them. “I might not agree with a war, but if my sacrifice of marriage is noble enough, if it brings back the Assembly to claim us in a long-overdue Exodus…”

  “How is the Assembly summoned by a sacrifice exactly? There is no way to get in touch without marrying this guy? No cell reception in the Faerie Realm?”

  “The fae have no awareness of this place unless they travel here. Purposefully. Time passes quicker in their realm, too, so the human realm is more of an afterthought. Kind of a…slow-motion purgatory.”

  “Flattering.”

  “Isn’t it?” She laughed under her breath. “If an act is noble enough, a sacrifice deemed worthy by our warrior queen, the Assembly will simply be brought through the barrier. They won’t be in control of it. They are simply sent to serve.” Her cheeks stained with red. “They only bring the strongest among them back to the Faerie Realm in the Exodus. My lack of sight is the reason my mother wasn’t taken last time, since she had to stay and care for me, Tucker. I can’t be the reason twice.”

  Tucker felt like he’d been scooped up by a tornado and dropped somewhere entirely new. Into a place that was so much larger than him. With potholes and hazards everywhere he looked.

  A matter of minutes ago, he’d finally had his purpose.

  And he did still have it.

  Mary was his purpose.

  But his job wasn’t rescuing her from the dark uprising. He was just driving her to the place she could rescue herself. It was no different than what he’d been doing for his friends. For Jonas and Ginny. Elias and Roksana. Only this time…this time it would hurt to watch someone else get their happy ending. Because he’d been stupid enough to hope it might include him.

  Not just tonight when she’d walked into Enders and shaken his soul.

  Just a couple of days ago in Moscow, he’d played in a poker game to help Roksana win the marriage decree. Before the game started, the host gave each participant a concoction. A drink that when consumed, heightened their desire for what they wanted the most in life. Made the need for it practically unbearable.

  As he’d known since his human days, Tucker wanted a home more than anything.

  But he’d never seen it. Never visual
ized it so clearly. A blue split-level on the lake with a white fence and a fire pit out back.

  And Mary.

  She’d been there in his vision of home. Days before he’d actually met her.

  Dark red hair brushing her waist, sipping tea on a porch swing.

  Smiling while the fireflies danced.

  He could still feel the gut-deep longing as he’d sat around the poker table, missing a woman he’d never met. Craving her to his very bones. If he was an arrogant motherfucker, he’d tell himself a vision was a vision. That foreseeing a blue house with a fire pit meant that was how things were going to end up. Fate. But he wasn’t that arrogant. The world didn’t revolve around his ass. And his desire to make that vision a reality wasn’t more important than what Mary wanted.

  So he fell back on doubt. Maybe that concoction had been a cruel joke. It could have projected a life that was never meant to come true. Trying to make it happen, when it went against the path she’d laid out for herself, would make him a selfish bastard.

  Being irresponsible and short sighted led to bodies in the road.

  Led to the people in his care losing their hopes for the future.

  So he’d do what he did best.

  He’d drive. He’d guard Mary. And he’d help her.

  Mary’s unseeing eyes were fixated on the area between him and the steering wheel. “You’ll make sure I get there at all costs. Won’t you?”

  “Yes.” He swallowed his idiot dreams and put the car into drive. “I’m sorry, Mary. I guess I thought I was…saving the day.” That statement seemed to distress her and that was the furthest thing from Tucker’s intention, so he drummed out a beat on the dashboard and worked on lightening the mood, even though his throat felt like it was stuck in a vise. “We’ll make as much progress as we can tonight, but I’ll need to find a place to spend the sunlight hours. I hope you weren’t planning on getting a tan on this road trip.”