by Rebecca York
“Like what?” Ophelia challenged.
“Like I was a knight in thirteenth-century France who became a lord with great wealth.” He dragged in a breath and let it out, wishing that he didn’t have to bare his soul to these haughty women, but he saw no alternative, so he kept speaking. “Just as I was about to marry the woman I loved, she died of the plague. Then I did, too. Another time I was a wealthy English industrialist. I’d done so well for myself, that I was expanding my business interests into America. I set sail on a grand new ocean liner—the Titanic. Unfortunately, I ended up going down with the ship.
“In the seventeen hundreds, I was a fur trapper in what would now be Michigan. I was doing well until I was caught by a Native American tribe who thought I was poaching on their land. They roasted me alive over a fire.” He winced, remembering the pain. “I could go on, but you get the idea. No matter how hard we try, it never works out for us. And almost none of us knows why.”
He paused and looked around the room. “My parents thought they could break the cycle.”
“Why? The Minot didn’t even know the Ionians when they were cursed.”
“But the Ionians asked the Minot for help long ago, and when they did, a bond was formed between them.”
“It didn’t work out!” Cynthia snapped. “The Minot only wanted to dominate us.”
“No. Not just that. Neither group knew how to deal with it. The Minot are too proud to beg for help, and the Ionians are too sure their way is the only way. They aren’t willing to try anything that hasn’t been tested for centuries. So they each go on repeating the same mistakes over and over.”
“You’re fabricating this—to get yourself out of trouble. I notice it didn’t work out for your parents either,” Eugenia pointed out. “They’re both dead.”
He wanted to raise his voice as though he were talking to a child who refused to understand basic truths. Instead, he kept his tone even.
“Because the Ionians wouldn’t accept their relationship, and my mother couldn’t deal with the loss of her sisters. It finally killed her.”
“We only have your word for that.”
“I’m hoping I can change your thinking.” He looked around the room. “And it did work out for my parents, I believe. They’re both dead, and I’m sure their love broke the cycle of failure for my father. They’re together in the next life. And he’s finally at peace.”
Cynthia gave him a doubtful look. “Or you’ve made this whole thing up.”
“I could say, ‘believe what you want,’ but this is too important to let you simply dismiss it.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
OVER THE PAST few hours, Rafe had checked the monitor that gave a view of Tessa’s room. She seemed to be sleeping peacefully.
With a sense of tingling anticipation, he went into the locked closet in the dressing room that shared a wall with her bedroom.
In it was a tank of gas, a special mixture that he’d had made up, using an ancient formula that few people would recognize today. But he knew it was significant to the Ionians. When he’d researched the order, he’d found out that there was a crevice in the ground inside their temple. The high priestess or one of the others who was giving a prophecy would sit in a chair over that crack, breathing the vapors that wafted upward from deep in the earth.
The vapors had loosened the inhibitions of the priestess, allowing her to let her mind spin out into the universe and gather what it might. Maybe she saw the future, or maybe not. But the gas had an effect on her senses and her behavior, and he was sure it would have the effect he wanted on Tessa. He’d used something similar on Sophia in the desert, and it had made her respond to him.
He wasn’t going to drug Tessa into submission, the way he’d tried to do with Sophia on the road, but the gas would put her in a compliant mood so that she would accept him.
He listened to the almost undetectable hiss at the tank valve, then turned back to the monitor. Tessa had been lying still. As the drug took effect, she began to move around on the bed, stirring his senses as the covers slipped below her waist and he saw her breasts through the modest T-shirt she was wearing. The nipples were beaded, poking against the fabric, riveting his gaze.
He couldn’t take his eyes off her. He’d tried the gas himself ; it had a very pleasant, very freeing effect. Instead of pumping it out of the room, he simply turned off the gas jet, then took off his shirt, shoes, and socks.
He left on his jeans as he walked to the bedroom door, unlocked it with a quick twist of the knob, then closed the door behind him and walked to the bed.
Tessa must have sensed him standing there, because her eyes blinked open, and she looked at him with a mixture of emotions. Sleepy disorientation. Arousal. And uncertainty.
“I won’t hurt you,” he said as he sat down on the side of the bed, stroked back the blond hair that had fallen across her forehead, and kissed her gently there.
Her tongue flicked out and licked her lips. “I feel strange,” she whispered.
“Because you’re finally admitting that we belong together.”
“Did I? Or is this wrong? Am I making the worst mistake of my life?”
Her aching candor made his throat constrict.
“Last time you kissed me, I felt . . . a warning.”
“Do you hear warnings now?”
She shook her head.
He managed to speak in a soothing voice. “That’s good. Nothing is wrong that happens between two people—if they both want it. We’re halfway there. See how much I want you.”
Because he knew that Ionians wanted to take the lead in sexual encounters, he picked up her hand and pressed it against his chest so that she could feel the wild beating of his heart. Then he turned her hand loose and let his arm drop back to his side.
Although she broke eye contact, she kept her hand where it was, then flattened her palm against him, her touch like a brand on his flesh.
When she began to stroke his smooth chest, heating his skin, his nipples instantly turned hard.
He made a low sound, letting her know how vulnerable he was to her.
The white T-shirt she was wearing shouldn’t be provocative, but the outline of her breasts through the knit fabric was the sexiest thing he had ever seen.
He unbuttoned his jeans, then unzipped them and kicked them onto the floor. After a moment’s hesitation, he kept on his briefs when he climbed under the covers with her and gathered her close.
She went rigid as he took her in his arms, but she began to relax as he gently stroked her back and hair, knowing this must be right for her.
And right for him. As he held her close, a vision of the future came to him. Having this woman at his side could be the most wonderful experience of his life. Of any life he had led. It could change him forever.
Any life?
Was he admitting that his disturbing dreams were real? He didn’t want to entertain that notion, and he thrust it out of his head as he began to tenderly nibble his lips over Tessa’s forehead, her cheeks, her throat.
“I worship at the altar of your beauty,” he murmured, amazed that he had conjured up those words. Yet they were true, at least at this moment. He had worshiped her from afar. Now he had the chance to make her his own.
As he kissed her, he stroked his hands over her shoulders, her back, her hair, then slowly made his attentions more intimate as he brought his mouth to hers.
It was the sweetest kiss he had ever shared. Could ever imagine, and he savored it. Not just for his own pleasure but because he wanted to please her more than he had ever wanted to please any other woman.
When he felt her responding to him, joy leaped inside him. And again he had the sense that making love to Tessa could bring him something he had searched for through a thousand lifetimes.
With a shaky breath, he put her into those lives, remembering women he had conquered before. He couldn’t make himself believe any of them was her.
This was different from anything he had
ever imagined, ever experienced.
He wanted to simply surrender himself to the joy building between them, but he couldn’t let go. Not completely. He had worked too hard for this moment, and he was too close to his goal to drop his guard.
So he let the joy simmer inside him as he stoked her pleasure and his own, allowing her to push him to his back so she could kiss his chest, and slide her lips over his abdomen and lower, until she encountered the waistband of his briefs.
“Are you modest?” she asked with a soft laugh.
“I’m trying to be. With you.”
“Let’s see what you’re hiding in there.”
She giggled and tugged at his underwear. He helped her by raising his hips so that she could drag the shorts down his legs and throw them to the floor.
When she stared down at his cock, he held his breath.
“You don’t want to hide something as nice as that.”
With one extended finger, she stroked delicately up and down his length, making him want to beg for a firmer touch.
Finally she grasped him in her fist, squeezing him before replacing her hand with her mouth, sucking on him as though he was the most delicious thing anyone had ever offered her.
“Enough,” he growled. “I want to finish inside you.”
“Oh yes.”
She raised her head, staring down at him, then straddled him, slowly, teasingly lowering herself. He wanted to grasp her hips and pull her all the way down. Instead he clenched his fists as she finally touched the head of his cock with her body, then brought him inside in one swift motion.
For a long moment, she went perfectly still, and their gazes locked. He could feel something between them now, something he hadn’t expected at all. At the edge of his consciousness, he sensed her thoughts.
He didn’t just imagine her wonder, he experienced it.
Rafe?
Yes.
Oh my. What’s happening?
Something . . .
The physical sensations overwhelmed the mental connection and it faded to the background, although it didn’t entirely disappear.
He’d started out to conquer, and she had taken over. As she began to move, he thought of what the two of them could have together. It was a perfect match. An Ionian and a Minot. He knew of only one other couple who had bridged the gap between the two sets of rivals, and he knew how that had ended because he’d made it his business to know everything that had happened to the Ionians in his lifetime. And before.
Rafe. She said his name again in her mind as she smiled down at him. Moving above him, driving them both to ecstasy as her hips rose and fell. When she plunged over the edge and took him with her, he forgot to hang on to his resolve.
She was fantastic, and he was so lucky that he had found her. At last—after all this time.
When the storm of his climax subsided, he gathered her to him, holding her tenderly in his arms.
“That was incredible,” he murmured.
“Mmm. I wonder why I was ever afraid of you.”
The words reminded him why she should be afraid, and why he must stick to his resolve. Sex with her had been beyond his imagining, but that didn’t mean he was going to give up the plan that he’d been working toward for years.
“We’re very good together,” he said, gathering her to him.
She nodded against his chest.
“Something happened. Something I never expected.”
“Nor I,” he agreed. That at least was true. The difference was that she wanted to embrace the newfound closeness, and he wanted to keep part of himself private. Very private.
“Did you feel like you touched my mind?” she murmured.
“Yes.”
“That was wonderful. I want to explore that. I can do it with my sisters sometimes. It’s never happened with a man. That must mean something important.”
“We’ll see where it takes us,” he said, knowing that he couldn’t allow her complete access to his thoughts because they would drive her from him.
But the experience had made her drop her guard, and he could feel her drifting off to sleep, probably because of the drug that he’d made her breathe.
Maybe next time he wouldn’t use it. Or maybe it was what he needed to keep her in line.
Had the gas triggered the amazing mental connection? Or was that something that happened when a Minot took an Ionian? Not by force, but by mutual consent.
Or at least she thought it had been mutual consent. She didn’t know he had helped her feelings along.
However it had happened, he was sure the equation had changed. Until now, her loyalty had been only to her sisters. She’d admitted that he had opened up possibilities she hadn’t imagined. Which meant he had all the time he needed to master her and then get on with the most important part of his plan.
Or was his plan the right course? Was he giving up something spectacular out of fear? What if everything he had always known turned out to be wrong?
He quickly canceled the thought. He had worked too hard for this moment to throw away his plans. Nothing fundamental had changed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
SOPHIA WASN’T SURE what Jason’s revelations had meant to her sisters. But his honesty had affected her deeply. She wanted to be alone with him now, but they couldn’t. Not yet.
She cleared her throat. “If you’re arguing about what Jason’s told you, you’re picking the wrong fight.” She looked around the room, then swung her gaze back to Cynthia. “The real issue is that you told me it was your decision not to try and find Tessa.”
She could hardly believe she’d been so bold, and the statement drew reactions from her sisters, as she’d known it would.
When Jason pulled her a little closer, she looked gratefully at him. She’d always accepted the leadership of the high priestess, but perhaps she didn’t have to.
“I’d like to know if the rest of my sisters want to abandon Tessa to some awful fate. You all know her, but maybe not as well as I do because I grew up with her, and we shared a special closeness. She’s been an important part of my life since I was two years old. When our mother was killed, we turned to each other.” She looked at Eugenia. “And we had you. Do you want to give up on her?”
Sophia knew she might have stepped over the edge with that last question. For years Eugenia had quietly challenged Cynthia’s authority. Today Sophia was putting them into direct conflict, but so be it. She’d do anything to get her sister back. Even cause dissension in the order.
Everyone turned expectantly to Eugenia.
She waited for a long moment before answering, “I’d try to get Tessa back, if we can.”
“I would, too,” Ophelia said, surprising Sophia with the comment. She’d thought Ophelia would be on Cynthia’s side. Maybe she had more allies than she’d imagined.
Everyone was talking at once now.
When Sophia looked at Cynthia, she was scowling. Obviously she didn’t like having her judgment called into question or her authority challenged, which could be a serious problem for Sophia later. But she’d chance that and deal with it—after Tessa was safely home.
“You don’t even know who captured Tessa,” the high priestess said.
“Maybe Jason and I can find out.”
“How?”
“We established a psychic bond.”
“When you were . . . having sex?” Cynthia asked.
She hated the way that sounded, but she raised her chin. “Yes. Maybe we can use that bond to locate Tessa.”
Cynthia made a scoffing sound. “You mean sex magic?”
“If that’s what you want to call it.”
“You’re saying it’s stronger than the mental energy the order calls up in the temple?”
“I don’t know. A while ago, I fainted. I thought it was from the shock of what Jason had said, but I think there was more. I think it was because I knew something bad was happening to Tessa. She’s a long distance away, and I believe I connected with her f
or a moment because Jason was holding me. I’d like to find out what else we can do.”
Cynthia’s eyes narrowed. “All right. You have twenty-four hours. And if you don’t succeed, we’ll conclude that Jason is of no use to us—and we can go ahead with our original plans for him.”
Without waiting for an answer, she stood up and swept out of the room, leaving Sophia feeling like she’d been shaken by a whirlwind.
Eugenia also stood up and looked at them. “Perhaps you had better get busy.”
Sophia swallowed. “Last time, we were in the cave of power out in the desert.”
“You can’t go there now. Jason might escape.”
He spoke up. “I won’t.”
Eugenia had seemed to be on their side. Now she made a dismissive sound. “You expect us to take the word of a Minot?”
“The word of the man who rescued Sophia on the road. If that counts for anything,” he said.
Eugenia thought for a moment, then turned to Sophia again. “You vouch for him?”
“Yes.”
“I may be making a mistake, but I’ll trust you.”
“You won’t be disappointed,” Sophia answered, wondering if she could deliver what she’d promised.
TESSA woke alone in an unfamiliar bedroom. When she remembered where she was and what had happened here, she went very still. She’d made love with Rafe Garrison, and it had been good. More than good. Their thoughts had merged, just for a few moments.
Perhaps she’d misjudged him all along. Or perhaps he wanted her to trust him—and he’d made her believe he was different from what she’d assumed.
She couldn’t work that out now because her head felt a bit muzzy. Like she’d had too much to drink, but she didn’t remember having any wine.
She climbed out of bed, steadying herself against the bedpost, then went into the opulent bathroom where she showered, dried her hair, and put on a little makeup. From the clothing in the closet, she selected a pair of white slacks and a long tunic with fuchsia and peach flowers.
