by Bianca D'Arc
Silence reigned for a long moment as her words sank in. It was Duncan who spoke at last as the men regarded her with varying expressions of respect, surprise—and from Dante—pride.
“The youngest of us speaks wisdom,” Duncan complimented her. “I like the idea of acting in defense rather than offense in this case and all of Megan’s reasons are valid. By choosing the place of battle, we can better prepare for it. After seeing the protections Siobhan had on her home, I wasn’t looking forward to battling through another army of ghost warriors or sickening black fog.”
“Not to mention the bottomless pit that opened beneath my feet or the little monsters in her front yard,” Megan put in.
The selkies seemed impressed as they shot each other an indecipherable look. Dante decided to add his viewpoint and finalize the plan.
“We’ll do this at my place uptown. It’s one of many homes I own, and it already has a decent amount of magical protection laid on the place. Duncan has already added more. It would be a simple matter to place some more booby traps—both mundane and magical. Further, Siobhan knows the location and has attacked there before. She probably thinks she left a way in with her hellfire.” He looked over at Duncan with a raised eyebrow.
“The hellfire was designed to leave a path into the building she could later exploit, but I destroyed it,” Duncan said. “It would be easy enough for me to simulate the path and add my own little whammy to it, should she take the bait.”
“That’s what we’ll do then.” Dante was satisfied they had a plan at last. “We’ll set the stage. Invite her in. And when she enters our domain, on our terms, we’ll be ready to deal with her.”
“We stand ready to help,” Nathan said at once. “We can stand guard with you—either inside or on the perimeter. Whichever you prefer. And perhaps we can assist with some of the magical preparations as well.”
Kevin braced his elbows on the table. “Some of my Pack can prowl the perimeter to be sure she doesn’t escape. We can also help keep civilians away and relay information to you from the outside if necessary.”
Dante considered the plan. “That’s a good idea. You have my thanks, Alpha, and we’ll gladly take you up on the offer of assistance.”
“Time is short,” Duncan put in. “We need to work fast.”
“I’ll put together a rotation,” Kevin volunteered. “I’ll put a team of wolves on your block day and night until this is over.”
“And if you permit, we’ll follow you home.” Nathan erased the whiteboard, leaving no trace of the information he’d shared with them.
“Sounds like a plan.” Dante rose, feeling better about the situation already.
They left with little fanfare. Kevin promised his people would be in place within minutes—even before they made it home. The selkies followed behind in a dark car. Their tail wasn’t obvious and if Dante hadn’t known they’d be back there, he would have been hard pressed to spot their presence on his own. They were that good.
When they pulled up outside the brownstone there was a wolf nosing around the doorstep. It wasn’t behaving in a blatantly obvious way and the small creature could have easily been mistaken for a stray dog. It was female, and Dante suspected it was the woman they’d met the first time they’d gone to Howlies.
Dante nodded discreetly to the wolf as they entered the house. A baring of teeth was the only answer as the wolf moved off down the street at a slow amble. They went inside and found the house undisturbed in their absence.
“Much as I hate to say this, I think you ought to get some sleep, Megan.” They paused in the living room to discuss plans for the immediate future.
“Why?”
He cupped her cheek and leaned down to place a quick kiss on the crown of her head. “Because we should probably take shifts. I need to take the night shift, obviously, and Duncan can do days and part of the night. He needs less sleep than you or I. I propose you take the part of the night Duncan sleeps and days as well. This way, there’s always two of us on guard.”
“Makes sense, but I’d rather stay with you.” She rubbed her cheek against his shoulder in an unconscious gesture of affection that touched him deeply.
“I’d rather have you with me at all times, sweetheart, but we need to stay on guard until this is settled.”
“I know. You’re right, of course. I…” She turned into his arms. “I wanted to be with you, Dante.”
He loved the way she slipped her thoughts into his mind. They had a definite naughty flavor that made him want to take her to his lair right that moment, but they had to secure the house first.
“Tell you what,” he answered in the intimacy of their minds. “I’ll tuck you in, then come back here and help Duncan make the place safer.”
“You think we have time for a quickie?” The breathless need in her tone made him hard as a rock. Just like that.
“We’ll make time, vixen.” He bussed her lips with a silent promise of more.
Duncan cleared his throat. Megan jumped in Dante’s arms, but he didn’t let her go far. She blushed so beautifully. He loved to tease her just to see it.
“I’ll start laying some groundwork for a few magical traps. Take your time.” He left them with a knowing grin as Dante scooped Megan into his arms and headed for the nearest bed.
Hell, he probably wouldn’t even make it to the bed. Not in this condition. He’d woken up wanting her and the need hadn’t subsided in the few hours since. He needed her. Like he needed his next breath. She was vital to his existence.
Dante kicked the door to their bedroom open with a crash, pushing her up against it. She didn’t protest. In fact, she helped him tear her clothes off. She then moved his out of the way in record time.
They were in perfect synch, even better than before. They’d been good together since the very beginning of their relationship, but now that they were joined, they were utterly attuned to each other. Dante knew what she was feeling. The connection with her provided sensory information from her mind directly to his. He felt her urgency as if it were his own. And it was. He needed her bad.
The connection was amazing, though he tried to hold it to a controlled flow. It was hard to taper the flow of information. Still, it was necessary for both of them until they got used to it. The sensation was dizzying and divine at the same time.
He intended to regulate the bond as much as possible until they’d been together longer. He was afraid she’d learn things from his memories that would repulse her. He wasn’t proud of some of the things he’d done in his past.
“Don’t ever feel that way, Dante. I love you. I know you’re not a saint. Believe me, a saint wouldn’t be half this much fun.” She bit his earlobe with just the right pressure as she spoke into his mind.
It was one of the sexiest things he’d ever experienced, and they weren’t even physically joined yet. Of course, they were getting awfully close. He knew she was ready and heaven knew he was. This would have to be fast. They didn’t have a whole lot of time.
“Don’t wait!” Megan urged him on, reading his thoughts as easily as he read hers. His control over the connection was slipping. The union was so utterly enthralling, he didn’t care. He felt her urgency reflected in his own state of mind.
Neither one of them wanted to wait. He spared only a moment to reach between her bare thighs, searching for the moisture that would ease his way. He wanted to be certain her body was as ready as her mind when he took her. Never would he cause her pain of any kind. Not if he could help it.
His fingers slid in her folds and her anxiety rose another notch as he toyed with her clit. Dante looked deep into her eyes, penetrating her with two fingers to be absolutely certain she could take him hard and fast. There was no time to take things slow. Not when they were at a fever pitch.
He pulled out, and she growled low in her throat in protest. She jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist when he bent to catch her thighs in his big hands. She climbed all over him, and he loved every move of
her sinuous body. He didn’t have to tell her how to move. His thoughts were hers and vice versa. For the first time, Dante understood how different lovemaking would be for them from now on. It had been good before, but now it was sublime.
He pushed upward as she came down over him, sliding deep and hard on the first thrust. She fit around him like a warm, wet haven, an extension of his new self—the one that existed only when they were joined together in body, mind and soul. They moved together in an undulating motion until that became too much, too soon, in the very best possible way.
Dante gripped her thighs and pushed her harder against the door, pounding into her as she screamed his name. She growled and clawed his back in her passion, and it drove him higher. For the first time, he let go completely with a lover, taking her hard, fast and without worry that he was being too rough. He knew she loved the way he was doing her. He tasted the satisfaction and greed for more in her thoughts, mingled so intimately with his.
“Now, Dante! Bite me now!” she cried, offering up her delectable throat. She knew what he wanted, and he knew she wanted it too. It was a tricky business, this sharing of minds, but in passion there was no him, no her. There was only them.
He held that thought firmly in their mind as he pumped into her in short digs, driving them toward the pinnacle. There was no time for finesse. No need for it. They both wanted it hard and fast and that was exactly what he gave her.
Sinking his fangs into her neck, her blood bathed his tongue in her essence, her magic and that special sensation that was hers alone. The fey aspect of her ancestry was more noticeable in her blood. The magic of the shifter and the special oomph of the fey was tempered by her mortality, mixing together to send him into a state of orgasmic bliss. He took only a small taste of her essence. He didn’t need much from his One to feed him unlike any other in his past.
He lost control of the connection between them. He was in her mind fully—as she was in his. It was glorious. Magnificent. Better than anything that had come before. Ever.
The power of her climax rolled over him, firing his senses. If he’d had any doubts, this would have blown them all away. He was blown away by the experience. Everything was new again—with her.
“Mmm. I’m glad you feel that way.” Her sexy tone whispered through his mind. “I feel the same.”
“I know, my love.” He eased away after licking the wounds on her neck closed with a little zap of his magic. “You are my light, Megan. My sun. My world.”
Her breath caught, and he knew she was as touched by what they shared as he was. All was finally right with his world. She was the center of his universe, and he’d never be alone again. They’d never be alone again. It was a calming, sustaining thought.
He left her because he had to. Not because he wanted to. He had work to do. Things had to be done to ensure their safety and their future together.
He tucked her into the big bed and lingered only a moment until she’d fallen asleep. He wished he could join her, but Duncan was waiting.
Siobhan, on the other hand, wouldn’t wait. She would be coming for them, and they had to be ready.
With that thought firmly in mind, he closed the door behind him and headed off to work.
Megan woke hours later, when Dante went to his belowground chambers to sleep for the day. She felt his surprise through their link. It was much later in the morning than he usually sought his bed. He’d lost track of time while working with Duncan to lay magical traps within the house.
Normally, his energy, both physical and magical, would have drained away with the sun. Today, for the first time in centuries, he hadn’t noticed any real change once the sun rose outside. He was aware of it in a peripheral way but had none of the usual urgency to finish up and seek his bed. That in itself was odd. When he thought about the high-level magics he’d been able to produce long into the daylight, Dante was somewhat astounded.
“I didn’t mean to wake you, love,” came his voice in her mind. She lay in the aboveground bedroom they’d used the past few nights. She knew he’d sought shelter in the underground room that was more secure for him.
“It’s all right. I should be up helping Duncan anyway. Did he manage to catch any sleep at all last night?”
“He is not of this realm. He doesn’t need as much sleep as we do.”
“He must need some sleep,” she protested. Sometimes her maternal instincts came out where these men were concerned, even though she knew them to be fully capable and fierce warriors.
“He’s fine. You’ll see. I’m immortal and that man makes me tired. He’s got more energy than any five normal people. I bet he’s peculiar even among the half-fey. Some kind of freak of nature.”
She chuckled as she knew he’d intended. They said goodnight after a few more traded quips and a whole bunch of sweet nothings passed between them. She wanted to be in his arms, but life was interfering. They had an enemy to deal with, and they couldn’t rest easy until the matter with Siobhan was settled one way or another.
Megan found Duncan in the living room. He didn’t seem to see her at first. He looked involved in casting some kind of complex spell. His fingers waved around in complex patterns, and he was muttering in some ancient language under his breath. Megan could actually feel the gathering magic in the air.
The fine hairs on the backs of her arms stood on end as if she were caught in a wave of static electricity. She’d felt the sensation before. Mostly when magic was flying around her.
At length, the wave of energy subsided and Duncan looked somewhat drained.
“Are you all right?” She moved into the room to stand in front of him.
Duncan looked at her, a lopsided smile on his handsome face. “Good morrow, Megan. I’ll be fine in a minute or two.”
“Even fey need to sleep once in a while.” She took the seat next to him, concerned for his welfare.
Duncan had become dear to her in the time they’d spent together. She also had the flavor of his long-standing friendship with Dante in her mind. She had no doubt the two of them had gotten into and out of more scrapes together than she could even imagine. She suspected when she and Dante were ready to fully share their minds, she’d learn more about the mischief he and Duncan had caused together than she really wanted.
“You, on the other hand, look bright eyed and bushy tailed, if you’ll pardon the expression.” His twinkling blue gaze teased her.
She stretched a little in her seat. “I feel great. You can rest a bit if you like. Or if you tell me what you want done, I’ll do some of your legwork this morning while you take it easy.”
“I may be old, but I’m not decrepit,” he groused good-naturedly. Still, he sat on the couch, watching her. “You don’t sleep much, even for a were.”
She shrugged. “A couple of hours is all I need. All I’ve ever needed.”
“I suspect your mother and grandfathers slept more than you did. Am I right?”
“Yeah, I suppose that’s true.” She wondered where he was going with this.
“Could be your fey nature is stronger than I suspected. I noticed some things as I worked with Dante earlier. He’s either jumped another notch in power or…”
“Or what?”
“Or it’s you. My blood gives him the same kind of elevation, but the flavor of the resulting magic is slightly different. Perhaps your fey/were mix is having a strange effect on our friend, Dante.”
“Strange?” She didn’t like the sound of that. “He’s not in any danger, is he?”
“How could he be when you are destined mates?” Duncan looked calm, so she tried to relax. “The Goddess would not pair you if it was a bad thing. There is reason in all She does.”
“You have the strongest faith of anyone I know.” She truly did marvel at his deep belief.
“That’s because I serve Her, Megan. I’ve felt Her presence in my soul, guiding my sword and influencing my actions. To be a Knight of the Light is to be directly in Her service, for in many ways Sh
e is Light.”
“I never quite thought of it that way.” Megan was humbled by his words and his deep and true conviction.
“So I have to wonder about your mating. She, no doubt, has plans for you both. I think it would be wise to test the boundaries of your bond as much as you can. You’ll want to go slow, I’m sure. Just remember, the more you explore what the bond means for each of you, the better prepared you’ll be for whatever comes.” Duncan tempered his intense words by sitting back, though his gaze didn’t waver. “You two are unique. There hasn’t been a mating such as yours in a very long time. The selkies were right to want to guard you during this period of vulnerability. But coddling would never sit well with Dante. Or you, I believe. You’re both creatures of action, needing to be in the thick of it.”
“You’ve got that right. I think it’s good to have friends helping us, but neither of us would be comfortable sitting back while others take action.”
“Just so.” Duncan stood, looking better than he had. “Perhaps we should have a bite to eat before we tackle anything else.”
They shared a meal in companionable quiet. Duncan seemed tired but able to function at a reasonable level. Megan worried silently about what Siobhan had planned for them. So much had happened in such a short time. It was a lot to take in.
