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?I wouldn?t change it for the world. I tried to . . . I wrote a reverse ?fantasy? in the Doomsday Diary to see if your feelings for me were all magically manufactured. ?
?They?re not. I swear. ?
She sent him an impish smile. ?I know. The diary told me. ?
With a growl, he pulled her against him. ?Don?t you have an answer for me? Do you know the words??
She nodded. ?Bram and Sabelle have a great library. ? Happiness broke over her face, like the sun from behind storm clouds, illuminating everything in joy. ?As I become a part of you, you become a part of me. I will be honest, good, and true. I heed your call. ?Tis you I seek. From this moment on, there is no other for me but you. ?
A powerful jolt slammed into Caden?s body, and his sense of Sydney as his mate jumped into the foreground of his consciousness, fusing into his heart. She had been important; now she was his everything. She gasped, clearly feeling it as well.
But with the sealing of their bond came another crashing need?to test her, taste her, claim her?all of her.
Without a thought, he dragged the baggy shirt off one shoulder to reveal a bare breast, then he cupped it.
?Caden! They?re going to come back. We should focus on??
He cut her speech off with a kiss, deep, blistering, the kind that sent sizzle all the way through his body. Slowly, she melted against him.
Caden eased back until he sat on the room?s lone bed, bringing her down to straddle his lap. Narrow and squat, the little bed wasn?t the haven he wanted the first time he loved his mate, but he wasn?t going to quibble. She was in his arms. The future was coming, he knew. But he?d face it stronger if he joined with her first.
?This might be our last chance,? he whispered against her mouth. ?Our only chance. Let me love you. ?
Sydney didn?t hesitate. She grabbed Caden?s sweater, tugging and pulling until she managed to yank it over his head. Rapaciously, she ran her hands over his hands and shoulders, and he thanked his years of daily running and training in the Marines and beyond that kept him in shape.
But he wasn?t content to just have her hands on him; he wanted her open to him. Lifting her off his lap, he dragged the large sweatpants down one thigh. Another adjustment, and his own pants rested south of his hips.
As he brought her back to his lap, he captured her mouth again, brushed his knuckles over her collarbone, across her nipple, skipped the shirt covering her abdomen, then delved into the red curls between her pale thighs. Slick, steamy? ready. He?d missed her so, so much, trying to separate her from him, and thus from danger. Keep himself safe from the whims of magic. But he?d been foolish, wasting time. If they managed to escape this place in one piece, he?d never waste another second together. If they didn?t . . . he didn?t regret their mating in the least.
Raking his fingertips over her clit, he basked in her sighs and moans. She melted, all delicious and sweet, around his hand as he plunged his fingers inside her and rubbed her sweet spot.
Her fingernails found their way into his shoulders, and he smiled when she dusted his neck with urgent kisses. The smile turned to desperate hunger when she caught his mouth in a searing kiss, grabbed his aching erection, and pushed her hips down to it.
Slowly, she sank over him, and the tight clasp of her body was both a homecoming and a pleasure unlike any he?d ever known. His mate. His. No matter what.
Their time was short, but their love unlimited. Grabbing her hips, he tutored her in a long, slow stroke as he brushed his lips over hers again, then settled deep, mating with her body, her mouth?her heart.
Gripping his biceps, she stroked her way up and down his cock, and the inferno-hot pleasure singed him. She tightened around him. Her cheeks grew pink, then flushed a darker rose. Her nipples swelled, her head tipped back, and she looked like the ultimate goddess of pleasure. Smart, brave, loving. His.
Caden?s heart swelled with need, with love. His body did the same. Grimacing, he tried to stave off the orgasm about to overwhelm. But Sydney?s pace quickened. She dug her fingers deeper into him as she bounced on him, chanting his name. Caden curled his arms around her and fused his mouth to hers as her sex clamped down on him. He swallowed her scream of pleasure and joined her over the abyss, in an ecstasy that not only suffused him with a warm satiation?but a jolt of power so intense, it nearly overpowered his system. And love. God, so much of it. That love gave him a new dimension of strength. He was determined that, while that may have been their first time making love as mates, it damn well wouldn?t be their last.
Quietly, they dressed, pausing to kiss. He touched her, wrapped her in his embrace to reassure her, then sat on the bed to cuddle her in his lap.
?Caden?? she turned worried brown eyes on him.
He knew everything on her mind. It was on his too. But damn it, he hadn?t come this far, been born with the sort of magic that his mother, as a good seer, had praised, and found this amazing woman, only to have her ripped from him.
Time to fight.
?Shh. It?s not over. ?
?Your time alone is. ? A man?s voice intruded on their intimate cocoon. Shock. Then he opened the cell and motioned to Sydney. ?Come with me. ?
CHAPTER TWENTY
SYDNEY TREMBLED AS SHOCK HELD her by the elbow and dragged her toward the middle of the house. ?Where are you taking me??
?Where Mathias asked me to. ?
His complete lack of inflection, of guilt, incensed her. Rage bottled up inside her, then she wondered why she was keeping a cork on it. She was going to die, regardless. Why not tell Shock what toilet scum she thought he was?
?So you enjoy watching innocent people be tortured to death? Or you just don?t care??
He glared down his shoulder at her, his expression unreadable. ?You?re playing games you don?t understand. ?
?You?re betraying people who count on you. ?
?More than you know,? he muttered, then tugged on her elbow and dragged her behind him.
As she feared, Shock lugged her back to the cold sitting room of black, glass, and chrome in which she?d been earlier. There, Mathias sat, waiting, his expression cool but impatient. She had the distinct impression he was concealing the depth of his rage. And it scared the hell out of her. The Doomsday Diary sat on the table in front of him. The half-dressed witch who?d taken the book from Sydney slept in a corner. At least she hoped the woman was asleep.
Shock shoved her into a chair across from Mathias.
?These meetings are too frequent, my dear,? he said.
?Rhea is unable to use the book. Everything she writes disappears. I cannot see the words at all. Care to explain??
Sydney glanced at Shock. As long as the traitor was here, she stood no chance of keeping her thoughts to herself. ?I just wrote what I wanted in the book and . . . poof. ?
?It came true immediately??
?No. It took a few days. ?
Mathias glanced at Shock.
?She?s telling the truth as she knows it. ? Shock supplied.
Mathias relaxed against the back of the sofa. ?It?s possible that larger magic takes time to collect and organize. ?
Shock nodded. ?She was looking only for a shag. Hardly difficult magic, but she?s not a witch . . . ?
A feral grin stretched across the evil wizard?s mouth as he turned to her. ?If you need a man in your bed, I?m more than happy to oblige. ?
Ewww. ?I don?t. ?
?I can change your mind . . . whether you want it changed or not. Regardless of whether your new mate is languishing in the cell downstairs or not. ?
How did he know?
?Your magical signature,? Shock said. ?You now have one that brands you as Caden?s. Most anyone magical can see it. ?
Sydney liked that idea, and hoped that she?d have years and years with this signature?and a happy life to go with it. But she had to get out of here first.
Shock merely raised a brow at her, but thankfully kept commentary to himself.
?You used the book twic
e with success. Rhea could not use it at all,? Mathias mused as if solving a puzzle aloud. ?Of course, you?re a smart girl, and she?s a stupid slut. But she?s magical and you?re not. I know it works for witches, or Morganna le Fay would have never created it. There is something I?m missing. What??
Sydney wasn?t even certain herself, but Sabelle and Olivia?s theory that the woman using the book had to be wishing for her heart?s desire made sense. She had when she?d wished for Caden. Who knows what Mathias?s witch whore had wished for?
?She doesn?t know. ? Shock?s tone was both annoyed and dismissive. ?She?s human. She stumbled into magic and got lucky. That?s all. ?
Sydney frowned. If Shock could read her mind, why hadn?t he regurgitated her every thought to Mathias?
?Any chance she?s able to mask her thoughts from you??
Shock snorted in answer.
?Take her to my bed. I think I?ll enjoy finding out how much energy this feisty human can give me before she dies. ?
Zipping her gaze up to Shock?s face, Sydney?s heart beat triple time. Oh, dear God. The last thing in the world she wanted was to endure a moment of Mathias?s touch. But to die in his bed . . . she shivered.
Now Shock was the only thing standing between her and death. His bland expression didn?t give her much hope.
?In order to bed her, you?ll have to break her mate bond. That will likely kill her. Let me spend a little time with her. I have ways of getting deeper into a woman?s mind. ?
?Unpleasant ones, I hope?? Mathias perked up.
?Absolutely. ?
Mathias paused, then smiled. ?Take her, then. Don?t bring her back unless you?ve extracted everything from her mind?or she?s dead. ?
As soon as Shock magically shoved him back in the cell and locked him in again, taking Sydney away with him, Caden broke out in a cold sweat. Damn it, now what? He doubted he could break Shock?s magical seal on this cell. But he couldn?t sit here while the traitor and mate thief took Sydney to his boss like a lamb to slaughter. Even the thought made him want to roar the entire house down.
He knew more than a little martial arts, but every attempt to kick at the walls or bars proved fruitless. He?d looked around the cell for a trapdoor, back exit, ceiling vent . . . nothing.
He was going to have to get creative with magic. Damn it, he scarcely knew enough to be dangerous. He had the instincts to complete simple tasks, and had been so foolishly adamant about not learning more.
Swallowing hard, Caden forced his recriminations away and willed himself to think. He had to know something that would help her. Sitting trapped while his mate died at Mathias?s hands was not an option. But he?d never done big magic.
Except at transition. His one special power.
Hope soared, but he tempered it. He had to be logical. The fact was, he?d been almost high on magic when he?d cloned himself, he really had no idea how he?d done it. Common wisdom said that a witch or wizard should not reveal their special power unless it meant the difference between life and death.
Saving Sydney was his life or death.
Vaguely, Caden recalled fusing his clone back to his body by visualizing the event. He hoped, prayed, the reverse worked.
Sitting on the cot on which he?d so recently loved Sydney, he squeezed his eyes shut. In his mind, he pictured his clone morphing separately from him?on the other side of these bars. His entire body tensed as he clutched the bed frame.
His arms shook, and he could feel the veins swelling as he concentrated. Seconds became a minute. A minute became three. But nothing happened. He cursed under his breath.
Then he felt his insides ripping in half.
Caden clenched his teeth against the horrific sensation of someone opening his chest and sucking out his insides. His whole body trembled. His head exploded with pain.
Suddenly, it ended, and he slumped back against the wall, utterly drained, wishing he had something to show for his effort.
?I?ll come back with help. ? The voice sounded eerily like his own.
His eyes flew open wide, and he saw himself?his other self?standing outside the cell.
Thank God. He?d done it.
?Save her,? he rasped in exhaustion.
His clone nodded and disappeared. And he bloody hated it, but now all he could do was wait.
At Shock?s urging, Sydney rose on wobbly legs. She?d never imagined he was a good guy, but now she?d find out exactly how bad he was. Even if Shock didn?t lay a hand on her, she had no doubt he could think of a hundred magical ways to torture her.
?Faster,? he snapped. ?You?re keeping me from my fun, and Mathias from valuable information. ?
The cold calculation of his command pissed her off. If she was going to die, she might as well let the bastard know how much she loathed him.
?How inconsiderate of me not to run to my death. Must be a real bitch for you. ?
Mathias laughed, the sound scratching an icy path up her spine before his expression fell into pure menace. ?You?ll give her extra pain for that, I hope??
?With pleasure. ?
?Wait!? Mathias barked. ?A disturbance in the security. I think the Doomsday Brethren have arrived. With them out of the way, we won?t need this chit anymore. If we kill all the warriors, Olivia Gray and Sabelle Rion will be alone, unprotected. Certainly one of them can be persuaded to help our cause. ?
?Don?t touch my friends!? she screamed.
?You?re in no position to issue orders. ? Mathias smiled tightly, then looked at Shock. ?Why don?t you go greet our company? Take the Anarki with you. I?ll stay with our lovely guest. ?