Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 115860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
From this moment on, there is no other for me but you.
Sydney pants hard. “That was…”
Straight from my heart.
“It was.” I breathe hard, too.
Now that the time to part has come, I’m desperately searching for some bargaining chip that would allow me to keep her. If I tell her the truth, let her decide whether she wants to deal with magickind and the war and…
No. I can’t risk her. I have to let her go, try to forget her, and know I’ll never mate.
I hate coming to that realization while I still have my arms around her, while I’m still buried inside her. But spending my lifetime with her isn’t reality. The phone vibrating on the table beside us is. Duke, again. No doubt wondering where the hell we are.
Cursing, I withdraw from Sydney, then pick up the phone. I don’t bother with pleasantries. “We’ll be there in ten.”
I don’t wait for a reply, simply hang up.
“Are you all right?” I caress her shoulder, down the line of her spine, admiring the sleek curve of her waist, then pull her body against mine, my front to her back.
She gives me a shaky nod. “What happens after this meeting? With us?”
Putting distance between us would be best for her, but can I truly stay away?
“After this meeting, we’ll talk.”
Chapter
Thirty
Dread nearly taking me out at the knees, I guide Sydney into the crowded pub with a possessive hand at the small of her back.
Fuck. Twenty minutes after one of the most amazing sexual experiences in my life, and I’m absolutely greedy for more. Desperate for it. Dying.
But now is the time for business.
I hope I can focus.
Across the dark bar, Duke watches me with a judgmental brow, focused on my palm laying silent claim to Sydney.
I know she can’t be mine. Fuck you.
As we wend our way through the little establishment, the walls seem to close in, filled with tables and bodies and the smell of ale, all threatening to strangle me.
Suddenly, the room lurches. I start to sweat again. The shakes set in. My energy wanes with every step. I wish I simply needed a nap after an orgasm that nearly blew my head off. But given my urge to hold Sydney close and drown in her again, I know better.
“Where the hell have you been?” Duke barks in my ear as he rips my hand from her.
Sluggishly, I turn my head. The wizard looks incredibly brassed off. Splendid.
A few feet in front of me, I’m vaguely aware of Olivia introducing herself to Sydney and smiles being exchanged. Olivia leads Sydney to another table. I growl, reluctantly letting her walk away as the women begin chatting.
“Sit down,” Duke commands.
Perhaps he’s right. I should. And perhaps I should also rest my head. I’m exhausted. I need sleep. Badly.
I sway on my feet, the room spinning. Duke peers into my face, then sniffs. “I bloody well know where you’ve been. Or rather, what you’ve been doing. Sex at a time this critical?”
“Piss off,” I growl, then collapse into a chair.
“Shut up and look at me.”
Slowly, I open unfocused eyes. “Wha…?”
“Have you been sweating all day? Shaking?”
I nod.
“Craving sex?”
A snort punctuates my answer. “Last two weeks.”
“You just shagged her, and you’re already exhausted?”
In the battle between me and my thousand-pound eyelids, the eyelids win. “Watch your mouth.”
“Answer me.”
Somehow, I find the energy to nod.
“Fuck.”
Usually, the titled wizard is every bit a gentleman. I wince.
“Your magical signature is beginning to take shape. Black, blue, and gray. But there’s something yellow and white trying to merge with it.” Duke turns his attention toward Sydney. “Is she your mate? I know you haven’t spoken the words but…”
“Yes,” I gasp out.
Finally, I admit out loud what my body has been telling me since virtually the moment I met her. It isn’t a happy moment.
“Your transition from human to wizard is upon you,” Duke says in a low voice. “We’ve got to find a female to go through it with you. You’ll need great amounts of sexual energy.”
“Sydney—”
“Is a human. If that’s not bad enough, she’s a reporter! If you transition with her, you’ll bed her like a madman for the next few days, then emerge as a wizard involuntarily displaying your special power, which will be impossible to hide. How do you know she won’t publish it in her human newspaper? Pick someone else. Sabelle—”
“No. Want her.” I point Sydney’s way.
“I know,” he soothes. “But you can’t have her. Not for your transition. Not for your mate. She’ll either expose us to humankind or wind up as one of Mathias’s snacks—or both. I’ll call Bram. He’ll know a witch who will help you.” Duke reaches for his mobile.
My sluggish brain takes in Duke’s words. Everything inside me rebels.
Dredging up my energy, I grab his mobile and bash it against the table. It chirps and breaks into a dozen little pieces of plastic and wires as it dies.