“No ...” Sergei struggled to breathe. “Wait.”
“For what?” Ariyal demanded. “More lies?”
He had no doubt been a fool to trust the mage. But he hadn't had much choice.
Not if he wanted to get out of the lead-lined cavern.
And more importantly, to gain the information the magic-user had dangled like the proverbial carrot.
Predictably Sergei hadn't been satisfied when Ariyal's initial portal had taken them just a few feet from the caves. He'd been convinced that the shadows were crawling with the Dark Lord's minions. And since he refused to reveal his information until they were on the outskirts of Chicago, Ariyal had little choice but to bring them to this empty warehouse.
Now, however, he was done. The bastard was going to be very, very sorry if he had tried to play games with a Sylvermyst.
The mage turned a pasty shade of gray. “I didn't lie.”
“You told me you had information about Jaelyn.”
“And I do.”
Ariyal's fingers tightened around the neck he could crush with pathetic ease.
“Telling me she can cloak herself in shadows is not information,” he hissed.
“If you would allow me to finish?”
There was a tug on his jeans, and he impatiently glanced down at the gargoyle standing beside him.
“What?”
“I think we should hear what he has to say.”
“Fine,” Ariyal rasped, returning his attention to Sergei. “But I warn you, mage, don't screw with me.”
“Release me and I'll ... arrg.” The mage's eyes nearly popped from their sockets as Ariyal tightened his grip. “Okay. From what I managed to learn from Marika, a Hunter's primary skill is the ability to shroud themselves in shadows so thick they're virtually invisible.” Sergei held up a pleading hand as Ariyal's fingers threatened to finish the job of crushing his throat. “Those same shadows also protect them from the sun for short periods of time.”
Her shadows ...
Of course.
“How short?” he breathed.
“A few minutes.”
“Long enough for her to have escaped,” Levet said, a grin spreading over his ugly face. “I told you she was still alive. Ariyal?”
Ariyal was already at the door, hesitating only long enough to point a finger at the mage, who was now crumpled on the floor, gasping like a fish out of water.
“Keep an eye on Sergei.”
“But ...”
He vaguely heard the gargoyle call out, but Ariyal was already crossing the crumbling parking lot and headed back toward the caves.
Jaelyn.
The desperate hope that had kept him from raving insanity became a raw, throbbing need.
He had to find her.
He had to hold her in his arms until there was no doubt left inside him that she was alive and well.
And then he was going shake her until her fangs rattled for putting him through hell.
Intent on returning to the caves, Ariyal very nearly missed the sharp chill that edged the breeze. It was only when the familiar scent of power and pure woman teased at his senses that he came to an abrupt halt.
There was no mistaking the approaching vampire was Jaelyn.
But why was she coming from behind him?
Had she been near the warehouse? Or farther into the city?
And if so, why?
His confusion was forgotten as he turned to watch the shadows melt away and the female who had somehow become an essential part of his life was revealed in the moonlight.
An explosion of emotions nearly brought him to his knees as he greedily drank in the beauty of her pale face and the elegant strength of her body.
If he had lost her ...
She took a step forward, and with a low growl he was reaching to yank her against his body, his arms wrapping around her so tightly it was a good thing she didn't need to breathe.
“Jaelyn,” he murmured, reveling in the feel of her slender body pressed against him. “Gods. I thought ...”
She framed his face in her hands, her eyes flashing with an indigo fire.
“Shut up and kiss me, fairy.”
“Bossy leech,” he muttered, even as he seized her lips in a kiss that revealed the terror he had endured. “Don't ever do that to me again.”
She pulled back far enough to glare at him. “What about you?”
“Me?”
“All I could find was the spot of your portal mixed with the scent of Levet and Sergei,” she accused. “I was afraid that you'd been taken hostage.”
He stiffened, unable to believe he heard her correctly. “You believed I could be taken captive by a damned mage?”
Her lips twitched as she belatedly realized the depth of her insult.
“I wasn't thinking clearly.”
He nipped her bottom lip. “Obviously not.”
“So what were you doing with Sergei?”
Ariyal was in no mood to discuss the mage. Or their near-death experiences. Or the end of the world.
“Later,” he promised, scooping Jaelyn off her feet and heading back to the abandoned farmhouse where they'd spent a few memorable hours. There he could be assured there was a cellar deep enough to keep Jaelyn safe from the approaching dawn.
Astonishingly, Jaelyn allowed herself to be carried through the darkness without hitting or biting or even complaining at his arrogant behavior.
Not that he was fooled by her momentary compliance.
Jaelyn was about as submissive as a rabid lion.
But busy nuzzling the tender skin of his throat and rubbing her hands down the clenched muscles of his back, she appeared suitably occupied as he at last reached the remote farm and charged into the empty house.
Just for a second he hesitated, torn between his overriding need to make certain that Jaelyn was safely tucked in the cellar and the urge to spend the next two hours that remained of the night making love to her in the comfort of a bed.
It was the light scrape of her fangs down his neck that sent him catapulting up the stairs and into the master bedroom, where a dusty, but thankfully sturdy, four-poster bed was waiting.
They would have the entire day to discover the numerous ways to make love in the cramped cellar. For now he wanted plenty of space.
And a soft mattress.
Gently laying Jaelyn on the quilt, he disposed of his sword and various daggers before kicking off his boots. He'd just managed to shuck off his jeans, when she gracefully slid off the bed and unbuckled her holster, setting aside the loaded shotgun.
But instead of getting rid of her few bits of clothing, she moved forward to place her hands against his naked chest.
“Ariyal, we need to talk... .”
No. No. No.
He wasn't an expert, but conversations that started with “We need to talk ...” were never, ever good.
He pulled her into his arms and lowered his head.
“Shut up and kiss me, Jaelyn,” he tossed her words back at her.
“Ariyal.” She pulled away, her expression oddly uncertain. “There's something I need to say.”
“It can't wait an hour?” Hoping for a distraction, he pulled her stretchy top over her head and threw it toward the walnut dresser. He didn't notice when it instead caught on the edge of the hand-carved rocking chair. He had far better things to stare at, he readily acknowledged. The air was squeezed from his lungs as he reverently cupped the perfect globes tipped with rosy nipples. “Or two?”
She shivered, her eyes darkening with sharp arousal, but she gave a slow shake of her head.
“ No.”
Despite the driving instinct to press Jaelyn back onto the mattress and convince himself once and for all she was truly in his arms, Ariyal instead ran a comforting hand down her back.
The need to please her went far deeper than sexual.
And just how scary was that?
“Tell me,” he urged in gentle tones.
Again he sensed her rare uncertainty.
No, he swiftly corrected himself. She might be uncertain at how to share her thoughts with him, but there was a fierce determination beneath her hesitant manner.
“You're going to return for the child, aren't you?” she at last demanded.
“Yes,” he admitted without hesitation. It wasn't as if he could lie to her.
“And you know I'm not going to let you go alone.”
Dammit. His brows snapped together as his hand curved her tight against his lower body.
“Jaelyn ...”
She pressed a finger to his mouth. “Hear me out.”
Like he had a choice? Ariyal heaved a frustrated sigh. “Fine.”
“I'm a Hunter.”
“Yeah, you've made that painfully clear.”
She again hesitated, as if searching for the right words.
“We work on the barter system.” Her finger shifted to outline his lips in a light caress. “If I'm going to risk my neck to save the world then I intend to get something out of it.”
Ariyal instantly hardened, finding it more and more difficult to concentrate on her words.
“Something?”
“You.”
Oh ... thank the gods.
He shuddered with need as he swooped down to press his lips to the curve of her neck.
“That's precisely what I'm attempting to give you, poppet,” he said huskily, “if only you would cooperate.”
“I want you.” There was a long, dramatic pause. “As my mate.”
Chapter 18
As showstoppers went, this one was a doozy.
As her shocking words sliced through the air, Ariyal instantly went into mannequin routine, remaining frozen in place for what seemed to be an eternity.
Not that she'd expected him to break into song and do cartwheels, she wryly assured herself. Still, she had thought he might be ...
Pleased?
Excited?
Delirious with joy?
At last he pulled back to regard her with a wary expression.
“Mate?” His voice was thick with an emotion she found difficult to read, his hands holding on to her hips with a bruising grip. “You said that Hunters aren't allowed a mate.”
“They aren't.”
He muttered something beneath his breath. “Then what am I missing?”
She lifted a hand to brush it over the satin heat of his cheek.
“I had no choice about becoming a Hunter, just as you had no choice about becoming prince of your people,” she said, wrinkling her nose at her awkward bumbling. Who knew it was so difficult to ask a man to become her mate? It was a damned good thing she was a Hunter, not a diplomat. “We've both been trapped by duty.”
His eyes smoldered with a bronze glow. “And now?”
“I want us to be trapped together.”
Without warning he was spinning away from her, shoving his hands through his chestnut hair until it cascaded down his back in a ripple of satin.
“Dammit, poppet,” he rasped. “You don't know what you're doing to me.”
Jaelyn's fangs lengthened at the sight of Ariyal's body outlined by the moonlight streaming through the bedroom window. Oh, it would be so easy to be distracted by that chiseled, male perfection.
Wondrously, insanely easy.
With an effort she resisted the urge to close the short distance and explore every sexy inch of those muscles.
“I thought you wanted to be mated?” she accused, feeling unnervingly vulnerable.
It wasn't a sensation she was used to.
And it was making her downright edgy.
Perhaps sensing her unease, Ariyal turned back to stab her with a frustrated glare.
“Not if it puts you at risk from the Addonexus.”
He worried about her?
Was that why he hesitated?
Relief jolted through her as she offered a slow smile, shimmying out of her tight pants. Obviously he needed to be convinced that she didn't give a damn about the dangers.
Walking forward she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself against his fully aroused body.
“We both know that there's not much likelihood of us getting out of the caves alive.” She deliberately rubbed against him. “We'll worry about the Addonexus if we manage to survive.”
He sucked in a sharp breath, but his brow furrowed as if he had been struck by a sudden, unpleasant thought.
“Hold on.”
“What?”
“What if we weren't facing certain death?”
It was her turn to frown. “I don't understand.”
“If we weren't facing imminent death, would you still want to have me as your mate?”
Holding his accusing gaze, Jaelyn took his hand and placed it to her chest. Her heart might not beat, but it functioned just fine when it came to love.
And in this moment it was overflowing.
“Feel,” she commanded softly.
A wicked smile softened his expression as his gaze skimmed over her bare breasts.
“With pleasure.”
“No, I mean really feel.” She lowered the last of her guards, releasing her too-long-restrained emotions. “You're my mate whether we exchange blood or not. I just want to make it official.”
She didn't know what she expected.
Arguments.
Teasing.
Embarrassment.
It wasn't for Ariyal to slowly kneel before her, his face pressed against the bare skin of her stomach as his arms wrapped around her.
“I thought Morgana le Fay had destroyed all but my loyalty to my people.” His voice was low, raw. “You have given me back my heart.”
She tangled her fingers in the warm satin of his hair, her love for this man blasting through her.
It was nothing she had wanted, or expected, but now she couldn't imagine how she had ever survived without Ariyal in her life.
“Will you share it with me?”
He tilted back his head to regard her with a somber gaze. “My proud, beautiful Hunter.”
“My stubborn, gorgeous fairy.”
“You forgot sexy,” he softly chided.
“Did I?” She deliberately licked her lips. Hey, it worked in the movies. “Maybe you should remind me.”
On cue, Ariyal surged to his feet, locking his arms around her waist. Then, with gratifying speed he was tossing her onto the mattress and covering her with the welcome heat of his body.
“If you insist,” he murmured.
She stroked her lips down the stubborn line of his jaw. “I do.”
He shuddered in violent response to her teasing caress, turning his head to crush her lips in a kiss of pure demand, his hands lightly tracing up the curve of her waist to cup her breasts.
Jaelyn moaned in approval, arching her back as he teased the tips of her nipples into aching peaks. But it was the rich scent of herbs filling the air that made her fangs throb with need.
Wrapping her legs around his hips, she ran her hands up and down his back, urging him put an end to her torment.
“I want you,” she moaned.
“It's too fast,” he muttered, his mouth pressing frantic kisses over her face before he at last lowered his head to capture her nipple between his lips.
She scraped her nails over his hard ass, smiling as he hissed in pleasure.
“Slow and tender can be good,” she assured him. “But there is a time for fast and hard.”
He lifted his head to meet her hungry gaze, lingering a long moment on her exposed fangs.
“And this is the time for ... ?”
She groaned at the sensation of his warm skin moving against her, heating places that she would have sworn couldn't get any hotter.
“ Us.”
The bronze eyes flared in agreement. “Yes.”
The simple word was a solemn vow as Ariyal entered her with one smooth thrust.
They groaned in unison, Jaelyn's eyes squeezing shut at the feel of him buried deep inside her. Then, as he began a swift, steady rhythm that bordered on the right side of rough, she grabbed his face and brought it down to meet her lips in an explosive kiss.
This was no delicate dance of sensuality.
It was raw and needy and exactly what she desired.
She distantly heard the slam of the bed hitting the wall and the squeak of the mattress, but her concentration was focused solely on the delectable man and the urgent pace that was spiraling toward a blissful completion.
Ariyal threaded his fingers through her hair, his mouth shifting to nuzzle over her cheek to her ear.
“Now, Jaelyn,” he whispered.
She hissed at the savage excitement that flooded through her.
“You're certain?”
He peered deep into her eyes. “You would know if I was lying.”
“True. Something you should keep in mind if you decide to stray in the future.”
He frowned at her hint of unease, which had nothing to do with being a vampire and everything with being a vulnerable woman at the mercy of her heart.
“Do you think this mating is any less binding to me?” he demanded.
It was, of course, the question that teased in the back of her mind.
“Do Sylvermyst mate?”
“You will discover later,” he promised. “Bite me, Jaelyn.”
A dark, primitive need swept aside any lingering question at the sanity of what she was about to do. Why hesitate? This moment had surely been fated since the beginning of time.
Lifting her head, she aimed with lethal accuracy, sliding her fangs into the throat he willingly offered.
And promptly stiffened in amazement.
She hadn't been prepared for the potent power as his blood hit her tongue. Or the rich, addictive flavor.
Or the fact that it would prove to be the finest aphrodisiac.
She groaned. Her entire body felt as if it were on fire, her hips lifting off the mattress to meet his deep thrusts with growing desperation. Then, as the blood slid down her throat, she experienced the first sense of the mating.
“Ariyal,” she breathed in wonderment.
There had been an imprint of this male upon her heart from the very beginning. Something she'd done her best to ignore, despite the danger. But now ...
Even prepared, she was staggered by the sheer intimacy of their connection.
She could actually feel what he was feeling. The pleasure of their lovemaking, the possessive male need to protect her, and, overriding everything, the fierce love that beat in his heart.
A shimmering, golden love for her alone.
Dazzled by the glorious sensations, Jaelyn carefully withdrew her fangs and licked shut the pinprick wounds on his neck.
Ariyal growled softly, shifting so he could run his lips down the length of my throat.
“My turn,” he muttered, abruptly biting her hard enough to break through her skin.
There was a momentary pain, but Jaelyn barely noticed as she felt him suck at the wound, causing her orgasm to crash through her with dizzying force.
“Holy ... shit,” she muttered, feeling as he thrust to his own climax.
She wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders, clinging to him as the last of the powerful convulsions wracked her body. Sex with Ariyal had always been a combustible event.
But this went beyond all fantasies.
Ariyal was hers.
Completely, utterly, and for all eternity.
Slowly relaxing beneath him, Jaelyn was floating on a warm sea of contentment when Ariyal slowly slid off her, ignoring her sleepy protests as he regarded her with a mysterious smile.
“We're not done yet.”
She lifted her brows. Again? Well, hell, why not?
“If you insist,” she murmured with a small smile of invitation.
“I do.” Without warning he was off the bed and holding out a commanding hand. “Come with me.”
She frowned. “Come where?”
He arched a brow. “Do you trust me?”
She did, of course. This was the one person in the entire world who would never, ever hurt or betray her.
Placing her fingers in his hand, she allowed herself to be pulled out of the bed and coaxed out of the farmhouse to stand in the center of the backyard.
Ariyal turned to face her, his expression somber, but before she could ask why they were standing buck naked in the middle of nowhere, a shimmering mist began to form around them.
Jaelyn's eyes widened as the mist thickened, the color flickering from the palest silver to the deepest crimson as it surrounded them.
“What is it?” she asked, her voice low with reverent wonder.
He lifted her hand to the center of his chest, his eyes reflecting the various colors of the mist.
“The Sylvermyst mating ceremony.”
“It's beautiful.” Almost as beautiful as the man standing before her, she silently acknowledged. “What will it do?”
“The sharing of our blood has united our souls,” he explained softly. “The aurora will unite our hearts.”
She trembled as the mists brushed her bare skin, bringing with it the scent of herbs.
Suddenly she could sense the beats of Ariyal's heart. And more than that ... the basic essence that made him the man that she loved.
His ruthless loyalty, his strength, and his ability to love without conditions or judgment.
“Yes,” she said, pressing against him as the mist wrapped them in a shimmer of light. “Mine.”
He wrapped his arms around her, his face buried in her hair.
“Mine.”
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Behind the Veil
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It was like a building out of ancient Greece.