by Scott, J. S.
“I love you, Drew. More than anything or anyone else in the world. But I’m going to ask some day. And I hope you’ll rethink your answer. If I’m part of the prophecies, it has to be done.” Talia sighed and laid her head against his shoulder, twining her arms around his neck. Maybe by the time she and Kat needed to act, Drew would love her, accept her for what and who she was, and respect what she had to do.
“Do you honestly believe I don’t love you already? That I didn’t fall hard and fast almost from the very beginning?” Drew moved, pushing her backward and against the kitchen wall. “Look at me, Talia.”
Damn. The connection of their minds made it almost impossible for him not to discern her thoughts. “You’ve never said,” she answered, focusing her eyes in the middle of his chest, remembering her murmuring the truth in a moment of passion, and not hearing it back from him.
He gripped her chin, forcing her gaze to his. “I never had a chance, since you disappeared before I could say the words.” His voice was graveled, his stare incredibly stormy and intense. “What’s it going to take to convince you, so I’ll never again feel or hear your doubt?”
Talia had doubted her lovability all of her life, so she had no idea when she’d actually accept it. “Maybe when you tell me,” she teased lightly, her heart begging him to say the words, and her body wanting his to show her.
Drew crowded her, trapping her between his muscular body and the hard kitchen wall. “I love you,” he said in a low, guttural voice as he leaned down to nuzzle her ear. “I love everything about you, mo grha. I even love your stubbornness, even though it’s likely to make me crazy,” he continued, raining kisses over her face and neck.
Talia speared her fingers in Drew’s hair, her heart thundering wildly against her chest wall. Red-hot licks of flame rose wherever he touched, suffusing her whole body. She fisted his hair as he tasted the sensitive flesh at her neck, her body already crying out for her mate. “Drew, I need—”
“I love you,” he said again, tearing open her shirt with one tug, sending the buttons up the front scattering all over the kitchen floor. He moved his leg between her thighs, letting her straddle it.
Talia moved shamelessly, letting her heated, liquid core slide along his muscular leg, cursing the denim that was in her way. “Inside me,” she begged, needing more.
“I love you,” Drew said once again, his fingers teasing her nipples through the light, lacy fabric that barely covered them. “And I’m going to tell you again while I watch you come for me.”
Talia moaned, needing more of Drew between her thighs than just this, although her hips rotated wildly against the rock-hard muscles of his leg, her body straining for a release that was being denied to her.
“I’d never deny you that, Talia. I just want to make it sweeter,” Drew told her gruffly, reaching down to release the button and zipper of her jeans.
Talia wanted to tell him it was already going to be sweet, but her breath caught in her lungs as Drew’s fingers slowly slid into her panties, meeting nothing but damp passion and heat.
“Christ. I love the way your body responds to me,” he muttered harshly against her neck.
“I can’t help it,” Talia told him with utter abandon. “The moment you touch me, I need you inside me.”
“I don’t want you to be able to help it. I want to feel you and watch you come apart for me,” he said demandingly.
He was getting what he wished. Talia was nearly insane with need, whimpering as one of his fingers slowly traced over her clit, ramping up her need for him until she couldn’t form a single coherent thought. “Fuck me, Drew. Please.”
He grasped the back of her head, tilting it upward with a gentle tug on her hair. Talia saw a quick glimpse of his fire-like eyes before his mouth came down on hers in a powerful embrace that rocked her to her soul. He claimed her mouth, invading her with his heated tongue: exploring, possessing, devouring, and adoring all at the same time. Opening to him, she accepted all he wanted to give her, pushing her tongue back against his with a needy moan, showing him how much she wanted him.
Come for me, Talia.
Drew spoke to her in her mind, removing his leg from between her thighs as his hands moved to cup her ass. She gasped into his mouth as he impaled her, pressing her back hard against the wall as he buried his cock to the hilt inside her, having dealt with the encumbrance of their clothing with a mental command. At that moment, their minds and souls intermingled, their bodies connected; they were one. They had the same needs, the same wants, and they strained as one to reach the pinnacle together, each pummeling stroke of Drew’s cock lifting them both higher and higher. She pulled her mouth from his to take a breath, her heart racing and her breathing ragged as Drew pounded into her relentlessly, unceasingly.
“Mine,” Drew huffed possessively, gripping the cheeks of her ass tighter.
Talia’s arms were still around Drew’s neck and as she spotted the mating mark, her mating mark, on his shoulder, she moved her head forward, put her mouth over it, and nipped at it, as though it would make him more hers than he already was.
Drew growled, as though her actions had just inflamed him even more.
Her climax was swift and merciless, slamming into her body in pulsation after pulsation. “Yes,” Talia screamed, the back of her head hitting the wall behind her. Her body rocked against Drew’s as he groaned, “I love you, Talia. Only you. I love you so fucking much it scares me.”
His big body shuddered as his scalding release flooded her womb, his fiery stare consuming her as he watched her tremble with her own orgasm, letting herself go completely, trusting Drew to hold her to the earth as she shattered.
They clung to each other, breathless. Talia wanted to drop her legs to the ground, but thought better of it, not sure if her shaky limbs would hold her.
Two seconds later, they were both dressed and Drew swung her up into his arms as though she weighed nothing, his legs eating up the distance to a recliner in the living room. He sat, bringing her down on top of him, holding her against his body, his heart hammering beneath her ear.
“I love you,” he stated again, his tone a little stubborn this time. “So don’t ask me to throw you into harm’s way. There’s little I wouldn’t do for you, mo grha, but that’s one thing I can’t do.”
Talia peeked up at him to find his eyes gleaming with a warning not to argue. “Is it you, or your demon?” Somehow she was going to have to find a way to tame whatever was causing him to be so protective. Just a little.
“Both. It might be easier if it were one or the other, but every part of me wants you safeguarded,” he answered gruffly.
Talia sighed. She’d figure it out in time. Everything was so new for both the man and the demon holding her so covetously. Hopefully one of them would lighten up, because the time was coming for some of the prophecies to be fulfilled, and she couldn’t let them not happen. Too much depended on her and Kat doing what they were born to do.
Drew was her heart and soul. And she understood his reluctance to see her in a dangerous situation. Hadn’t she felt the same way when he’d had to go off to fight the Evils, push them back into the demon realm? It had been all she could manage not to throw herself at him and make him stay.
“Things aren’t always the way we want them to be,” Talia answered quietly.
“Tell me about it. If I had my way, we’d be married and on a very long honeymoon right now. I’d show you all the places you’ve only studied in books,” Drew answered unhappily. “After we finally got out of bed,” he added, his voice a little lighter.
Talia’s heart skipped a beat, her spirit soaring that Drew knew exactly what she’d always wanted. She did want to travel, see some of the places she’d never been able to see. It really hit her then that all Drew really wanted was to make her happy, see her be safe and healthy. “I love you. And we can do all those things when all o
f this is over.” She kissed him softly on the lips. “Is that one of the perks to being married to a billionaire demon?” she teased him softly.
“One of many,” he told her, raising a mischievous brow.
Talia reached over and snatched one of Drew’s favorite truffles from the coffee table and unwrapped it, holding it up to his mouth as she said, “And then there are these little chocolate menaces. I think I’ve become addicted to them,” she told him with a sigh.
Drew reached up and took the candy from her hand and bit into it, chewing slowly as he held the other half up to her mouth. “Share with me?” he rumbled, his eyes telling her that he was talking about more than food.
Even though she’d eaten a ton of them while Drew had been gone, she took it anyway, licking the chocolate from his fingers slowly. “Delicious,” she declared cheekily. “And I’ll always share with you.”
Drew’s eyes grew dark, and Talia visualized an image in her mind of her licking chocolate from another part of his body, a scene that was drifting through Drew’s head. In the vision, his head was thrown back, his hands fisting her hair as she took his cock into her mouth, sucking chocolate from him as she moaned around him, naked.
“Drew!” Talia flushed and smacked him on the shoulder. “Do you ever stop thinking about sex?” Really, she was probably a hypocrite, because that steamy scene had dampened her panties. There was nothing she’d love more than to make Drew come apart like he did to her.
He gave her a wicked, wicked grin. “Nope. I used to be obsessed with food. Now I’m obsessed with you. If some kind of food is involved, all the better.”
“But you weren’t…”
“Eating?” he finished for her. “I could be.”
Another naughty image flowed through her head, with her being featured as Drew’s erotic feast. Talia squirmed in his lap, her body responding to his carnal thoughts. “Stop. We just had crazy good sex against the kitchen wall.”
“Never tease a demon, mo stór. We’re insatiable with our mates,” he cautioned with a smirk.
Talia felt the proof of his statement under the cheeks of her ass. Drew was rock-hard…again. “Prove it,” she challenged. “I’d like to try out those fantasies of yours.”
“You’ll be sore, love,” he told her regretfully.
“Not if I’m on my knees,” she answered in a sultry voice, her mind full of images of the things she wanted to do with Drew.
Drew gulped, his throat visibly contracting as he swallowed. “That’s the fantasy you want to try out?” he croaked. “I was just teasing.”
“I’m not,” she told him, palming his erection under her ass. She grabbed a handful of truffles, gesturing to them. “I assume you can melt these for me.”
He nodded, his eyes hooded.
“Take me to the bedroom, Drew. I’m suddenly feeling very hungry.”
Talia loved the hot and fierce look in his eyes as he stood with her still in his arms. She could get to him. This incredible, scorching alpha male made her feel like she could fly if she wanted to.
He took the stairs two at a time.
And he definitely melted the chocolate, along with melting her heart once again.
Talia and Drew were married the very next day, with Kat and Zach standing as witnesses at the county courthouse.
Talia didn’t mind. In fact, she’d asked for it to be that way. With her father incarcerated in the demon realm, with Hunter’s whereabouts still unknown, and with the uncertainties of what the prophecies foretold, not to mention what fate had in store for the world, she didn’t want a lot of fanfare. And, more to the point, she didn’t want to waste another moment not belonging to the man she loved. She needed to belong to Drew, and needed him to belong to her.
They celebrated at Drew’s home with a small dinner party with food from one of the finest gourmet restaurants in the area. And, of course, a cake. And fresh salmon as a special celebration treat for Pumpkin, Talia’s cat-Cupid extraordinaire, who had brought Talia and Drew together in the first place.
Talia and Kat had gotten a little tipsy on the champagne, while Zach and Drew remained perfectly sober, a characteristic of all Sentinels. Alcohol didn’t intoxicate them.
Kat had dragged Talia outside for a breath of fresh air, saying they both needed a little breather after a few glasses of champagne.
Talia sighed as she stared at the beautiful diamond ring on her finger, holding it up to the light to watch it sparkle. “I can’t believe I’m married. I didn’t think that would ever happen. Sometimes I still think I’m dreaming.”
Kat took a sip of the bottled water she’d taken outside with her, giving Talia a puzzled look. “Why?”
“I’m not exactly a guy magnet, Kat. And Drew is just so incredible. It’s hard to believe he’s mine.”
“I know what you mean,” Kat replied dreamily. “It’s been a little while for me and Zach, but I sometimes still find it hard to believe that he finds me that irresistible.” She smiled at Talia. “Are you happy?”
Talia wasn’t sure “happy” could really explain how she felt, but she answered, “Yes.”
Before Drew, her life had been empty, lonely. And it likely would have stayed that way had he not come into her life. “Sometimes I feel like the ugly duckling who’s suddenly a swan.”
“Sentinels are raw. They see only with their souls and then with their hearts with their radiants,” Kat answered with a sigh.
“Thank God!” The two women spoke emphatically together, turning to look at each other and laughing out loud.
Talia looked up at the stars, dazzled by the tiny flecks of light. “I wish Kristoff could have been here. And I’m worried about Hunter.”
“Me too,” Kat admitted. “Hunter should have checked in by now. He’s capable of flashing back and forth in an instant. Unless something happened.”
Drew and Zach opened the sliding door, stepping out into the night with their women. “We got lonely,” Drew admitted, wrapping his arms around Talia’s waist.
She leaned back against him, for the first time in her life feeling complete.
Zach held his wife in the same manner, a comfortable silence between all of them as they all looked up into the night sky.
I love you , Drew told her in her mind. I might not deserve you, but I’ll cherish you every day for eternity.
Talia’s eyes watered with her overwhelming emotions as she covered Drew’s hands around her waist with her own, savoring their connection. Kat was right. The Sentinels were raw, and she was grateful for it.
Drew loved her exactly as she was, and even felt unworthy of her love. But she’d work every day to make the stubborn Irishman realize that his love was the most precious thing in her life, and always would be.
I love you, too. She sent the emotion and words back to him, and let out a long sigh.
There were challenges ahead for the Sentinels, but she intended to make sure that she and Drew faced them together.
“Happy?” Drew whispered aloud in a husky voice.
Talia turned in his arms, seeing a slight look of apprehension on his face. Was he really worried that she’d regret being mated to him? “Ecstatic,” she replied, wrapping her arms around his neck and proceeding to show him just how elated she was, by pulling his head down to hers and laying the sexiest kiss she could manage on his mouth.
Zach and Kat disappeared silently, leaving Talia alone with Drew, and she spent the rest of the night showing her new husband just how crazy she was about him, and how very much she loved him, even if he was a stubborn demon.
Hunter Winston had never been a pleasant man, even on a good day. And today wasn’t even remotely close to one of those good days.
Even when he was human, he’d been a bastard, a man more concerned with his own pleasures than anything else in his life. And as a Sentinel, he hadn’t changed a bit.
>
“Fuck!” He wasn’t sure what the hell was guarding this woman he was seeking, but it seemed like he took one step forward and two steps back, never getting any closer to the coordinates Zach had given him.
He’d rather be lopping off the heads of Evils right now, but he still had a thread of honor left—albeit deeply buried—a part of him that owed a debt to Kristoff for saving his life. Sometimes, he wasn’t sure if being spared had actually been a blessing or some sort of Hell that he’d been living in for well over a hundred years.
He kept moving, feeling like he’d landed in some sort of enchanted land: the kind with flesh-eating plants, carnivorous beasts, and other assorted obstacles meant to keep everything and everyone out.
He couldn’t transport, which really pissed him off. He’d gotten his powers back, only to lose them in this shithole of an area again.
Was he in another realm? Or was this area really enchanted? He didn’t have a goddamn clue. He knew he wasn’t in the human realm in Washington—at least, not the normal Washington—and he wanted to get the hell out of here worse than he’d wanted anything in his life, other than to slay Evils.
Kill. Kill. Kill.
The impulse to annihilate Evils was pounding at him relentlessly, and he was losing his will to keep up this senseless trek.
He swatted at another plant, feeling more as if he were in the jungle rather than an unpopulated area of the Olympic Peninsula. If he had a little dog named Toto, he’d be telling it that they weren’t in Washington anymore. Problem was, he wasn’t Dorothy, he didn’t have ruby shoes, and he couldn’t give a shit if he got home anymore.
All he wanted, all he needed, was to slay Evils until the pounding in his head went away.
Kill. Kill. Kill.
But the vision of Talia’s pleading look, and the debt he owed Kristoff made him keep moving forward, every step he took getting heavier. He was like a human again, most of his powers gone, and he was beaten all to hell from the days he’d spent trying to claw through the hazardous environment.