Destined for Time

by Stacie Simpson

  “That’s not something you need to worry about Angela, because if we continue down this road we’re traveling, we will be bonded as anai and there won’t be any chance of us leaving each other.” He said it so matter of fact, like there wasn’t a doubt anywhere in his mind.

  I turned over to face him. “And that’s supposed to make me feel better? What if we do this ritual and then a few years later we decide we don’t want to be together anymore?”

  He reached out to caress the side of my face. “We are already bound Angela, we just haven’t completed the ritual.” I shook my head and started to pull away but he pulled me closer and continued, “Tell me you don’t feel it Angela. I can’t imagine myself ever wanting another woman as I want you. Since the day I met you, my heart and my soul have belonged to you and nothing, not even death, will ever change that.”

  It was exactly how I felt about him, but I still couldn’t admit it out loud. Just like him I hadn’t been with anyone since the day we met. I’d turned down offers from men at the gym, or on the job, or hell, even one of Rachel’s teachers hit on me. I just couldn’t see myself with anyone but Rook.

  “Feelings change over time Rook and what you are suggesting is a lot more binding than a marriage. We could still get tired of each other someday, then where would we be? And what happens when I grow old?”

  He gave me an expectant smile like whatever he was about to say would cause a humorous reaction. “Once the ritual is completed you won’t age anymore because your soul will be bound to mine and I don’t age.”

  My eyes nearly popped out of my head and by the way he laughed my expression must have been everything he expected it to be.

  “If you wouldn’t remember it, I think I’d turn back time just to see that reaction again,” he laughed some more.

  “Ha-ha. That’s very funny,” I said. “But seriously, this is a lot to take in. And everything you’re telling me is actually making it harder for me to make this decision. What about Rachel? I can’t just stop aging and watch my daughter grow old and die.”

  He shrugged, “So when the time is right we’ll ask her if she wants one of the nightshifters to change her over. Then she won’t age anymore and she’ll even be able to turn into the animal form of her sire.”

  I snorted and rolled my eyes, “Be serious, we can’t just have Rachel changed into a nightshifter.”

  He rolled me onto my back and lodged himself between my legs so fast I didn’t have time to blink. “I am being serious Angela. We’re doing the same thing with Serafina’s mother right now. We’ve been slowly letting her see our world and when she’s ready, Serafina will ask her if she wants to become a part of it.”

  I didn’t know what to say, I just stared at him in shock.

  His erection rubbed against my clitoris and I moaned when my womb clenched in response. “Now that you know the truth, why keep running away? They probably would make you leave the force if you didn’t quit before it came to that, but eventually that wouldn’t matter anyway. You wouldn’t be a part of the human world any more. You’d be a part of our world. Think about it Angela, we could finally be together and we’d find you a place to fit in, somewhere you could work where you wouldn’t have to hide what you feel inside.”

  He gave a little twist of his hips that made my eyes roll back in my head.

  “That’s not really fair you know, using sex to convince me to stay with you.”

  I wrapped my legs around his hips and it was his turn to moan as I rotated my hips, grinding myself against his hard flesh.

  Silver sparks danced in his eyes when he said, “I dreamed about you last night and I’m convinced it was a message from the Goddess. She told me that our path will not be easy but we have something important to do together. Then she showed me the future we could have if we don’t allow anything to get in our way. I already knew we were meant to be together, but now I know our fates have always been intertwined. There was never another choice for either of us, because only together will we ever be whole.”

  Before I could protest his mouth claimed mine and I couldn’t speak any more; couldn’t think about anything other than his tongue sliding along mine and the warmth spreading through my body.

  I rolled him to his back without breaking the kiss. He seemed happy to let me have control and groaned when I rubbed myself along the thick arousal beneath his sweatpants. Oh that felt so good. I did it again, and again. His hands came down and clamped on my hips, gripping tight as he urged me to move faster.

  The kiss broke when he sat up and stripped my shirt off over my head, then he lifted my breasts with his calloused hands and feasted. He teased the nipples, making the soft tips tighten into throbbing peaks as his wet tongue swirled and he sucked them into his hot mouth one by one. His hands kneaded while his mouth devoured and pleasure twisted in my core, tightened my nerve endings to the point of breaking.

  It was almost too much to take. I buried my hands in his hair and held on while he drove me out of my mind with desire for him. My body writhed against him but it wasn’t enough. I needed to feel him inside me.

  Grabbing a handful of his hair I pulled his lips back to mine. His arms came around me, holding me tight like he’d never let go. Our tongues tangled while my breasts rubbed against his hard chest, the friction sending lighting through my tightly wound nerve endings.

  “I need more,” he said with a ragged breath as he flipped me off of his lap and stood, already reaching for my waistband.

  “Yes, now...” I agreed wholeheartedly, then added, “I have condoms in my purse.”

  “Mom, are you in there?” Rachel’s voice came with a knock from outside the door and we froze.

  Why was this happening to me? “I’ll be out in just a minute Rachel,” I called without looking away from Rook. His eyes were wild and I knew mine wouldn’t look any better. Quietly I told him, “I’m so sorry.”

  He fell back onto the bed sitting on the edge with his head in his hands. “You don’t have anything to be sorry about Angela. Go take care of you daughter. This can wait for another time.” His voice was rough, guttural and I knew exactly how he felt.

  I stood there for a moment silently screaming in my head, trying desperately to convince my body it wouldn’t combust if Rook didn’t make me come in the next instant.

  “Mom?”

  “I said I’ll be out in a minute Rachel,” I snapped, then a little more calmly, “Why don’t you look at the room service menu and decide what you want for breakfast?”

  “I don’t know who pissed in her Cheerios...” we heard her mutter as she walked away.

  Rook handed me my shirt and once I had it back in place he kissed me. It was short and sweet, but held a promise for more to come. When he held me like that and kissed me like that, I wanted to believe we could have a happy ending. But my heart had been broken too badly, and I wasn’t sure I could risk losing everything I’d ever worked for, just for the chance to be happy with him. Why couldn’t life come with guarantees? Or while I was at it, how about a Fairy Godmother to make all my dreams come true?

  Rachel was sitting at the table looking over the room service menu when we came out of the bedroom.

  “My, my, my... Look who finally got laid last night. You know, I’ve been telling her she needed to do that for a while now, and I can’t say I blame her for finally giving it up with you.” She actually bit her lower lip while her eyes took in all the luscious muscles of Rook’s bare chest.

  Rook had crossed the room and was in front of the couch where he’d left his shirt.

  “Rachel, he was just in there to use the bathroom,” I started but Rook held up a hand and I waited while he pulled a T-shirt over his head and slipped on a pair of sneakers that must have been brought along with the sweats he was wearing.

  When he was fully dressed again he approached Rachel and said, “Rachel, you don’t know me, but if things go the way I’d like, I’m going to be spending a lot of time with your mother. I believe in giving e
veryone a fair chance so I’ll make you a deal. I’m not going to treat you like a child because you’re old enough to be treated like an adult, in fact, legally you are an adult. But in return you need to stop acting like a child. Disrespecting your mother like that not only hurts her, but it makes you seem petty and childish, and I don’t think that’s how you want people to see you.”

  While Rachel sat there slack-jawed he told me, “I’m going to go check in with Dragon. If you need anything I can be reached by dialing *13 on any house phone. Anything you order from room service will be comped along with the room so go ahead and splurge.” He gave me a peck on the lips then he left before I could say another word.

  “Wow Mom. How did you land that one, and where can I find one for myself?” Rachel was staring at the door Rook had gone through with wide eyes.

  “Just tell me what you want from room service Rachel so I can get breakfast ordered.”

  Today was going to be a long day for both of us. I’d have to tell her about Emily, and sooner was always better than later. Everything with Rook would just have to be put on the back burner while I helped Rachel deal with the devastating loss of her best friend.

  * * * * *

  Chapter Thirteen

  “We’ll do what we can to keep them safe Rook, but it would be a whole lot easier if Angela was willing to stay here at the resort,” Dragon said from where he sat behind his desk.

  I ran my fingers through my hair pushing it back from my face while I paced from one end of the room to the other. It was still damp from the cold shower I’d taken at my place after leaving Angela. “Don’t you think I know that? Don’t you think I’ve told her that? She won’t listen to me. She’s too worried about her career, and nothing short of mind control will save it once they get wind of her staying here.”

  He shrugged. “I could go down and have a talk with her lieutenant.”

  “No.” I shook my head. “We’ve talked about that. It would take too much mind control to keep the entire police department from suspecting us of doing something shady. Every time another witness stumbled into the precinct with a complaint we’d have to go down there and wipe everyone’s minds. It would eventually fry their brains.”

  “Then what other options do you have?” He leaned back and steepled his hands.

  “I want to convince her that she doesn’t need anything in the human world. She’s too independent for me to simply say she doesn’t have to worry about working anymore because I can take care of her. So I need to find something in our world that she could sink her teeth into. Something she could be just as passionate about as she is her police work. I also need to get her alone. I accept that she has a daughter and that Rachel needs her, but interruptions like the one we had this morning are not helpful.”

  Dragon chuckled. “Do you remember when you sent Liam to get me when I was in front of Lilith’s with Serafina?”

  I glared at him which only made him laugh more. “That was different. You were going to claim your mate in a public place before she knew anything about our world. I was behind closed doors in a private suite upstairs, and Angela already knows all about us.”

  “It’s still funny to see you with the shoe on the other foot. I’ll have to think about what kind of job we could offer Angela, but in the meantime, if Angela agrees, we can assign someone to keep Rachel occupied.”

  “I’ll check with her and ask for volunteers. I’m going to ask Solomon to go out to Angela’s house tonight to set up a ward. It won’t be as good as the one here, but it’ll be better than nothing.”

  Dragon got up and came around his desk to where I’d stopped wearing a path in his carpet. “I’m sure he won’t mind doing that for you.” He clapped me on the back and said, “Why don’t you take some time off and take care of your mate? Serafina and I don’t have any plans to leave the resort and you’ve done a good job training the security staff. Even with a possible traitor living amongst us, we should be safe.”

  “We have Clarissa under constant surveillance. If she steps one toe out of line we’ll know about it. We still don’t know if she was involved in Serafina’s kidnapping, or if she was just an accidental informant. She hasn’t had contact with her sister Ivanna since we spread the word that she was working with Travali.”

  Clarissa was the sex demon who managed the dancers at Mystique. Ivanna was her sister, and she was also Garrek’s bride. Ivanna conveniently left the table to powder her nose right before the bomb went off that killed her new husband. Then Dragon smelled Ivanna and Travali’s scents on his terrace after Serafina was taken. Other evidence led us to believe Ivanna had helped set Serafina up when Malachi attacked her as well. But none of Ivanna’s actions would have been possible unless someone inside the resort was providing her with information. We knew that someone was Clarissa, but we didn’t know if she had just been gossiping, or if she was an accomplice. We decided the best way to find out was to watch and wait, thinking maybe we’d get lucky and Clarissa would help us learn what Travali was planning next.

  “I have faith in you and your people. We’ll catch Clarissa if and when she slips; it’s only a matter of time.”

  I left Dragon’s office and went to mine to set up security details for Angela and Rachel. They’d each have at least one of my people trailing them at all times. Once that was taken care of I tracked down Solomon and found him with Serafina in the office he’d moved into after The Gateway was destroyed. He agreed to set up the ward as soon as the sun went down. Sometimes living with a bunch of people who couldn’t go out in the daylight could be so annoying. But that was one of the reasons Dragon opened a casino resort; no one would ever question why it was so dark all the time.

  While I was talking with Solomon it was obvious Serafina could use some help around the office so I explained the need to keep Rachel occupied and we all agreed that asking her to work with Serafina would be a good idea. That would keep her busy during the day and Solomon offered to escort her to The Catacombs at night. Now I just had to clear our plans with Angela.

  When I went back upstairs Angela was alone in the sitting area of the suite and I asked, “Where’s Rachel?”

  Angela’s eyes were a bit sunken with dark circles under them and I wished there was something I could do to make all this easier for her. “She’s in the other room. I think she finally cried herself to sleep. I told her about Emily and she feels like it’s all her fault.”

  I sat down beside her and took her hand in mine. “I’m sorry she has to go through this, but she’s lucky to have you here to take care of her. You’re a good mother, and someday Rachel will realize that just like we all do when we finally grow up enough.”

  She gave me a small smile. “Were you the same Rook? Did you think you knew better than your parents, or think they didn’t understand what you were going through?”

  I shook my head ruefully. “I was one of the worst because I didn’t want to be a Guardian. I wanted to be free to choose what I wanted to do with my life. And I wanted to spend my youth joking and laughing, and playing pranks on all the shapeshifters like my friends did. Instead I spent almost every waking moment training to be the best Guardian I could be because I had no other choice.”

  “So you didn’t choose to be a Guardian?” she asked curiously.

  “No, I didn’t choose this life, but now I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Guardians are chosen by our Goddess just as their charges are. One Guardian and one charge are born on the sacred day every century. The charge is paired with the Guardian from the previous sacred day and the baby Guardian is trained for the next hundred years until his or her charge is born. We know which babies are chosen because they bear the mark of the Goddess somewhere on their bodies. I was born with the tattoo on chest and that’s how my parents knew I would be raised as a Guardian. The mark would have faded until it was barely discernible like Dragon’s did if not for the bonding ritual on the day of his birth. Guardians are bound to their charges using ink infused with magic and t
he blood of their charges which is used to trace over the mark of the Goddess.

  When Dragon was first born I resented him and the prison I felt he’d trapped me in. But with time I discovered that being a mentor is actually very rewarding. He had parents, but he learned a lot from me, he even picked up my accent, though both of us have almost completely lost that now.”

  “I’ve noticed your accent before but couldn’t ever place it. I thought maybe it was from Eastern Europe but our linguistics people said no.” She lay down on the sofa with her head in my lap and I combed my fingers through her hair while we talked.

  “It doesn’t come from human civilization; it comes from my people, the time demons. I think Dragon actually worked to pick it up because all the ladies seemed to like it.”

  She laughed and the sound lightened my heart.

  “Anyway, when Dragon was about fifty I finally realized that my parents and my trainers had been right about so many things that I had to go back and thank them for putting up with me all those years.”

  She turned her head and smiled at me. “That sounds about right but in my case it was a teacher who never gave up on me. My parents never did a single thing to help anyone but themselves.”

  “I’m glad you had someone in your life to give you hope and guidance, since your parents weren’t up to the task. And on that note, we should talk about Rachel.”

  She sat up to face me with her brows drawn together. “What about Rachel?”

  I took a moment to choose my words. “Angela, you are a good mother and you love your daughter very much. Anyone who knows you can see that, but sometimes we all need a little help. You can’t always be there for Rachel because of work and because you deserve to have a life of your own. That’s where mentors and friends come in. Rachel hasn’t been doing a good job of choosing friends lately and she doesn’t appear to have any mentors. I think it might be beneficial for her to spend time with adults who could help point her in the right direction.”