“You don’t have a soul. That puts you in jeopardy. He could easily claim your body.” Gabriel frowned. "I don't like it that he talked to you."
“I don’t think he’d like this body,” she said on a laugh. “His own is pretty spectacular. Why move into a female when the male is so much stronger?”
“You are spectacular.”
Her eyes glowed at his husky words. “Gabriel.”
Every muscle in his body locked as she stood and moved to him, put a hand on his chest. Desire pumped through him. She rose on her toes, her hands sliding up to his shoulders as he caught her by the waist and lowered his head to hers. At the first touch of her mouth on his, he moaned. Need flowed between them and the passion they’d ignited early that morning on Maggie’s balcony flamed again. Gabriel lost himself in her, in her taste, in the feel of her slender body pressed against him.
A hot wind blew through the trees and just as quickly died. The crickets and frogs fell silent and the night stilled around them. Gabriel broke their kiss and listened. Nothing moved. The hairs lifted on Gabriel’s neck and fear swamped his desire.
"Inside. Now." Gabriel grabbed her around the waist and half-carried her toward the house despite her squeak of outrage. He took her all the way into the kitchen’s back entry before he set her down on her feet again.
She stared at him. “What the hell was that about?”
He crossed his arms and thought frantically. How to explain the silence, the fear for her safety that now consumed him, without sounding like a lovesick idiot?
At his continued silence, Rose sniffed. “Talk about cavemen,” she muttered, and stalked through the darkened kitchen, down the hall and to the main stairway.
Following her, Gabriel's lips twitched, his dread lessening. "Caveman? I think I missed part of the conversation."
Rose stopped three steps up the stairs and whirled around. She jabbed her finger at him. "You are the most frustrating and willfully ignorant man. Hard-headed and arrogant." At his blank look, she blew out a breath and flew up the stairs.
Gabriel watched her go. How in the world would he be able to walk away from her? At a cough behind him, he turned to see Maggie standing in the doorway to the hearth room.
"What did you do to make her angry?" She crossed her arms and leaned against the doorjamb.
"It felt like we were being watched. Out there." He shook his head. "Spooked me, I guess."
"You don't look like the type to get spooked easily."
"I didn't used to be. I just want to keep her safe, you know?" He looked up the stairs. "I should go."
"You’ll walk away from all the sparks flying between you? That makes you an idiot." Maggie shook her head. "You Caine men. You're all more trouble than you're worth, as far as I'm concerned," she added tartly. "Go on. Go to her, or you’ll regret it later.”
Gabriel went. Eagerness had him taking the stairs three at a time, following her scent. At the end of the west wing, dim light shone from the master bedroom. He strode toward where he could feel her waiting.
"I can’t stop being who I am." He pushed the door open as he spoke and fell silent at the seduction within. Fat candles had been set on the floor by the wall and the king-sized bed had been made with new linens, a welcome lake of pale blue. But the bed didn't hold his attention.
Rose stood in front of the window. She glowed in the waning moonlight, golden in a shower of silver light. Beautiful. Mesmerizing. She turned to him, purpose in every line of her body.
"Listen to me, Gabriel Caine. I want you. I want you like I haven't wanted anything, ever. You are the drug that itched beneath my skin, the high I longed for but never knew existed." Her voice, low, reached him, wrapped him up in need.
"No." Fear slammed through him. He didn't know tender. He couldn't give her tender, and that’s what she deserved. Gabriel opened his mouth to tell her so and then she was there, taking his hand, her eyes so serious. She pulled him toward the bed, lifting up his tee shirt with one hand.
He took a deep breath and stepped back, grabbed both her hands in one of his. "Rose. No."
She stilled, looked up at him, her face open and guileless. "You told me you cared for me. Was that a lie?"
"No. Not a lie." Out of options, Gabriel backed up and sat on the bed. Rose stepped between his knees.
"Then talk to me."
Gabriel sighed, brought her hands up to his mouth. Kissed each palm.
"I have killed those I loved. I'm not about to kill you, too. It's my biggest fear."
Rose frowned, but before she could argue with him, he released her hands. Slid his up to her face, cradled it gently. "I do want you. I do. But there is no future for us, Rose. There can't be. I can't risk you and live with myself.”
"We're adults not children, and we're not unrealistic. Becoming lovers won't change anything. Stay. Be my lover. Be the first real love in my life.”
“How am I supposed to deny you?”
“Tell me you don’t want me.” Her breath in his ear sent a shiver through him.
"This is a mistake," he said, hovering, drawing out the moment.
"Not if we both want it. We do both want it, Gabriel." Her hot hand went to his ruined cheek, held him.
He turned and pressed a kiss into her palm. "This is for now. Not for always. Right?"
Her smile reached her eyes and she leaned into him. "Just for tonight," she murmured, and pushed him flat onto the bed. "We'll argue about tomorrow later." She pressed tiny kisses along his ravaged cheek, skipped his lips and kissed his other cheek before moving on down to his throat.
He leaned his head back to give her mouth better access. His heart caught, tangled with emotion as she scrambled on top of him.
Gabriel sighed, drew her closer and nestled his face in the scented curve of her neck. His senses stretched out, rejoiced at the feel of her against him even as he grew hard against her.
"You've been a hunger in my soul that I never knew existed," he said, his voice low.
She caught her breath. Framed his face in her hands and looked deep into his eyes. "Kiss me."
It wasn't their first kiss, and yet it resonated like one, she thought dimly. Slow, and sweet, causing shivers to chase across her skin. Lips and tongues and the meeting, parting and meeting again lengthened time to what felt like hours. He tasted like dark sin, deliciously spicy-sweet, and the thrust and dueling of their tongues took on a sensuality she craved.
They parted, taking a quick breath. The candles scented the air with vanilla. The night breeze, heavy with citrus blossom, drifted in through the open window. At his look of wonder, her heart took the last step into love.
On a sigh she dug her hands into his hair; the silky strands a spicy delight to her senses. She gasped for air when his lips left hers. He nipped at the juncture of throat and shoulder, and all her senses leaped in surprise.
"Gabriel," she moaned. She held his head to her, her senses swimming.
His hands skimmed her sides, lifted her shirt up and off. Rose, eager to follow his lead, tugged at his tee shirt until he stripped it away and his chest was at her fingertips.
He was all hard muscle and cool skin. She burned hot as flame against him as she trailed kisses across his chest, ran her hands down his arms. Rose looked deeply into smoky gray eyes, and smiled as she felt his hands go to the snap of her jeans. She did him the same favor, and after wrestling with denim, they were both naked on the huge bed.
Her body amazed him. Slender, limber, her small breasts with their tight pink nipples entranced him. The line of her body drew his eyes down to the copper curls between her long legs, and his mouth watered even as his hands stroked, teased, discovered.
She was fluid, hot in his arms, her summer-blue eyes mesmerizing as she flowed over him, touching, soothing, inciting everywhere they connected. Her eyes were alight with mischief. Her hand on his aching cock, her silky hair sweeping his belly and the feel of her hot, wet tongue there snapped his tight control.
With a
roar, he lifted her over him, brought her mouth to his, and rolled with her, trapping her beneath his body as he ravaged her mouth.
Had it ever been like this? Wild, soothing, a crescendo built inside him. More, he had to have more. He caught one taut nipple between his lips and tugged, suckled.
"Gabriel!" Rose held his head to her breast, gasping for breath. His mouth was hot where the rest of him remained cool. She shivered at the contrast, gasped again when he transferred his attentions to her other breast, sending sparks to ignite the heat between her legs. Her hands lifted his face to hers for a searing kiss. "Take me."
The look in his eyes, both hungry and agonized, made her thump him on the shoulder. "I'm burning for you. God, Gabriel. Put me out of my misery, for pity's sake."
"Are you sure? Rose. Are you absolutely sure?"
She kissed him fiercely. "Yes. Now. Please!"
His eyes changed, turned intent, the clear gray now molten silver as he put her under him and raised her knees up to her chest. Need roared through him and without thought for gentleness, he thrust into her, a wild joining of bodies and minds.
He reached for her mind and through their connection he knew her reaction to his hardness deep in her body, the melting and the new tension that gripped her. Knew when she felt him in her mind. Her eyes met his, wide with joy.
You are mine. Mine!
Her exultation filled him, warmed him like nothing else could as she held him close. For a few moments he didn’t move, caught in the wonder of their coming together. He’d been afraid of this? He couldn’t think why. He reached to her. I am made for you.
He reveled in the tight grip of her legs, the welcoming pulsations of her body hot around him as he slowly withdrew then plunged again into her. He kissed her, ravenous, as their pace accelerated, sweat sheening their bodies.
Rose remembered to breathe. He filled her, surrounded her, and possessed her in every way possible. She’d never felt more alive as she did beneath him. Her lungs filled with his scent, her mouth with his taste as they rolled across the big bed, grappling with their furious need. Rose stroked his hard body straining against hers as they climbed to impossible heights of sensation.
She tensed, crying out as her climax rocked her. Gabriel stiffened in her arms; she wrapped herself around him as he joined her in pleasure a fraction of a second later.
Gabriel collapsed to one side of her. Her legs slid down his as she relaxed deeper into the bed. Peace surrounded them. The cooing of the doves outside added to the sense of home, and Gabriel breathed in the scent of the two of them. His heart filled with a painful joy as his body pulled him down into sleep.
“Gabriel. I love you. I do. You probably think I’m just being female or something, and that’s okay. You don’t have to say a word.” Her words were slurred with sleep.
He tensed. “You said making love wouldn’t change anything between us.”
She chuckled. “It hasn’t.” She stretched beneath him. “Hmmm. Except I feel wonderfully sleepy. Shhh. I’m going to sleep now, the best sleep ever.”
Gabriel kissed her head and tucked her against him as he rolled to his side. "Sleep, then. Morning will come soon enough."
He laid a cheek against her head and stared into the dark, wide-awake after her revelation. This couldn't be anything other than temporary. Tonight Rose slept, warm and alive in his arms. He'd wring every drop of closeness with her that he could. He was selfish enough to do that. He’d deal with tomorrow when it came.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a peculiar light glinting in the darkness. Peering closer, he saw the shimmering strands of blue and purple Fae bonds wind around him and, for the first time ever in his memory, cling to another person.
Rose.
The meaning infiltrated his sex-and-fear-hazed brain. They'd been bonded. Their lives were now intertwined beyond death.
Gabriel held her close, refusing to panic even as his world changed to an unrecognizable shape. Once bonded, it couldn't be undone. Life for one who loses his mate is close to hell on earth, they’d seen that happen to Gideon and Maria Therese. He cursed softly under his breath, doing his best not to wake Rose. A Fae mating had not been a part of his plans.
* * *
Justin made his way unsteadily from the Jag where Kellan had left him fast asleep to the hearth room. Maggie was there, bending over to tend to the fire. Her curvy bottom, presented to him as she bent over, had his hands itching. He stopped a couple steps from her.
"Careful, there," he said, and gestured to her hair when she turned sharply at his words. "I'd hate to see all that hair burn up."
Her look of surprise turned sardonic. "As if you care. Back off, Casanova."
Justin took a couple careful steps back and spread his hands wide. "Satisfied?" He suppressed a yawn.
“Kellan gave me an update. You doing okay?” She narrowed her eyes at him.
“Ready to do the mattress mambo whenever you want.” He leaned against a wing back chair for support and leered at her, knowing she half-expected it.
“Shut it down, Reggae Boy. You’re useless after consorting with vampires.” Maggie sniffed and moved back to settle on the couch.
"Then hit me with an update. What ya got?"
“Not a whole lot. There’s nothing anywhere about the Soul twins. I did find a ton of sites about spirals, and something caught my eye but it’s a very slim similarity. Nothing that exactly matches what we’ve got going on here.” She put her chin on her hand and stared dolefully at her computer screen. “We’re kind of where we started. And before you ask, there's been nothing on Kendall, either, except the cops have cancelled the APB on him.”
Justin frowned. “I thought you were good at this research stuff.”
“I am. But there has to be something out there for me to find. I’m finding nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada. If you think you could do better, you’re welcome to try.” She pushed the laptop across the coffee table to him.
“Testy.”
“Failure tends to make me that way. But I’ve come up with a theory. Sit down before you fall down."
"And?" Justin settled on the edge of the couch and did his best to focus.
"Do you remember Doc Cavanaugh talking about the Soul Chalice and the Soul Stealer? How they balance each other out, and how they often destroy each other? I think maybe that means they can't live without the other one around."
"Just what are you saying?"
"I'm saying that if we kill Satine, maybe it's a binding of some sort and Rose will also die."
Justin stood abruptly. "Your theory sucks. What are you basing this on, anyway?”
Maggie shook her head impatiently. "Put the pieces together. Maria Therese felt guilty that she didn't live long enough to care for Gabriel. Rose was her way to save him. What better vessel than a Soul Chalice to rescue a soul from a Soul Stealer? And then, once the deed was done, Soul Chalice kills Soul Stealer, or they destroy each other, thus leaving her son to live a happy life."
"If Rose dies, Gabriel will live a life of hell. He doesn't deserve that."
"You don't know that. You're just being difficult."
"I do know that. They're Fae bonded, Magdalena. They've been bonded. I noticed it yesterday, but I don’t think they know. I saw what happened to my Dad when Mom died before her time. I wouldn't wish that kind of agony on anyone, much less my brother." Grim satisfaction ripped through him at the surprise and remorse crossing her face.
Justin continued. "So everything you just said? It’s wrong. You are completely, totally, and utterly wrong. About everything," he said. His every word stood out, chilly and distinct. In a rush of movement he left Magdalena and the fire and went out into the night.
Justin stalked unsteadily through the trees to the far end of the property. Orange and lemon blossom perfumed the night air, soothed him with their familiar fragrance.
He couldn't accept Magdalena's theory. If Rose died, his brother may as well be dead, too. Their family couldn't handle
it if it happened again, and especially if it happened to Gabriel.
Justin reached the back of the property and turned to stare at the house in the distance. Doc Cavanaugh's voice came back to him. "But wherever there's a Soul Stealer, you'll find a Soul Chalice, doing whatever she can to rescue the stolen souls. Balance. Good and evil. Yin and yang, if you wish. Usually the two Soul Entities end up killing each other."
Maybe Magdalena was right after all. Damn it. She couldn't be. Could she?
Justin sighed and leaned against one of the old eucalyptus trees edging the property to the north. A hole in his life had been filled when Gabriel returned. Losing his brother again wasn't an option. He lifted his face to the stars, but found no answers there.
He sensed Magdalena the minute she stepped outside and turned her face to him. He didn't like her here. She muddled his thinking. But he didn't have much choice. He'd asked her for help. He couldn't just pat her on the head and thank her, sending her away. She wouldn't go, anyway. She had a stake in the outcome now. She’d befriended Rose, so she was there until the bitter end. He understood that.
He didn't have to like it. All he had to do was steer clear of her.
She came to him, her arms crossed protectively over her chest. He'd hurt her, he knew, but it wasn't his job to protect her.
Like hell it wasn't. He’d been raised to know better.
She stopped three feet away and looked straight at him, those chocolate brown eyes steady and straightforward. No tears, thank God. He should have known he wouldn't get tears from her.
"I'm sorry."
Her apology took him by surprise. "Nothing to be sorry about. You came up with a theory which is more than the rest of us have done," he said roughly.
"The theory sucks." Maggie looked down, rubbed the toe of her shoe in the dirt.
“It does, yes. But I didn’t have to blame you for it."
"Understandable. What do we do now?"
"Let's go back to the house. I need to sleep horizontal. You should go home, get some sleep." They moved together, walking in the waning moonlight.
Maggie shook her head. "I'm not driving anywhere, I'm too tired. If there's a blanket around, I'll just sleep in the living room. You know we’ll all do everything we can to fix this, to save them. We’re not going to stand by and do nothing.”
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