“No way.” Izzy pointed to the bedroom door. “Go. Rest. Now. That’s an order. Not that you ever listen to me.” He shot a look of grudging respect at Lyon. “You’d better stay here and keep an eye on her. For some reason she appears to listen to you. I’d like to ask just why that is, but right now I have work to do.”
He shook his head, muttering as he closed the door behind him.
Lyon frowned. “Was he right? Do you listen only to me?”
“Maybe. But don’t get ideas in your head. I’m not into any passivity and submission stuff.” Maddie wrinkled her nose. “Inner goddess or not.”
Lyon smiled faintly. “I am not certain that I understand what you mean by inner goddess. I cannot imagine anyone giving you orders easily.”
“Oh they try. It just doesn’t work out very well.”
“Because you are determined. And independent.”
“I’ve been called other things,” Maddie muttered. “Most of them weren’t very nice.”
“Names do not matter. Your nature is strong. That will always make some people your enemy. But it is beyond time you had your rest. Once your friend hears more about those symbols, we will all be very busy indeed. Unless—”
Lyon glanced behind him, out the window beyond the trees. Shadows gathered along the sloping lawn, darkening the edges of the moat. The air felt thick and heavy. It would be a moonless night, he sensed.
Moonless and more.
“Unless what?” Maddie looked back through the window. “Talk to me, Lyon. If there is something wrong…”
He chose his words carefully. “I feel...something stir. I can tell you no more than that. But Aeryx will let nothing and no one pass him on this restless night.”
“You think someone may try to break in.”. She took a deep breath. “Just like in my dream. Those things—” She looked away, her hands locked at her waist. And then she gave a dry laugh. “Maybe what I had wasn’t a dream. Maybe it was a warning. If so, I’ll be ready. They won’t take you from me.” She turned slowly, her hand on the door. Her eyes were dark with determination when she looked at Lyon. “I will go to rest. But on one condition.”
Lyon hid a smile. She was the least submissive person he knew. And he liked that most expressly. But he kept his face blank. “What would that be, heartling?” he murmured.
“One thing and one thing only. That I don’t go to bed...alone.”
23
Lyon didn’t move.
He might have grown up out of the floor itself. “Don’t ask it, Maddie.”
She smiled with iron will. “But I do not ask. I command. You told me this was in my power. So I’m claiming that power—and claiming you. No, actually that’s wrong. I’m claiming us.”
For the space of a moment hope flamed in his eyes. Then it was carefully banked. “It’s been a long day Maddie. I think it would be wiser if —”
“I’ve never been wise, Lyon. And I’m not starting now.” She rose, her hands sliding around his chest. Maddie felt the stir of instinct far older than reason as her body began to come alive. When she looked down, her silver circles flared out in shining wings. Then they settled gracefully, one on each of Lyon’s shoulders.
As if they’d always been there and were meant to be there.
When he would have stepped away, Maddie followed. Her fingers tightened on his back. “You’re not getting away tonight, Crusader. I’m not letting either of us get away. This is my choice.” Her mouth curved. “I can finally read your patterns. Didn’t you hear Izzy? I’m very good at that.”
His eyes darkened. “You have no idea about me or my past. I have years of blood on my hands, Maddie. Death and sacrifice have cost me more loss than you can imagine.”
“No.” She cut him off with one palm pressed gently to his mouth. “I don’t care. Don’t talk to me about the past, Lyon. Talk to me about the future. When you touch me, I can almost see it.”
Lyon felt desire stab through his body. Her words burned into his skin. “Maddie, I must be sure that you understand —”
“I understand all that I should. Everything that I used to know is gone. There is only you, and only this. You said this thing between us must be faced. We both must make a choice — or we both must go mad. Those were your words.”
“So they were.”
Her head tilted back. “Then—bind me. Join us in whatever way you will.”
“It will take great strength — great courage—and a passage through death itself. Are you ready for that, my heart?”
Lyon had to be certain, beyond all question, that this was by her choice and with her understanding. “You must come to me naked, in body and spirit both. Do you understand that? I must do the same.”
Judging by the color that stained her cheeks, she understood well.
“So this is a really big deal.”
When he nodded, Maddie slid her fingers through his and locked their hands tightly in answer. “I understand.” She gave him a crooked smile. “Now when are you going to take me to bed?”
Into bed.
Such simple words. But in this case they came nowhere close to capturing the reality and the force of primal union. When they bonded, their molecules would change spin and drop out of existence for a moment in time. When they came back to movement, their motion would be reversed. Both would be stamped in that moment of change, entwined for all of time. It was simple physics in all its grandeur, yet there was nothing simple about it. The laws at work were ancient, and some of Lyon’s order whispered that the power had begun in the Holy Lands centuries before.
Lyon had never questioned when or how. For him, it was enough that the power existed.
“Do it now, Lyon.” Maddie ran a trembling hand across her forehead. “Something is telling me that we don’t have much more time.”
Lyon took a harsh breath and pulled her closer, every muscle taut, rich with power, heavy with need. “So it is given. By both your wish and mine.” Her fingers tightened—and in that moment his trembled too.
And it began again, the power rising anew, as it had five times before over the long centuries. Trust melded to desire and then both melded to joy.
Lyon’s callused hand gripped hers. He slid away her heavy shirt and then her boots. Maddie’s eager hands joined the work of his.
In seconds she wore only cool air and a faint, awkward smile. Lyon’s heart trembled at the slender glory of her body. Light glinted over her skin, gathering force until he was almost blinded.
Until he was lost, well and forever lost in the certainty of his love for her.
His fingers move to his own garments, so awkward in this modern age. Maddie was faster, stripping away the fastenings that were so strange to him. When she pushed the garments free and dropped them on the floor, her eyes savored the look of him in turn, and her longing was the greatest compliment Lyon had known.
He held their linked hands tighter, slid one arm around her waist, and brought their aching skin together, feeling her fit against him.
He laid her on the old Persian rug, drew her down against him and whispered the oldest vow.
“Before the dawn three times I thee bind;
Before the dawn three times am I bound in turn.
Hand-to-hand, skin to burning skin, so it begins.
By stone and swan and sword, so may it be.”
Maddie almost fell into the depths of his eyes.
Her arm and chest ached but all she felt was the burning force of Lyon’s eyes. There was no shrinking and no uncertainty.
So many scars she saw. So much strength.
“I will be bound by you,” she answered. “And I bind you to me in turn.”
She watched emotions play over that face —the hard, uncompromising face she had come to love so well. Her heart raced in the knowledge that the joining had begun.
Not that Maddie had a clue about what was physically involved, beyond the normal kinds of intimacy, taken and being taken in turn. But instinct whispered that there wo
uld be nothing normal about this night.
“Lyon, not to be unromantic, but there is a lovely bed next door. Why the floor?”
He pulled her down until she rested against his chest and powerful thighs. “Because this is a spot of power. This tower is the oldest part of the abbey, a place I remember well. It will share its power with us tonight.”
Maddie started to question, but she let the uncertainty go. If Lyon told her, then it was so. In truth, she could feel that power now, running deep within the old stones, a hum against her skin.
Lyon unfolded a linen cloth taken from his clothes. He took out four stones, which he placed around them, one in each direction. Pale green light floated up and Maddie remembered how he had cast the same stones to save her life back in London.
“What are they, Lyon?”
“They are born of the power of a Rose, my sweet. Guard them well, for they are treasures earned with pain. I f you welcome them with full heart, they will guard you and all that you love.”
More riddles. More doorways to a new world that Maddie struggled to understand. But because this was Lyon, she believed, storing this new fact away in her memory.
And then although she expected speed and raw strength, he brought her the drugging brush of his mouth over her body and after that the slow, exquisite search of his callused hands. Wherever he touched, she burned until her rosemarks danced, skimming along his body, circling them both.
Her body was pliant, aching, sweet and liquid beneath him as she rose over him and shifted to find his heat. Slowly she slid astride him, forcing him closer.
Lyon whispered her name roughly. Then he brought their bodies together, with hard thighs sliding deep to claim her. Maddie felt the engorged shaft part her until it could press no farther. She felt a sharp, exquisite burning.
And then she rocked again him, thigh to thigh. There was only the power and heat of him, scarred hands buried in her hair, his mouth at her cheek, whispering raw, hungry words in a language she could not understand.
He guided her body down to meet him, watching her face in awe. Maddie felt her heart tremble while love danced fiercely and joy took flight.
On a raw breath she gasped his name. Her nails raked his back as she opened to all he gave.
Loving him.
Binding him and herself by that love.
With his name on her lips Maddie arched against him. The climax built, surging up as she felt Lyon tighten deep inside her. Then desire broke in a blinding wave, and light broke free around her. She locked their hands and gripped him—and fell forever.
Knowing he would catch her.
Slowly her tremors calmed.
With a sigh she fell back against his chest, anchored in his arms. A tear slipped down her cheek.
Lyon caught it on one finger, raised it slowly and blew against it in a soft breath. Maddie blinked to see a glowing stone appear on his palm, this one lilac and not green. “And so your tears are treasures, my heart. And so we are bound, first in three.”
The stone burned almost as bright as his desire when Maddie pulled him above her. “Show me the rest,” she whispered.
Her marks danced through the darkness, lighting the path as Lyon rose against her, drew her legs around his waist and claimed her.
Until she shuddered and took his pain and his hunger and all his love while he drove into a blinding release.
A bird cried somewhere out in the darkness. The air filled with the hint of roses.
And the old stones seemed to whisper in echo beneath them.
24
Lyon’s face gleamed silver in the light of Maddie’s drifting marks. His breath was rough as he gathered her against his chest. “You can feel the stones hum beneath us?”
“All of that and more. How old is this house anyway?”
“You wish a history lesson, my heart? Now? While your thighs grip my waist?”
Maddie laughed, dizzy with happiness. When had she ever felt so much peace as this?
When had she ever been happy?
Never.
“You’ve made me interested, that’s all. Stop teasing me. I’m starting to have an interest in history. Besides, I can feel this is no ordinary house.”
“Its guardian ghost would swell with endless pride to hear you say so.”
Maddie frowned. “Maybe he is listening. Being a ghost and all.”
“No. I sent him away. We are to be given our privacy this night.”
Maddie trembled, as Lyon ran one hand along the warm curve of her hip. The sudden force of her physical joy was almost more than she could bear. Everything was the same — the gatehouse, the old Persian rug, the drifting scent of roses.
And yet everything was forever different.
In Lyon’s arms she felt strong, yet infinitely pliant. Wise with age, yet filled with innocence. Somehow Lyon had done this
She sighed when his scarred fingers opened on her shoulder and he leaned to kiss the curve of each sensitive breast, whispering against her still aroused skin. Beside them the light of her purple stone glowed, and Maddie realized that it beat in time with her own racing heart.
Strange, strange world.
She pushed up onto one elbow. Her eyebrow rose. “Fine. No history lessons. But as I recall, you said there were three bindings to come between us tonight, Crusader.”
Her smile gleamed, soon reflected in Lyon’s keen eyes. “So I did.” He ran his hands through her spiky hair. “Such an odd style of dress you have, my Rose. And yet I believe it begins to grow on me.” He pulled her up, settled her against his thighs.
Then his humor faded. “Two more bindings must come before the dawn. That will seal the oldest vows. You are ready?”
Maddie raised their linked fingers and kissed the scars along his palm and wrist. “More than ready.”
Lyon nodded. From his nearby clothes he pulled out a folded silver cloth. When he opened it into the air, it gleamed like hammered metal though it weighed no more than a feather. At its center a swan seemed to move, drifting against fast water.
It was a work of great skill — and greater magic, Maddie sensed.
Lyon tossed the silk up and watched it slowly drift down across their bodies. Wherever it touched, their skin seemed to hum and draw on its power. Maddie fingered the feather-light weave, amazed to see the design tremble with life. “Lyon, what is this thing?”
“I found it in the sands beyond Acre. It is finest imperial silk from the great country of Chin, I was told. But I think it is far older than anyone knows. It defects harm from whoever wears it, Maddie, and it is my gift to you. From this night on, keep it close.”
Maddie did not understand. She wasn’t even sure if she believed. But because her Crusader believed, she nodded.
Their bodies rolled over the carpet, thigh against hard thigh. As they slid together, the swan seemed to dance, crossing silver waters.
Lyon’s eyes narrowed with sudden hunger. He kissed his way down her chest and settled his mouth against the dark curls at her thighs, showing her new pleasure until Maddie gasped beneath the stroke of his tongue and lips, stunned and half lost in a haze of desire.
Still trembling, she locked her hands on his shoulders and pulled him up. Quickly she straddled him, urgent and hot.
Before the dawn, three times I thee bind.
Before the dawn, three times am I bound in turn.
Once by stone and now by swan. Sword is yet to come.
Hand to hand, skin to burning skin, so it begins.
Lyon whispered the words as he entered her slowly, with maddening skill. Beneath them the silver cloth rustled, almost alive, agleam with old powers. Then for a second time they were bound, their bodies fierce and fearless and driven.
Blindly they fell.
It simply wasn’t possible.
How could you be bone tired and fiercely awake at the same time? Maddie shook her head, staring at the hard lines of Lyon’s chest.
Her body was stretched out against his, beauti
fully stated. She traced his chest and drifted, caught in images that might have been memories. On maybe they were dreams, part of a new future taking shape.
“There is a third joining yet to come, you said?”
Lyon’s lips brushed her hair. Maddie heard him chuckle. “So greedy you have become. But yes, there is yet a third.” He would have pulled her against him, but Maddie wriggled free, catching the silk around her.
Lyon lunged and caught her leg so she tumbled down against him. While their laughter echoed, they rolled over and over across the old rug.
“Impossible creature. Once my strength returns, there will be a third joining.”
“I’d say your strength has returned. Or is that something else I feel, there against my hip? Your sword?”
His eyes raked her body as Maddie reached low, circling him with her hands. Desire raced back to life and she marveled at the beauty of his chiseled body. Would it always be this way between them?
Across the dark hills a bird called shrilly. Lightning branched through the sky, and a drop of rain struck the balcony doors.
Lyon pushed up onto one arm, glancing through the trees. His body tensed.
“What is it, Lyon?”
“Only lightning. So it seems,” he said thoughtfully.
Maddie frowned as he pushed to his feet. Naked and magnificent he walked to the balcony. Drawing back the French doors, he searched the stormy night, motionless and intent.
Uneasy, Maddie gathered up the silver fabric and followed. Then she watched in turn beside him.
On the far side of the valley lightning flickered. Just lightning, she thought. No deadly fog here. They were safe.
She rested her head against his back, kissing the old scars, angry at the pain he must have endured. But now he would never be alone, she swore.
Something moved through the dark sky. Airy looped down to perch on the balcony railing. “A storm builds. There is lightning…and perhaps something more. Crusader, do you join me? Your eyes are strong.”
Forbidden Lovers Boxed Set Page 51