Hill, Meagan - Master Me [Masterson] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Meagan Hill

  When Mitch had finished cleaning her, and himself, up, he crawled back into bed, pulling the covers over them on the way. He settled on his side next to her as she turned herself to back into him. Mitch wrapped his free arm around her waist, pulling her firmly against his chest.

  “I love you, Miranda,” Mitch murmured.

  “I love you, Mitch. Thank you for everything you did for me today.”

  “It was my pleasure, baby. I meant it when I said I’d do anything for you. I always will.”

  “Me, too, baby. I hope you know that.”

  “I do. Shh, baby, you’re exhausted. Let’s get some sleep. We’ll need all the energy we can get.”

  “Okay…” Miranda’s voice drifted off as she slipped into sleep, with Mitch following her quickly. Neither of them had noticed that not a word had been spoken aloud.

  Chapter 7

  The first thing Mitch became aware of was the difference in temperature on the opposing sides of his body. The right side of his body was nice and warm, but the left side was chilled. He noticed more as his mind slowly woke up. He could hear and smell a fire crackling near him, leading him to assume it was the source of the warmth he was feeling. He also became aware he was lying on something hard, such as a floor or the ground, but with a blanket or some type of softening material between.

  “Open your eyes, baby.”

  Mitch startled slightly before opening his eyes to search for Miranda. She was sitting near him, curled up on several blankets near the fire, sipping what smelled like hot chocolate. He sat up immediately, scooting closer to her. “Hey, baby. Where are we?” Mitch glanced around the room quickly before his full attention was captured by the massive window next to the large fireplace. The window gave a beautiful view of the mountains beyond covered in tall pine trees lying under a blanket of snow. He’d never seen a more picture-perfect panorama. “Wow! It’s beautiful here.”

  “We’re in a cabin on a snow-topped peak surrounded by mountains. I’ve never actually been on a mountain, but I saw a picture much like this in a book one time. It’s another one of my favorite scenes.” Miranda handed Mitch a cup of hot chocolate before snuggling against him. “I love it that you can come with me here now. I’ve always been kinda lonely in my happy places, even with the beauty and peace.”

  Mitch wrapped his free arm around Miranda, gently pulling her into his lap before tucking her head under his chin. “I love being here with you, baby. The peace and contentment I feel with you are everything I ever dreamed of and yet had no idea I’d ever experience.” Mitch took a sip of his cocoa, abruptly moaning as the flavor hit his tongue. “Oh, my God, Miranda, this is wonderful. Tell me you know how to make it like this for real.”

  Miranda laughed merrily. “I have no idea. It’s not like I had many opportunities to make hot chocolate in El Paso.” Mitch shrugged while nodding his head. She had a point. “However, I do vaguely remember how I mentally developed it, so I might be able to mimic it.”

  “Thank heaven. I’ll be happy to taste-test each and every batch.” Miranda giggled softly. Mitch put down his cup, having quickly drained it, and wrapped his arms around the soft woman in his lap. He couldn’t remember ever feeling so at peace and content. “Miranda, I love you. I have no idea what I did with my life before you came. I knew I wasn’t complete, but I also knew the chances of actually finding my mate. I’m so very blessed to have you now.”

  “I love you, too, Mitch. I’m the lucky one here, though. I never imagined I would be so blessed as to have found my mate, or any mate for that matter. I never thought I’d be able to get away from them. I know exactly how fortunate I am to have escaped. That’s why I want to go back and help the others who haven’t totally turned dark get away.”

  Mitch couldn’t help but tighten his arms around her in a subconscious need to protect her from the evil she had been subjected to. “I know, baby. We’re going to take care of it.”

  “Are you worried about it?”

  “Only about having to have you go back there. Otherwise, not really. We’ve dealt with evil warlocks before, though the situation he’s created is a first. My father is almost three hundred years old and has been our leader for over a hundred of that. He is very powerful, as are James and John, though they aren’t as old.”

  “Three hundred years old? How…”

  Again, Mitch was shocked at how little Miranda had been taught about the Gifted Ones. “Wow. They really did not teach you much, did they? We’ll sit down and figure out what all we need to go over when we’re finished with this battle.” Miranda looked down at her hands as she pulled out of Mitch’s arms to sit nearer to the fire, feeling ashamed she knew so little about her own people. Mitch was immediately mortified he’d made her feel like that. He gently lifted her chin to return her eyes to his before taking her hands in his. “Miranda. It’s not your fault you haven’t been taught. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad about it. I’m sorry.” Mitch didn’t try to pull her back into his lap, feeling they needed to be able to see each other’s expressions while they were talking.

  Miranda sighed lightly before responding, “It’s okay, Mitch. It just makes me feel stupid I know so little. Plus, I never got to go to high school, so my education is severely lacking. I used to be a really good student.”

  “What would you like to do to fix that? You can do anything you want to now, Miranda. All you have to do is decide to do it, and we’ll make it happen. Do you want to go back to high school?”

  “Not at twenty-one. I’d feel so weird having those young kids around me.”

  “Yeah, I can understand that. They have classes online these days. You can get your high school diploma and even continue on to college if you want. You’re a smart woman, Miranda. I’m positive you’ll do wonderfully, no matter what you decide you want to do. Plus, I’ll be there every step of the way should you need help.”

  “Online classes? Seriously? Yeah, I think I’d like to look into that when we’re settled down. I assume we’re going back to the children’s camp in Rockland?”

  “We don’t have to if you don’t want to return to Texas. I’d gotten tired of being on the Eastern seaboard, so I decided to try out Texas for a little while. I’d been toying with the idea of starting a coven of my own instead of waiting for my father to tire of ours, but now I don’t think I want to do that just yet. I don’t want to have anything that will divert so much time and attention from us while we’re still so new.”

  “I think a change of scenery might be nice. Let’s talk about it again after the battle. I’ll be thinking about it in the meantime.”

  “That sounds like a good idea. We can settle down anywhere we want. We could stay close to your family, if you wanted.” Mitch cut off as Miranda tensed. “What’s wrong, honey? Do you not want to go see your family?”

  “Yes, I do. I’m just scared of their reaction. I know they’re going to insist on knowing what happened to me, and I know that it will hurt them deeply. And I’m afraid they’ll try to insist I stay with them. I love them, Mitch, but I’m not going to leave you. I was fourteen when they last saw me, and they may still see me as a child to be told what to do.”

  Mitch was quiet a moment as he thought over the matter. “Well, I do know I’m not letting you go anywhere without me, but I don’t want to cause problems with your family either. They’re going to have a hard time with you coming back, no matter how they think of you. Maybe we should talk to my mom about it and see if she can see anything that might help give us some guidance.” Mitch could feel Miranda perk up immediately.

  “That’s a great idea. It will be good to have an idea of what is going to happen ahead of time.”

  “Yeah, having a precog has its good points, but it can also be annoying as hell. I couldn’t get away with anything when I was a kid.”

  Miranda laughed gaily at Mitch’s disgruntlement. “Speaking of being a kid, how old are you?”

  Mitch snorted in amusement at the way Miranda had circled bac
k to her previously unanswered question. “I’m one hundred and sixty-eight years old. I reached Master level when I was thirty-seven, so that is the age I was frozen at, though when a man reaches Master level, he is transformed to look younger, so I appear to be in my early-thirties. Now that we’re mated, you’ve stopped aging at your current age, though you could pass for mid-twenties since you’ve filled out so beautifully.”

  “What? I’ll always be twenty? With this body? I’m now immortal?”

  “Yep. You’ll always be twenty with a perfect body. We are essentially immortal, but we can be injured and killed. We heal much faster than regular humans, even without our healers available, but basically anything that could kill a human can kill us.”

  Mitch then proceeded to recap for Miranda the basic details regarding the Gifted Ones, some of which Miranda knew, and some she was completely surprised at. When Mitch was done, Miranda was quiet for several minutes, clearly sifting through the information Mitch had given her. “I’d always wondered why no one was ever worried about us getting pregnant or passing along sicknesses. So I can get pregnant now?”

  “Yes, now that we’re mated, we can have children. We’re limited to two children every fifty years to not become conspicuous to the rest of the world, though large families aren’t the norm for GOs. Your age will be a big positive for you during pregnancy. My parents were mated when Mom was forty-one, which made her pregnancies more difficult.”

  “Why aren’t large families normal for GOs?”

  “Unmated children live a normal life span. Since women cannot attain the master level without being mated, they cannot achieve immortality on their own. The result is, way more often than not, the parents outlive their daughters.”

  Miranda was silent for several minutes,. “How many siblings do you have?”

  “Just two, a sister and a brother. John, my brother, is one of the coven leaders we’re asking for help from. He made Master at forty-five, which is fairly average. I was one of the youngest in our history.” Mitch was drawing a breath to continue when Miranda interrupted him.

  “Wait, wait, wait. Are you saying I’m going to have to put up with having a period for eternity?? That’s gonna suck big time.”

  Mitch laughed loudly, amused at Miranda’s disgust with the thought. “No, you won’t have to deal with that forever. My mom can perform a rite for you to stop the reproduction process until we’re ready to have children. Then, she’ll do the reversal rite. It can take some time for things to get back to normal before conception can take place, but a few months of it is nothing compared to having to put up with it for years and years.”

  “Phew! That’s good.” Miranda was quiet for several moments before asking quietly. “Mitch, do you want children?”

  “Yes, I do. I love kids, which is why I started that kid’s camp in Texas. But, Miranda, if you don’t, that’s okay. I’ve lived this long without the possibility. I can live longer with the same. And it’s not something we have to think about immediately.”

  “But did we become fertile with the mating? We’ve made love since then.”

  Mitch was quiet for a moment, stunned by what Miranda had pointed out. “You’re right. It’s improbable, but not impossible. We’ll need to get Mom to do the rite for us tomorrow, and it’s probably best to refrain from making love again until it’s done. You never did answer my question about whether or not you want to have kids.”

  “I honestly don’t know. I’ve never really given it much thought. I do know I would rather not have one so soon. I want you all to myself for a while before I have to share you.”

  “I feel the same way. We have plenty of time later. Right now, I want to concentrate on just you.” Mitch leaned down to place a soft, loving kiss on her lips as he pulled her back into his lap, angled so that she was mostly facing him. They kissed for several long minutes, just loving each other. Mitch pulled back slightly, resting his forehead against Miranda’s, looking deeply into her eyes. “Miranda, how do you feel about marriage? I know it’s kinda just a formality, but—” Mitch was cut off by Miranda’s finger being pressed to his lips.

  “I do want to marry you, Mitch. I’d like to wait until after we talk with my family. I’ve always wanted my father to walk me down the aisle. Does that answer your questions?”

  Mitch nodded, grinning widely, pressing a firm kiss to Miranda once again. “My father knows a jeweler who can make our wedding bands with the same design as our mating crest. Would you like that?”

  The smile gracing Miranda’s face was brilliant. “Absolutely! That’s a wonderful idea.”

  “I don’t get the credit for it. It’s actually pretty common for mated pairs to do that, if they can find a good enough jeweler who won’t ask too many questions. Luckily for us, one of John’s coven members can do it, so that won’t be a problem. I’m guessing he’ll be joining us tomorrow, so we can talk about it then. Does that sound good to you?”

  “That sounds wonderful,” Miranda murmured before yawning. “The only bad thing about coming here is we don’t exactly get rest while we’re here. We have to sleep for real to recharge. Otherwise, I’d love to stay here all night every night.”

  “I was wondering about that. We went to sleep while in here last night, and I didn’t get left behind, so I guess it’s okay if we do it again?”

  “I think so. But still, I’d rather not risk it until we’ve explored it a little more. I can’t stand the thought of you being trapped in total sensory deprivation for hours until I wake up.”

  “Yeah, that’s a good idea. I would really prefer not to do that again.” This time, Mitch was only mildly startled to suddenly feel a soft mattress appear beneath him, though Miranda still giggled at him. “You do that on purpose now, don’t you?”

  Miranda’s giggling turned into full laughter as she nodded her head. “It’s your face! You look so disgruntled, like someone just walked up and goosed your ass or something.”

  Mitch chuckled along with her, shaking his head. When Miranda’s laughter had calmed, they stretched out on the mattress, snuggling into each other as they did on the temporal plane. “Good night, my love,” he whispered, placing a sweet kiss on her perfect lips.

  “Good night, Mitch. I love you,” Miranda breathed back. She closed her eyes and mentally let him go from the plane. She waited several minutes before releasing it completely, confident she hadn’t left him behind.

  Mitch’s body shifted in his sleep, a soft smile held on his face as he slipped deeper into other dreams.

  * * * *

  It was mid-morning before either of them awoke. Mitch began shifting first, though Miranda wasn’t far behind. Mitch felt Miranda shift around until they were facing each other. Upon opening his eyes, he saw that Miranda’s eyes were also open, and a happy smile bloomed on both their faces. “Good morning, sweetheart. Did you sleep well?”

  “Good morning, Mitch. Very much. I don’t think I’ve ever slept as well as I do when I have you near me. You?”

  “Excellent, actually. You have a wonderful imagination, by the way. So detailed and thorough. I could spend days in your places. What do you call them, in general? ‘Happy Places’?”

  Miranda snorted at Mitch. “Well, it’s more of just an image in my mind than a label. Since we’re actually talking about it now, though, we should probably come up with a name so we at least know what we’re talking about. What do you think?”

  “Well, ‘My Personal Heaven’ is no better than ‘Happy Place’ as far as length goes, not to mention the possible innuendo others could perceive. We could do ‘Heaven’, ‘Nirvana’, ‘Utopia’…”

  “No, can’t do ‘Heaven’ or ‘Nirvana’. Those could be confusing because we might actually have a conversation referring to the real thing. I kind of like ‘Utopia’. It stands for an ‘ideal place and life’, right?”

  “You’re absolutely correct. I like that, too. Shall we go with that?”

  “Sure. Sounds good to me. So, since we’re not supp
osed to engage in any lovemaking this morning, I would suggest we get the hell up and out of here before I can’t take anymore.” Miranda leaned in for a quick peck on the lips before leaping out of bed and hurrying for the bathroom. Mitch chuckled behind her, delighted he wasn’t the only one suffering through their self-imposed restrictions. He heard the shower turn on and moaned loudly at the image of Miranda wet and slick with soap. Unable to help himself at this point, Mitch quickly left their bed and made his way quietly into the bathroom and up to the shower.

  “Mitch? What are you doing?” Miranda drawled when he appeared. He loved it when she drawled her words. She’d been in Texas long enough to pick up on the twang.

  “Well, I thought I’d join you. Just because we can’t have intercourse doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun.”

  “Hmmmm, sounds very tempting. Are you sure you can keep from slamming it into me?” Miranda was appeared to be having a blast teasing Mitch, who moaned loudly before jerking the door open and stepping under the spray. He pulled the door shut behind him with a quiet click. His eyes blazed with passion.

  “Yes, despite my astoundingly strong need to be inside you, I think I can refrain. I didn’t get to be one hundred and sixty-eight, much less a Master, without learning some self-discipline, though you’re sorely testing it, Miranda.” His hands had begun to wander over her slick flesh while he spoke, beginning his worship of her. Mitch lightly grasped Miranda’s shoulders and maneuvered them so she stood under the spray, wetting her golden hair. Once she was sufficiently wet, he moved her head out of the spray, keeping her body in the stream so she didn’t catch a chill. Charleston could still be a bit cool during March. Mitch picked up her shampoo, pouring a dollop into his palm before returning the bottle to its place. He then proceeded to wash Miranda’s hair for her, gently massaging her scalp and running his thick fingers through her long locks. A purr began to sound from deep in her throat as she leaned forward into Mitch’s body, bracing her forehead against his strong chest. I love you, Mitch. And I love how you love me. You make me feel so cherished.