Heart of Darkness

by Lauren Dane

“I met him last Thursday.”

  “As in a week ago? Or day before yesterday?”

  “A week ago.”

  “A week you’ve been possibly stalked by some gang of mages bent to kidnap and drain you. You could have ascended. Been far more powerful. You’ve not done the spell yet. Why?” It was a demand thinly disguised as a question.

  Meriel drew a deep breath and it was as if he felt it too. Just at that moment their connection glittered. Her gaze cut to his briefly. Long enough to see the gratitude in her eyes.

  “He’s outclan. He didn’t grow up with this as a reality. He didn’t even know he was full-council until Thursday. He asked for time, I gave it to him. It’s entirely reasonable and it’s not like there’s a time limit for the ascension spell to be given. It’ll be there next month or the month after.”

  “You can get to know him either way. Why wouldn’t you do the ascension and then get to know each other? One doesn’t have to involve the other. He’s your bond-mate either way. Why you’d deny that or play semantics games is beyond me.”

  “Which is why I kept this to myself to begin with.”

  Dominic put the juice on the table and sat close to Meriel.

  Edwina turned to Dominic. “Well? What do you have to say for yourself? You can do the spell and it cements the bond. It’ll open up your magick and hers too. She’ll ascend to the full-council and if something were to happen to me tomorrow, she could take over. Why would you rob her of this?”

  Meriel interrupted, her magick washing over him and through the room. “Whoa. No. We will not discuss this in those terms. This is not robbing anyone of anything. This is why I didn’t tell you and wasn’t going to until he’d decided he was ready for the ascension. I don’t want him to be pressured to do it. It should be his choice.”

  “So you hide from me for a week? And what’s all this nonsense about choice? He’s your bond-mate. He clearly enjoys you physically. You were holding hands when you came back just now so there’s a romantic connection. But beside any of that, the bond is there whether you play courting for a while or not.”

  “Exactly. Which is precisely why I want him to make that choice himself. I lose nothing if I let him have the time and I gain the knowledge that when he comes to me for the ascension, he does it knowingly and purposefully. This is my life. This is my bond-mate. This is my heart and my soul and I won’t start off my life with him with emotional manipulations and or ultimatums. If he can’t come to me on his own, I’m not worthy and he sure as hell isn’t.”

  “Do you think that sort of silliness was allowed when it happened to me? My mother didn’t just say, come to your true place on the council whenever you feel like it. I had responsibilities and so do you. I—”

  Meriel made a cutting motion with her hand. “But I am not you.”

  Dominic knew there was some difficulty between mother and daughter. Meriel had been very diplomatic when she spoke, though her jokes sometimes were sharp enough that he understood there was a lot of history there. He didn’t like it at all that this woman sought to make Meriel do something she didn’t believe was right. But at the same time, he knew Meriel wouldn’t do anything she didn’t believe was right.

  And she did this for him. Because she wanted him to have that space and she’d fight off this strong woman across the table tooth and nail if she had to.

  For him.

  Which only made him totally sure he wanted to ascend.

  HE ran a fingertip down the long, sexy line of her spine. He liked the way she looked, naked, mussed, glasses perched on her nose as she checked her email.

  “I hope Edwina realizes you work pretty much all the time.”

  She rolled, putting her phone down on the nightstand. “I’m sorry.”

  She apologized to him a lot. Wondered if she saw it at all.

  He kissed her quickly, still sated—for the moment—from the marathon session they’d just ended a while before.

  “For what? Running the legal department of a very busy corporation? You spend the evenings with me at my business, why would I begrudge you your work?”

  Her mother had left and things clearly remained tense between them. But he’d seen the love between mother and daughter even through the strain.

  “I should be paying attention to you. You’re far more interesting and entertaining than work.”

  He laughed. “Good to know. But I seem to recall some very intense concentration just a few minutes ago. My legs just got some feeling back.” He pulled the sheet back enough to take a look at those breasts. “These are so amazing.” He bent to kiss the tip of each nipple gently.

  She raised a hand to touch him, needing that. His being there in her bed felt like a gift and one she planned to continue to appreciate. He’d stood next to her the entire time her mother had been visiting, backing Meriel up and charming Edwina. Her mother wouldn’t admit it, but Meriel could see it anyway.

  He was fairly difficult to resist. As her naked and totally boneless state could attest to. They’d spent the afternoon with William and Nell instead of having a dinner so when her stomach growled she stretched and leaned out to kiss his shoulder. “How about we go to dinner before you go to work? Downtown? Then when we’re done you can head to Heart of Darkness and I can go in to my office for a few hours to get some work done.”

  “Always happy to squire you around. But are you sure you have to go to the office? You work a lot, baby. Is that sustainable?” He kissed her forehead. It was nice to be worried over, made her all gooey inside.

  “It’s not usually this bad. I don’t usually go in on weekends or at night. It’s just that I’ve been a little … distracted this week.”

  He grinned. “Should I be sorry? Because I can’t really find it in my heart to regret all the time we’ve stolen this week.”

  She traced a thumb over his cheek. “You should talk about working all the time. You work more than I do.”

  “Yes, but darling, my work includes bringing you along when you’re indulgent enough to wear the little bits and bobs I give your way. This isn’t really work.”

  Little bits and bobs. He spoiled her utterly with gorgeous clothes she’d never had bought for herself in a million years, but she felt like a goddess when she wore them.

  “Giving me presents shouldn’t be. Though you know I don’t expect it.”

  “I find myself unable not to shower you with presents. I like making you happy.”

  “You do make me happy. I’ve never been so happy.”

  “Even though I haven’t done the ascension?”

  She took a deep breath, thinking it over. “Yes. Certainly I want that very much. But you’re here with me and that’s what matters most. The rest we can handle as it comes along.”

  “Even if it weakens your position in the clan?”

  “I already told you that was my mother spinning stories. She’s the only person who knows other than Nell and Gage so how can I be weakened unless she’s the one doing it?”

  “But will she?”

  “No. I can’t believe she would. Not as my mother and not as The Owen.” She sat, resting against the pillows and he settled, head in her lap.

  “Is that what they call her?”

  “It’s the official title of the leader of Clan Owen.”

  “It’s pretty epic.”

  He made everything better.

  It wasn’t that she’d never had a relationship before. There’d been boyfriends before. But nothing like this.

  “I think so too. I love your hair. So thick and soft.” She began to lightly knead and scratch his scalp until he groaned and relaxed totally, eyelids sliding closed.

  “Show me something,” he murmured.

  It delighted her the way he’d reacted to learning more about his magick.

  She moved to straddle him.

  “Or that. I’m always up for that. Though …” He paused and then grinned as he ground his reviving erection into her. “I was about to say something about how
I wasn’t sure if all of me was up for that. But you continue to amaze me and my cock.”

  “Incorrigible. I meant this.” She touched his belly, the hard, flat muscle there. He was so delicious she frequently forgot what she was about to do or say when she caught sight of him.

  “You look like you’re about to take a big bite.”

  She sent a cockeyed smile and went back to his belly. “Give me your hands.”

  He did and she put hers around his, guiding his fingers.

  “Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Slowly. Then let it go.”

  He obeyed.

  “Your magick lives here.” She drew circles with his fingertips over the spot just above his belly button and her own magick stirred within. “Sometimes mine feels like a curled-up cat. Nose to tail. Know what I mean?”

  He smiled, his eyes still closed. “Yes. I see what you mean.”

  “You can reach out and stroke it. Coax it, bring it to the surface. Use your mind and connect with it.” His breath hitched and she knew he’d caught it and brought it closer to the surface.

  “When you get what we like to call a gut feeling, it’s oftentimes your magick flaring up in response to a perceived need.” She let go and moved back, watching him discover it himself.

  “That is wicked cool.” He opened his eyes, smiling up at her. “You’re smart, you know that?”

  She rolled off him, dipping down to kiss his lips before padding into the bathroom to brush her teeth. “The more you’re familiar with your magick, the quicker it responds. And thank you.”

  “I imagine you’re used to being told how smart you are. I’m not talking about book smarts, which you are as well, but you get your magick, you understand it. I’m envious. You’re good at showing what you mean. I’ve learned more about my magick in the week I’ve known you than in years. You’re patient with me.”

  He always knew what to say.

  “You’re a powerful witch. You felt it now, right? Do you see what I mean?” She was so proud of him but afraid to say it, not knowing how to give him the words that wouldn’t sound patronizing or weird.

  He pulled her close, her back to his front as he spoke to her reflection.

  “I got the wings on my back because I was foolish enough to tell the tattoo artist to do what he thought I needed. I never understood why he decided on something so intricate.”

  “The ladies must dig it though.”

  His quick grin told her she was right.

  “They may have before, but you’re the only lady I want digging it from now on. But as you’re my angel, maybe it was his way of telling me one day the tat would mean something more. I think we should do the ascension.”

  She nearly choked. “Don’t you dare let her guilt you into this.” She turned and he only shook his head, still smiling.

  “This has nothing to do with her. Well, that’s not entirely true but not in the way you think. You’ve given me such a gift and you don’t know it. I can’t tell you what it means that you never pushed. And that with her today you defended me.”

  “Of course I did.”

  He slid his thumb over her bottom lip. “I love when your bottom lip sticks out just a little when you’re arguing. What I meant was, I needed the space, I was reeling and fighting what I knew was true because it freaked me out. But I can’t deny this any more than I can stand here and look at you without wanting you again.”

  “I don’t want you to think that desire is out of your control, or not your choice.”

  “You told her the bond would be here in a month or a year. And it will. We do have time to get to know each other. The ascension will happen and I’ll still be learning you. They’re not mutually exclusive. I was hung up on something and the longer I think about it, the more I believe I was looking at it incorrectly.”

  “How so?”

  “It was sudden and I balked. You respected that and gave me some space to process something that in retrospect will probably still take the rest of my days to figure through it’s so huge. And I can. I can continue to examine it and find a way to make it make sense. Baby, the fact is, we are connected. You’re meant for me, and me for you. So I can accept that and enjoy it for all it brings to my life, or I can rail about it when I actually like it and who wins? Hm? We have this thing and it’s fucking awesome. Damn. Every time you get near my system revs up. My magick rises to meet yours. You say it’ll get even stronger after the ascension. Even your mother said that today. In the end, it underlines what I already know. It makes me a stronger and more powerful witch. It makes you one too. And it’s a way of telling you in no uncertain terms that I accept what we have.”

  She blinked back tears rather unsuccessfully. He flustered her because it mattered what he thought. How he felt was important. He got it. She wanted to hug him and cry, but then she’d get tears and possibly snot all over him and that was not the memory she wanted to leave him associating with this moment.

  “Don’t cry. I can’t stand to see you upset.” He looked so helpless it made her smile.

  “Good tears.”

  “Oh. Good. Okay then. When can we do this? The ascension I mean.”

  “It depends on what you want. It only takes a spell. We could do it now. But it’s usually done with at least one witness each. A grounding if you like. You can have family there and do it at home or outside in a special place. Or, we can do a formal ceremony with a ritual. This would be in the presence of the entire seated full-council. You do know that even if you want to stay outclan, through me you have a seat on the governing council.”

  “Would that help you? Politically.”

  She liked that he got the politics of the situation without any prompting. So smart her man.

  “Yes. I can’t deny that. The more people on the dais who back my perspective the better it is for me. The stronger my position. I have no intention of shoving my mother out the door. She’s good at what she does and that’s good for the clan.” She shrugged.

  “I just realized I’m going to be bonded to the princess of witchlandia.” He said this totally deadpan.

  Her laugh filled her up as she tiptoed, stretching to kiss him just for the sheer pleasure of it.

  “Indeed. So you do know you’re like the first husband, right? I mean, you do accept that you’re mine and I’m not giving you back and that’s not just about the bond. It’s more. I’d want you even without this bond.”

  She saw it come over his face and realized she’d been nervous too. She’d accepted the mechanics and science of the bond, but she’d thought long and hard about the rest. Could she be with him for the rest of her life and know it was because she loved him, plain and simple? Because of, part of, whatever relationship the bond played, she felt it and it was real and that counted.

  They both let out a shaky breath. “Yes. I mean yes, I’d want you either way. I won’t remain outclan. I can’t play into any kind of feeling that I’m rejecting you or the clan. But I’m not like co-The Owen or whatever, am I?”

  “Come on.” She tugged him back into the bedroom.

  “Can I pick out what you wear?”

  She shook her head, rolling her eyes. “You’re demented.”

  “Damn right I am.”

  “All right.”

  He stepped into her closet and began to look through her clothes. She liked him in there with her. It felt intimate and sexy. He had excellent taste too, which was an added bonus.

  “To answer your question, no, there’s one leader of the clan and that’s the female firstborn of the sitting clan leader. Or a sister—that works too—and cousins. I’m totally digressing. Anyway, that’s me. And before me it was Edwina. Etcetera. Not all clans do it this way.”

  “But Owen does and that’s a big deal because Owen has a lot of power.”

  She turned to face him. “Yes. Why do you say it like that though?”

  “Trey. My friend and my accountant. You remember me talking about him?”

  “The friend from L
os Angeles. He’s a witch too. Clan Hayes.”

  “Christ, I’m really going to have to step up my game. You never forget anything.”

  She shrugged.

  “Anyway, he said it when I told him about you. The others know I’m seriously involved with someone, but none of them are really going to get the witch stuff.”

  “We’re a powerful force in our world. I don’t deny it and I’m not ashamed of it. When you have power, people either leave you the fuck alone, or you can crush them when they do something stupid.”

  His smile made her tingly. “When you’re this way, all in charge and ruthless? It makes me want to lick you.”

  She paused, flattered and flustered.

  “I like that too.” He tucked her hair behind her ear. “You’re the genuine article, Meriel Owen.”

  “You make me forget everything,” she whispered. “My words. Sometimes even that I have a voice. No one ever has made me like this.”

  “Yeah? Good to know I’m not alone.” He kissed her and smoothed away that agitation.

  She still felt the phantom of his touch when he finished and stepped back to look at her clothes again.

  “What am I going to wear? I can’t pick the proper panties and bra if I don’t know what I’m wearing.”

  “Ah, the mystery of woman.” He moved closer and her heartbeat sped again. Never, ever had any man rendered her to goo the way he did. She’d always considered herself a healthy sexual being, but if she could work a way to have sex with him four or five times a day, she’d do it.

  She wanted it all the time. And he was so endlessly energetic and inventive. And really dominant. Whooo. She’d scoffed at the idea of getting off on a big alpha-male type and boy, was she wrong.

  The way he shielded her with his body drove her to distraction. He was a door opener. A coat putter on-er. He gave her his total attention when they were out.

  And in bed. Mother of pearl. He was hard and rough. Took what he wanted, but only after he’d gotten her there first a time or two.

  “You’re thinking about me fucking you.”

  She came back to herself, too late to blush or stop that one step that brought his arms around her. “It makes me so hot to know that.”