Visions of Chains

by Regan Hastings

  “Why not?” Suspicion crept into her mother’s voice now. “Are you being held against your will? Is someone there with you right now? Are they hurting you? Damn it, Dee, tell me where you are. I’ll send help.”

  “I can’t tell you because I don’t know where I am. But I’m not in danger—” Okay, she told herself, that was a big fat lie. But she couldn’t be specific and why make her mother more nuts than she already was? The point of the call was to reassure her.

  Finn’s scowl deepened and the microwave dinged, letting them know the food was ready.

  “Don’t worry about me, okay?”

  “Of course I’m worried. Dee—”

  “I’ll be back as soon as I can. I love you, Mom. Just, don’t look for me. Please.”

  “Dee!”

  Her mom’s voice still ringing in her ear, Deidre hung up the phone and looked across the table at the man who had—for good or bad—become the very center of her universe. His gray eyes were locked on her and his features were twisted into the scowl she knew so well.

  “Thanks,” she said and handed the phone back to him.

  He tucked the phone into his pocket. “So, did talking to her help?”

  “Not really,” she said with a sigh. “But at least she knows I’m alive. For now.”

  “Oh,” Finn said, standing up, “you’ll stay alive. I’ll see to it.”

  “Because of the Mating.”

  “That’s right.” He came around to her side of the table, drew her up from her chair and pointed out, “I kept my part of the deal.”

  “Yeah,” she said, looking up at him. “You did.”

  “Now it’s your turn.” He bent his head and took her mouth in a deep, desperate kiss.

  Chapter 20

  “I want everyone on this, Darius. I know Dee is alive, but she couldn’t tell me where she was. I believe someone’s holding her prisoner.”

  Cora paced the confines of the Oval Office, facing for the first time a situation where being the first female president of the United States did not bring her any satisfaction. Because it didn’t mean anything without Deidre. She had to find her.

  “We couldn’t run a trace, ma’am. Something was blocking us.”

  “I didn’t expect you could,” Cora told him shortly. Who had Deidre? Why? Was she in danger?

  “Dante and his men are following every lead, ma’am,” Darius assured her. “We’ve got people on every bus, train and plane connection in and out of the city.”

  Cora waved her hand as if dismissing their efforts. Nothing had turned up and nothing would turn up. Somehow, Deidre and her friend had simply disappeared. Well, Cora wouldn’t stand for it. She would use whatever contacts she had to find her daughter.

  “If there are no trails to follow,” Cora murmured thoughtfully, “then maybe we have to make the trail ourselves.”

  “Excuse me?”

  She turned to her aide and smiled coolly. “Nothing for you to worry about.”

  “I know we’ll have news soon, ma’am.”

  “I’m sure you’re right, Darius,” she said, forcing a smile she didn’t feel. “I’m counting on you. And on Dante and the rest, to bring my daughter home.” She turned to stare out the wide window over the neatly landscaped yard and the fence separating her from the people she was elected to serve.

  Just past dawn and the first of the protesters were already taking up position along the wrought iron fence. Their signs demanded things like Witches Rights! or Death to Witches! Occasionally there was even one or two protesting taxes—a refreshing change of pace. But mostly, the people gathered outside the White House to demand that their president do something about the magical threat in the world.

  She wondered what they would all think if they knew what she was going through. Turning from the window, she walked to her desk and dismissed Darius with a wave of her hand. When she was alone again, she looked around the room, then bent to unlock the bottom desk drawer. She tugged it open and stared at the satellite phone none of her aides knew about.

  Picking it up, she dialed a number and made the only call she could.

  Deidre met his kiss with a hunger like she had never known.

  She still didn’t know what she thought of the whole Mating issue, but she knew that she wanted Finn more than she had ever wanted anything. That’s why she had played her only power card available to make that call to her mother. Because she had known that sooner or later, she would surrender to whatever it was that pulled her and Finn together. She couldn’t avoid it. Hell, according to him, this was destiny.

  She knew nothing was solved. Her life was in turmoil and in danger. If nothing else—that point had been made crystal clear over the last few days. And though the man she was with was capable of great violence, she felt . . . safe with him. As if she belonged with him. It was more than emotion. More than lust. It was something that had been bred into her bones—or, as he kept insisting, into her genetic memory.

  He was familiar in a sea of strange. He was the touchstone that she turned to even when she was furious, which, let’s face it, was fairly often. But he was there. Protecting her. Pushing her. Wanting her—if only temporarily.

  Didn’t matter. For now, it was enough.

  His hands swept up and down her back in fast, all-encompassing strokes. Deidre trembled against him, as every single one of her nerve endings leaped to attention. It felt as if her skin was electrified. Like the static buzz you got outside during a thunderstorm—only this was so much bigger.

  “Now,” he mumbled against her lips and she nodded, unable to speak. Unable to draw a deep breath. Every gasp of air was taken in and released so quickly, she was nearly light-headed. She had been pushed to the very edges of her endurance over the last few days and taking this leap might just be enough to finish her off. And still, she had to do it. Had to ease the ache she couldn’t deny.

  He gripped the hem of her shirt and whipped it up and over her head. Her damp hair lay against her bare back, making her shiver. But the heat in his big hands chased that sensation away moments later.

  In seconds, he had dispensed with her bra too, tossing it to the kitchen floor beside her shirt. Sunlight was streaming into the room, gilding his face, his body, until he looked like some mystical warrior caught out of time.

  And, she thought, that’s exactly what he was. Flashes of images moved through her mind, and she saw him astride a white stallion, leather armor stretched across his broad chest, his sword singing through the air. A blink and she saw him in a kilt, atop a misty mountaintop, with a cold Scots wind blowing through his waist-length black hair. In the next instant, he was wearing a sheriff’s badge in the Old West, his boots worn and scuffed, his pale gray eyes locked on her as she leaned into him.

  Century after century he had been there. Near her. With her. Whenever she needed him, he was there.

  Just like now.

  His hands cupped her breasts and a throbbing ache began at the juncture of her thighs. Damp heat pooled at her core as the ache blossomed into a pulsing need. “Finn . . .”

  “I’ve waited a long time for this.” He dipped his head to take first one hard nipple into his mouth and then the other. She arched into him at the tender assault. Sensations too numerous to count dazzled her system and Deidre let her head fall back and her mind go blank.

  She wanted only to feel.

  No thoughts. No plans. No worries. No recriminations or accusations.

  For now, there was only Finn—and his mouth on her skin.

  His hot breath dusted across her breasts as he nibbled, licked and suckled her. She swayed, her body’s demands taking over as she grabbed at his chest, his heavily muscled arms and held on. She wanted to feel everything.

  “Have to touch you,” she whispered brokenly and tugged at his shirt. H
e saved her the trouble. Straightening up, he yanked off his shirt, baring that delectable broad chest to her touch. Her palms swept up and down across what seemed like an acre of sharply defined muscles. His abs were so well cut, he might have been carved from bronze. Her thumbnails flicked across his flat nipples and she watched flames erupt in his eyes.

  She gasped as he undid the snap of her jeans and shoved them and her panties down her legs. Deidre stepped out of them gladly, loving the feel of the air on her skin and the sensation of his gaze devouring her. Magic. She felt it simmering in the air, gathering like a thick, rich cloud around them, twisting tighter and tighter, in an ever-spinning spiral.

  Beneath that fiery stare of his, she felt powerful. Suddenly more elementally female than she had ever been before. She knew what she was doing to him. Knew that his desire was pumping as thick and hot as her own and the pleasure in that knowledge rolled through her bloodstream like lava.

  “First time’s gonna be fast and hard.” His voice came in a strained whisper.

  Her body nearly erupted at the promise.

  “Yes,” she said, “now, Finn. Now.”

  He stripped out of his jeans, lifted her up and set her down on the counter. The cold jolted her, but not enough to dissuade her. Deidre pulled in breath after breath, trying to ease the frantic pounding of her heart, but it was no use. Her body had a mind of its own now and it wanted Finn. Needed Finn.

  She looked her fill of him, her gaze sweeping across that amazing chest, down those abs—her eyes widened and she gasped. He was way bigger than she would have thought possible. His erection was huge and hard and though her body hungered for it, her mind was smart enough to wonder if they would even fit.

  Clearly, Finn saw the doubt in her eyes as she looked at his thick body. He closed one hand around his shaft and she gasped again as he stroked himself. Liquid heat moved through her in a slow slide that assuaged her doubts and fed her hunger all at the same time.

  “We were meant, Dee,” he said, stepping closer, shifting his grasp to her hips.

  She lifted her gaze to his, licked her lips and swallowed past the tremendous flock of butterflies suddenly erupting in the pit of her stomach. His hands at her hips felt so good. His eyes were fire-filled fog. She wiggled closer to the edge of the counter, bracing her bare feet on the cabinets below. She parted her thighs for him and then reached down and wrapped her fingers around his heavy erection.

  He hissed in a breath, but his eyes remained fixed on her. Never wavering. The flames in those pearl gray depths continued to flare. She slid her finger across the flat tip of him, smoothing the drop of moisture she found there over his skin and she watched as a muscle in his jaw flexed and twitched as he fought for control.

  But she didn’t want him controlled. She wanted him wild and strong and frantic. She tugged him closer and rubbed the tip of him at her core, shivering at the contact. “Here, Finn. I want you here. Now.”

  Groaning, he reacted instantly, pushing himself inside her in one long, smooth stroke.

  Deidre gasped and stiffened slightly as his much bigger body laid claim to hers. She parted her thighs farther, accepting the full, hard length of him. Her body stretched to accommodate him and in seconds, she was tingling with the incredible sensation of having Finn locked within her.

  He moved one hand to their joining and rubbed at her core, finding that one amazing spot that sent jolts of something incredible shooting through her body. She rocked into him, loving the feel of his hands on her, of his body laying claim to hers.

  She didn’t know now why she’d waited as long as she had. She had wanted him from the beginning. Had sensed that they were headed here, to this moment in time. Doubts, fears, plans and hopes all dissolved in the maelstrom of feelings, settling like a fog over her mind.

  He touched her again, his fingers moving over her center as he took her both outside and inside, twisting those sensations into an incredibly electric joining.

  He rocked in and out of her heat, creating a delicious friction that kindled fires inside her. Again and again, their bodies parted and joined again. Deidre braced her hands on the countertop and moved with the wild, frantic rhythm he set. Her heartbeat thundered in her chest as spirals of completion tightened inside her.

  “Good,” he whispered. “So good. Let go, Dee. Let go and let me watch you come.”

  She shook her head, unwilling to surrender to the climax building within. She wanted more. Wanted this delicious tension to go on forever. Staring into his eyes, she locked her legs at the small of his back and pulled him in tight. She wriggled against him, loving the slide of their bodies moving in tandem. Loving the heat and the blistering fight for control she saw etched on his face.

  “Come with me,” she said breathlessly, sliding one hand up to cup the back of his neck. “Together. We do this together.”

  “You’re killing me,” he muttered.

  “Not the plan,” she countered on a choked-off laugh.

  In and out, over and over, he pushed them both higher with every stroke. She felt the first thundering crash of an orgasm and couldn’t hold it off any longer. Overpowered completely, Deidre screamed his name and clung to him, pulling him in tighter, higher.

  And still he moved within her body. He kissed her then, taking her mouth as he took the rest of her, with deep, even strokes. His tongue and hers tangled together as their bodies melded and became one. Every time he pulled free of her, Deidre moaned and then celebrated when he returned.

  Another orgasm shook her and she tore her mouth from his to gasp for air as her body trembled and shook under the onslaught of too much pleasure all at once. And then as she held him, he came, jolting hard against her, groaning as his body filled hers.

  Still tingling, still gasping for air, they remained locked together. The silence was overwhelming. The tick of a clock on the wall sounded like drumbeats. Deidre leaned into him, head at his chest and listened to the quiet within him, as well. No heartbeat pounded in time with her own. There was utter stillness inside his broad chest and just like that, she was brought down from the incredible high of their lovemaking.

  Would his heart begin to beat now? And if it did, would he cease to need her? No, she thought sadly, he’d still need her around to help him solve his quest. The mission handed down for generations. Once that was done, then he’d leave, just as he’d told her he would.

  And, now that they’d Mated, she would be immortal. Great, Deidre thought. An eternity of being alone.

  Her heart twisted painfully even as the rest of her body celebrated the hum of satisfaction still settling within her.

  Finn wrapped his arms beneath her butt, lifted her off the counter and strode from the room, their bodies still joined as if fused together.

  Every step he took sent tiny tremors rippling through her body. Miniorgasms that continually set off nerve endings that felt raw and too sensitive. Deidre laid her head on his shoulder and whispered tightly, “No more, I can’t. It’s too much.”

  “It’s never too much,” he told her, dipping his head to kiss the curve of her neck.

  Deidre didn’t look up when he kicked a door open and stalked inside. She didn’t care where he was taking her. His body was still inside hers. He was still hard and though her mind may insist she’d had enough, her body was unconvinced. Those tiny tremors were sliding into need, awakening a hunger that apparently hadn’t been the least bit quenched.

  He turned, sat on the edge of the bed, and then lay back, holding her on top of him. His sex stirred deep inside and an answering call roared up within her. She gasped and wiggled her hips, taking him as high and as deep as he could go and then nearly purred at the feeling that caused.

  He was watching her, his gray eyes hooded, a slight curve to his luscious mouth. When she licked her lips, his gaze locked on the motion and he pushed his hips up so
hard and fast, her knees left the bed.

  She laughed and lifted both arms. Scooping her hair up off her back, she let it fall around her shoulders and indulged herself by watching the spark of passion glittering in his eyes.

  “I don’t think I’m done with you,” she said softly.

  “Happy to hear it,” he said and locked both hands at her hips.

  But she was in charge now, and braced her hands on his abs, refusing to move. Let him be tortured a little, she told herself and took a moment to finally look around. It was a plush room. The huge bed was covered with dozens of pillows and a deep red duvet that they were now sprawled across. Bare windows gave a view of the outside world, sun washed, clear and cold.

  The walls were filled with framed photos of places from all over the world. Paris. Dublin. Edinburgh. Jerusalem. She saw them all. Recognized them all.

  And she knew. Knowledge hit her like a fist. She and Finn had lived together in each of those places throughout time. Tiny scraps of memories played at the edges of her mind. Pieces of lifetimes lived and lost. Jagged shards of a memory shattered and only now being set right.

  Stunned, she looked from one framed photo to another and realized that she and Finn had a connection that went beyond sex. Beyond thought. All the way to the soul.

  Whether he valued it or not.

  Whether he was going to walk away or not.

  The connection would remain, she thought, turning her gaze back to meet his.

  As it always had.

  Chapter 21

  Finn looked up at his witch and realized that whatever she was thinking, it wasn’t making her happy. And he didn’t want anything coming between them right now. He’d waited too long for this joining. This was their moment to feel the magics rise up and encircle them during sex.

  Over the centuries, they had been lovers, but though the sex had always been off the charts, it had never been touched by magic—because of that one long-ago night. Because the coven had stripped themselves of their power. Now, it was back and damned if he wanted to waste a minute of it.