Chapter 20
ALDRIC
Ihad imagined, foolishly, that when the moment came I would have more control. After centuries of hearing mate stories, I should have known better.
Waverly Anderson had been dismantling my control from the moment she stepped off the ferry with pencils in her hair and no filter between thought and speech.
Now she stood in front of me, newly awakened magic shimmering around her, eyes bright, mouth swollen from my kiss, telling me she wanted to strengthen our bond.
There’s something that happened to a male when he heard his mate say she wanted him in every way. But especially the first time.
“Here,” I said. “Let me help.” I picked up a pile of her things and set them in the suitcase. “You can fold it, wash it, or whatever at my place.” I added two pairs of shoes.
“Excellent.” She picked up a similar pile and tossed it on top. Then she went to the bathroom and came back a few minutes later carrying her toiletry case.
She surveyed the room. “I think that’s everything.”
“Good. We’ll tell the desk clerk that if they find anything, to call me.” I took the suitcase and headed to the door.
“You’re like a man on a mission,” she said behind me, stopping to take her jacket off a hanger.
“Believe me, I am.”
We told the front desk agent to call me if anything was left behind, then headed to my car. When we reached my house, I grabbed her bag and backpack and we headed in through the garage. Once inside, I set everything down in the kitchen.
“Waverly, with you so close, I’m not sure I can control myself. I want to make certain you want this.”
She stopped peering around the room and looked up at me. “Aldric, I just found out I’m a witch, you’re Fae, we’re mates, and for some reason unknown to me, someone took my powers. The one and only thing I’m certain of is that I want you. All of you.”
That was all it took. My restraint snapped clean in half.
I picked her up. She squeaked, then laughed, arms looping around my neck. “Well, all right then.”
“I’ve wanted to do this since the ferry.”
“Carry me?”
“Nope. This is just to speed things along.”
“Oh.” Her smile turned wicked. “Goodie.”
Waverly admired the house as I carried her to the bedroom suite.
“This is beautiful.”
“Thank you.” I kissed her hair. “It’s yours now too.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re my mate.”
“I know.”
“Then it’s yours too.”
“In the entire history of romance—and keep in mind my expertise is in horror, so the bar may be different—I don’t think anyone has ever said anything more romantic.”
I pushed open the bedroom door. “Seriously?”
She grinned. “Not to me they haven’t.”
I placed her on the center of my bed and for one moment, I simply looked at her.
Soft curves. Bright eyes. Hair escaping whatever attempt she had made to contain it. Magic glowing faintly around her like a storm had chosen a woman for its favorite place to land.
She pushed herself up on her elbows. “I’m going to get nervous if you keep staring at me.”
“I am trying to be careful.”
“I don’t want careful. I want you.”
I smiled as I removed my coat and tossed it onto the chair. Next came my sweater and shirt.
Waverly inhaled. “Well,” she said, voice slightly unsteady, “after this, I might have to switch genres to romance.”
I braced one knee on the bed and leaned over her. “Are you taking notes?”
“Only mentally. Talking to Gerald would make this weird.”
I laughed against her mouth as I kissed her.
This time, there was nothing to stop us. Only heat and our need to solidify the bond.
She tugged at her shirt, trying to remove it. I helped her until there was nothing between us.
Her hands were on my skin, warm and eager, and the bond between us flared so sharply, I had to stop kissing her just to breathe.
Waverly stilled. “What was that?”
“The bond.” I pressed my forehead to hers. “I felt you.”
Her voice softened. “I felt you too.”
The hunger shifted then—from primal need to something deeper.
I kissed her again, slower this time, swallowing the small sound she made when my hand slid around her. Her skin was warm and soft. I had spent every moment since the ferry reminding myself she was off limits.
Now she was beneath me, magic bright in her blood and the bond pulling tighter between us, and I had no idea how I had ever considered letting her go.
Rain began to fall, striking the windows. Thunder rolled as Waverly arched beneath me, my name on her lips, and whatever remained of my restraint vanished into the storm. When I finally joined us as one, the bond opened wide.
Waverly gasped, clutching me closer, and I buried my face against her neck because the feel of her, the scent of her, her magic wrapping around mine, nearly undid me completely. She was mine. My mate. And I had never been happier.
Waverly moved with me, meeting every kiss, every touch. I found there was nothing shy about her. She gave herself to the moment with a trust that humbled me deeply.
And when her release took her, she called out my name, and it felt like finally reaching shore after a century lost at sea.
Later, after we’d finished a second time, she lay with one leg thrown over mine, hair spread across my chest, her breathing slowly calming.
Outside, the storm had arrived in full. Rain lashed the windows. The harbor bell rang once in the distance, carried on the wind.
Waverly traced a lazy circle over my ribs. “I have several comments.”
I smiled into. “I suspected you might.”
“First, good Lord.”
A laugh moved through me.
“Second, if Gerald had recorded that, I would have had to kill him.”
“I would have helped you bury the body.”
“Romantic.”
“I try.”
She lifted her head, chin resting on my chest, and squinted up at me. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”
“Damn bond,” I teased.
“A notice came across that there is a hurricane tracking our way.” I forced myself to continue. “Waverly, I need you to know you have a choice. If you want to return to your life, your home, your work, you would need to leave before the storm closes the harbor.”
“And if I stay?”
“The ferries may not run for days.”
“Days?”
“Possibly longer, depending on the storm.”
She looked toward the rain-dark window, then back at me. “And you?”
“What about me?”
“What happens to you if I leave?”
I swallowed. I couldn’t lie to her. “I cannot bear the thought of us not being together.”
“You could come with me.”
“I could, but with the storm, I should stay here.”
Her eyes twinkled. “How very Chamber of Commerce of you.”
“Funny.”
She smiled and scooted up so our faces were close, kissing me—gently this time. Sweet enough to hurt. When she pulled back, she touched my face.
“Aldric, tell me how you feel. The truth.”
“I always tell the truth—I can’t lie, especially not to you. The bond would give me away every time.”
“All right then. Do you want me to leave?”
“I feel like I want what you want. If that means you move here, wonderful. If that means I move to where you are, also wonderful. You know how old I am. I have spent so much time alone that now the thought of being without you actually hurts. I was terrified you were going to reject me when you found out about your powers—worried it would all be too much at once.”
She kissed me softly. “Aldric, I couldn’t leave you even if I wanted to.
” Her thumb brushed my cheek. “Which I don’t.
I know this is new, but it feels so right.
And you know what—during round two,” she smiled, “I decided I want to learn my powers. Since I don’t know any witches where I live, I think we should stay here. If that’s all right.”
For a moment, I could not speak. My mate was looking at me as if staying was the easiest decision she had ever made.
“That is more than all right. After the storm, we can go to your place and pack up your things.”
“Perfect. I’ll let Elara know tomorrow.”
“Until then,” I said, and rolled her gently onto her back.