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Aidan! I’m coming.
Just a little farther, love. Just a little farther.
She trudged forward, through the heat, through the diabolical blockade.
And then Aidan’s arms clamped around her, and his mouth was on hers. Though the fire blazed around them, a pink bubble protected them.
“God, Kristen.” He bit her bottom lip and licked the trickle of blood that oozed from it. “I was so afraid. So afraid of losing you.”
“I’m here, Aidan.” Her breath shot out in rapid puffs. “But…I don’t understand.”
“It’s magic, love, created by the enduring bond of true mates. You and me.” He crushed his lips to hers in a kiss so fierce, so possessive, it was almost painful. No gentleness this time. He ripped her tank in two and squeezed her bare breasts. “I need you. Now.”
He clamped onto one of her nipples and sucked her hard.
“Ah, God!” Ripples shot between her legs.
“Mmm. Yellow roses,” he said against her breast. “You always smell like yellow roses.” He sighed against her flesh, his denim-clad arousal poking her belly. “You’re so brave. I know how hard it was for you to come through the fire after me. You faced that fear, so you need fear nothing from now on.”
Her heart pounded. Fear? No. But still, apprehension drifted over her. Whatever Aidan was—man or dragon or both—he was her destiny. Of that she was certain.
“I need to bond with you. Tonight. For the bonding to be complete, you need to know what I am, and you need to come to me willingly.”
She traced his chiseled jaw line. “I know who you are, Aidan. You’re the man I love.”
He crushed her to him. “Oh God, Kris. I love you, too.”
Her insides melted. “Take me. Bond with me. Whatever you need to do. I know all I need to know.”
“You don’t.” He pulled away slightly, and she whimpered at the loss. “You must know that you will always be pulled toward Micah. And if you choose me over him…”
She touched his cheek. “What?”
“He will die.”
You’ve condemned me to death, brother.
The words seared Kristen’s mind. Had Aidan heard them? They’d been spoken to him.
But Aidan seemed unmoved by the inaudible words. He must not have heard them. But they speared into Kristen’s heart. She wanted to bond with Aidan, but she couldn’t do it at the expense of his brother, no matter how evil he was.
“I can’t come between two brothers.” Tears ran down her cheek. “I just can’t. Please, Aidan, I will leave. You’ll find someone else.”
A mighty wind rose above them then, and in mere moments the fire had turned to wisps of smoke. The pink bubble disappeared.
An elderly woman, beautiful and regal, but with a sunken sadness in her eyes, rose before them. She was dressed in a silver cloak and a golden bag hung on one shoulder.
“Mother?” Aidan stepped forward through the ash that had been Kristen’s bookstore. “How did you get here?”
“I always know where my sons are,” the woman said. “You are never out of my heart, though I understand your hatred for me.”
“I don’t hate, you,” Aidan said.
“She was speaking of me.”
Kristen looked around to see Micah stalk forward. Fire blazed in his blue eyes.
“So this is your lady.” The woman bowed to Kristen.
“Yes, this is Kristen,” Aidan said. “Kristen, my mother, Anthea.”
“And my lady too, mother, lest you forget, since it was your weakness that damned me.”
Anthea nodded solemnly. “I understand, Micah. And I’m sorry. But open your heart. Please.”
“How can I? How can I exist without the mate of my soul?”
“You can, and you will.”
“You’re forgetting. I cannot. My father and Aidan’s are proof of that.”
“Your father and Aidan’s didn’t know of an ancient magic. Perhaps their mother didn’t know of it either. I am descended from the great sorcerer Merlin himself, and I possess one last shred of magic that will spare you both.” She turned to Kristen. “You, my dear. Where does your heart truly lie?”
“With Aidan. I am drawn to Micah, but I’m in love with Aidan.”
“Only because he got to her first,” Micah said with disdain.
“No, that’s not true, Micah,” Anthea said. “One with such strength of character is able to choose.”
“What does that say about you then, Mother?”
Anthea lowered her gaze to the ground. Kristen’s heart ached for the older woman.
“I was not as strong as Kristen. I admit that. I failed both of you and your fathers, but I can save you both now. It is the last gift I offer you.”
She turned to Aidan. “Bond with your mate, my son, and I promise you, Micah will live.”
Micah scoffed, kicking at the ash beneath his feet. “I need no favors from you. What if I don’t want to live without her? You would condemn me to life without a soulmate?”
“Are you in love with her, Micah?”
“I care for her.”
“That’s not the question I asked. She is your soulmate, your fated one. But love grows from that. It has deepened for Aidan. Has it deepened for you?”
