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He gave her a hard and curious look. “Is this you pretending to bepractical?”
She ignored the sarcasm. “Yes. Iampractical—and sex is physical. A thing of the flesh, no more.
“Donotlie to me,” he snarled.
“I’m not lying!” she retorted in the same tone.
“Then you’re lying to yourself.” He strode to her, seizing her hands and yanking her to her feet. His magic coiled around her seductively, and he raked her with a gaze so full of desire the breath caught in her throat. “I remember that night,” he crooned, black eyes roving to her exposed bosom with palpable heat, “even if you pretend not to. What passed between us was far more than physical.”
“Maybe for you.” She’d tried for arch, but the words came out breathless.
Smiling mirthlessly, he pulled her arm around his waist, snugging her against him with a hand pressing against the small of her back, his cock hot and heavy against her belly. Leaning in, he brushed his lips over her cheek, not quite a kiss, but as if caressing her with his breath. The tidal pull of his moon magic tugged at her, and she moaned. “You felt something, too,” he murmured. “I think that’s part of why you ran. You were afraid of this powerful thing between us.”
“That’s what I’ve been telling you.” Through the haze of desire, a hint of panic fluttered. He had pried her hard shell open, and through that crack, long-banished dreams were leaking in. Romantic fantasies of things that could never be.
“No. You’re still lying. To us both.” The hand at her back wound in her long hair, pulling gently but inexorably, so she lifted her chin, yielding to his strength, exposing her throat to his sensual not-quite kisses. “You blamed it on being a familiar, on this ‘Fascination,’ but I think it’s more. You want me.”
“IsaidI wanted you,” she protested, panting and squirming against him.
He released her hair, balancing her until she was steady on her feet before letting her go. “Then why are you afraid of me?” he demanded. “The truth.”
When she gaped at him, unable to keep up with the sudden reversals, he trailed a finger over her cheek. “Nic, I can sense it in you. Even when you’re melting for me, the fear is there. At first, I thought it was because of how your other suitors treated you. But that’s not all of it, is it?”
“I don’t know about that.” She managed a bit of her usual insouciance. “They were right bastards.”
He smiled slightly, then immediately sobered again. “Nic… I can’t bear it if you’re afraid of me. And I think you’ll always be afraid of me if I hold all the power in our relationship.”
Sighing heavily, she threw up her hands in surrender. Hadn’t she known from the first moment she saw him that he’d be stubborn as a rock? “Fine. Where is your arcanium?”
He blinked, thrown off balance. “Why?”
“Because you won’t be happy until we see if we can do the bonding reciprocally. So let’s try it. Regardless of the outcome, we’ll have the answer, and we can move forward with information in hand, rather than speculation.”
He shook his head. “We need to study, to plan. There might be some spell books that—”
“Gabriel,” she interrupted firmly. “If we get this to work—your way—it will be unprecedented.”
“So far as you know.”
“So far as I know,” she allowed, “but I do know what’s in the books, and nothing like what you’re proposing is. Time and study won’t help. Even if it would,” she said, holding up a hand to forestall him when he opened his mouth to protest, “time is a luxury we don’t have. The hunters or my father’s people could arrive at any moment. I need to be bonded by you before then, one way or another.” Had Lyndella needed to cajole Sylus into bonding her? No. He’d masterfully bonded her despite her pleas and protests—to which she’d ultimately submitted with delight.
Of course, Lyndella also died broken in mind and body.
Gabriel was scrutinizing her, far from persuaded. “Are you pressing this because of sex?”
She gave him a saucy grin. “There are worse reasons.”
“There are better ones, too.”
“I can’t abide suspense, how’s that for a reason? Let’s get this over with already.” He still looked unconvinced, so she laid a hand on his chest, letting him see her very real fear. “Iamafraid. You do see that in me. But I’m afraid of many things right now, and losing myself to you is no longer my greatest fear. Ireallydon’t want the Convocation to take me.”
He grimaced in resigned accord, covering her hand with his. “All right.” He gave her a quelling look at her squeal of triumph. “There is, however, a problem.”
“Only one?” she asked lightly. “At least we’ve whittled them down.”
He breathed a laugh. “I have no idea where the arcanium is.”
~22~
