Fateful Magic (The Star-Crossed Series Book 8) (6 page)

And then it was his turn. “Lillian
Elizabetta
Mason,
iubita
mea,
in the presence of God and these
our family and friends, I take you to be my wife, promising with Divine
assistance to be unto you a loving and faithful husband so long as we both
shall live.” I had never heard more beautiful words ever spoken. I understood
the soul-shaking pride that Talbott had felt not moments before. And then he
continued and I thought I would burst into a million happy pieces. “I commit to
never leave you, to lead you. For where you go, I shall always be, and where
you remain, I shall always remain with you. Your people will be my people, and
your God will be my God. Where you die, I will follow immediately for even in
death I will never leave you.”

“The rings,” Avalon said in a voice I was confident
held a wealth of emotion.

Kiran
handed over the rings
that we would exchange.
Talbott’s
was indestructible
platinum, but a simple band. I had my dad have it inscribed. It simply said, “I
want to know you more.” Those were the words that set our entire adventure into
motion and I would always hold them true. I would always want to know him more.
Always.

And I couldn’t wait to show him that part later.

Avalon continued with his instructions, “Lilly, place
the ring on
Talbott’s
finger and repeat after me.”

“I give you this ring as a sign of our covenant. With
all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you.” The ring slipped onto his finger
and something eternal and never-ending clicked together inside me. He was my
husband.

For now and forever.

He repeated the words and slipped the most-valuable
possession I would ever have onto my finger. “I give you this ring as a sign of
our covenant. With all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you.”

Tears slipped down my cheeks. I couldn’t help it. I
stared down at the pretty silver band and the emerald stone centered in the
middle. The stone was large but not too big. It glittered at me under the
twinkling lights, promising happiness for the rest of my life.

Because that was what Talbott was for
me.
No matter what we faced in the months, years, and
decades to come, Talbott would always be my center, my calm in the storm… my endless
source of joy.

It would take us a while to learn to live with each
other, and I knew that we would argue and fight and disagree, but there was a
deep, abiding love that would always hold us together.

I had never felt truly safe until now. I had never
been completely safe, until this moment.

Avalon had continued talking but between the ring and
my husband’s adoring eyes, I had not heard a single thing he said, until, “I
now pronounce you husband and wife. Talbott, you may kiss your bride.”

And then he did.

Chapter Four

Then

“She’s here,”
Kiran
announced from his constant place near the tent entrance. I watched him with no
small amount of fascination. He was more nervous than I’d ever seen him before.

I had watched him fidget in constant movement since we
first arrived in Morocco. I’d sat in the sand while he had erected this
monstrosity of seduction in the desert. And I’d sat through hours of him
silently worrying Eden would still reject him.

He didn’t need to worry about the what-if of that. I knew
she would. I could have told him
that hours
ago.

He’d promised he loved her and then betrayed her
completely. Of course, she hated him.

Or she should.

I
wanted
her
to hate him because, damn it, one of us needed to. I had started to see good
moments in him over the last few months. Even in my version of hell, he’d gone
out of his way to be kind to me. And that had softened me to him.

Him and his stupid, brutish friend.

“Do you want to know my opinion?” I asked quietly. I
had no strength. My Magic had only just been returned to me and it took a while
to come back to its full force. I had been nearly starved over the last few
months and been tortured on several occasions- like whenever Talbott was called
away from the Citadel.

It had been worse lately. Eden had managed to capture
him. And while her end game was awesome- an exchange, Talbott for me- her
timing was terrible. With Talbott gone, the remaining Titan Guard had been
relentless in their persecution of me.

They hated me because I was
Talbott’s
pet. And I hated Talbott for making me such a sideshow.

Kiran
turned around and met
my weary gaze. His blue eyes glittered with an energy I didn’t understand. I
thought it might be love though. I thought this was true love encouraging him
to pursue her time and time again, even when she rejected him.

Even when she tried to kill him.

How could you love someone that didn’t love you back?
Or wanted the absolute worst for you?
Talbott
and
Kiran
seriously needed some therapy or something.

Liar
, my
inner monologue called me.
Dirty, filthy liar.
You have feelings for
Talbott
too. You love him too.

“Yes, I do.” I thought it had been me that spoke at
first, answering that silent accusation. My heart leapt to my throat and I felt
a hot blush sweep over me. But it had only been
Kiran
,
answering my question.

“I don’t think this is going to work.” I gestured
around at the extravagant tent and made sure to make a pointed gesture at the
enormous bed.
Psht
.
Boys were so clueless.

I thought he might be upset with me, or at least
disappointed. Instead, his shoulders seemed to lift with confidence and his
blue eyes sparked with challenge. “I don’t expect her to actually fall into bed
with me, Lilly. But I do expect her to struggle not to.” He flashed me a
devilish smile. “I’m trying to remind her that I’m the love of her life. And
for that, this tent is perfect.”

I opened my mouth to argue with him, but Eden’s
irritated voice cut through the quiet desert. “Um, are you sure this is the
right tent?”

I pressed my lips together at my ditzy friend. As if
there were other tents in the middle of all this sand.

Kiran
shot me a wink and
then gestured for me to follow. I gave an exasperated sigh but did as he bade
me. I loved Eden like a sister, but I was anxious to see her reaction to
Kiran
. Not because I was a cruel friend, but because I
wanted to see if he was right.

I wanted to see if
Kiran
really was the love of Eden’s life.

He stepped through the tent flap and announced, “Yes,
Eden, you are exactly where you should be.”

My intention had been to watch Eden and
Kiran
. I wanted to see what Eden would do and how she would
react. But other than her shrieking voice, I didn’t understand a word she said.

And that would be because as soon as I stepped
outside, I came face-to-face with Talbott.

I had promised myself I would ignore him, just like I
promised myself I would ignore him every time he came to visit me in prison.
But like all those other times before, I failed. He managed to capture my
attention every time I stood anywhere near him.
And most of
my thoughts anytime he wasn’t around.

Despite all my determined intentions, my gaze zapped
right to him and then those deep, chocolate eyes of his locked onto me and
wouldn’t let go.

I could feel his tension as it radiated around him.
His Magic left his body in a whoosh of motion. It knocked into mine so
forcefully, I nearly fell over.

And my stupid, frustrating, selfish Magic opened up
for him.

This was one of the things I hated about being an
Immortal. I didn’t only have to deal with my traitor-heart reacting to his
every move and longing gaze. I also had to deal with my slutty Magic that
wanted attention and didn’t care who she got it from.

I tried my best to rein it in, to keep it from
accepting the connection from
Talbott’s
Magic, but it
was no good. It had already decided to latch on to that frustrating Titan and
it had no plans to let go.

He seemed to relax some when our
Magics
finally touched. His intense gaze tempered just a little bit and his shoulders turned
to softer stone. Well, stone was still stone, but they somehow seemed less
rigid.

Talbott had apparently been paying better attention
than me, because he responded to something that was said.
“Eden,
our deal?”

Eden seemed to hold back a wince and then said,
“Lilly, Talbott will help you to the plane. I'll be there in just a few
minutes.”

I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing at
her professional diplomacy. I looked up at
Kiran
,
hoping he would make a big deal about the exchange. I didn’t want to be alone
with Talbott.

At all.

But I should have known better to count on a Kendrick.
He was just as bad as his bodyguard. He nodded at me and raised his eyebrows as
if to say, “Get the heck out of here already.”

I glared back at him, conveying an “I’m going! I’m
going!” thought.

Why was it so much easier to forgive the Prince than
it was his Guard? Was it because I didn’t feel so personally betrayed by
Kiran
? Or was it because my feelings for Talbott only
continued to grow, despite everything he’d done to me?

Damn
. I
needed to pull myself together.

I walked across the sand and flew to my best friend.
Despite the boy drama poisoning our happy reunion, I was so grateful to see
Eden again.

We hugged tightly and I felt hot tears prick at the
corners of my eyes. I sniffled against the ambush of emotion and then allowed
Talbott to drag me away when
Kiran
cleared his
throat.

He didn’t speak to me the entire walk across the sands
to the plane staircase. He helped me the entire way though. His strong hands always
found a place on my body to hold up or help me in some way.

By the time we reached the cabin of the plane, my
Magic had started buzzing frantically in my veins from all the skin-to-skin
contact. I wanted to brush it off as my lack of physical touch for the last
several months, but I had been on my own and without that kind of thing for
years now.

Talbott finally let go of me when we were in the even
ground of the plane cabin. We stood a few feet apart just looking at each
other.

I didn’t really know what to say. In fact, I didn’t
really want to say anything.

As it turned out, neither did
he
.

He took slow steps toward me, closing the distance
between us within seconds. His hands reached out to touch me and then his head descended
with the patience of a monk. He seemed to be afraid that I would run or push
him away. But I felt absolutely transfixed to this place.

I knew he intended to kiss me just as slowly, but
something happened when our lips touched. He stopped being careful with me. He
stopped taking things slow. Suddenly his mouth pressed against mine demanding
and desperate.

I gasped out of surprise and something more… something
hot and needy.
Talbott’s
tongue invaded my mouth and
did something wicked to mine.

It should be said, this was my first kiss.

Ever.

I might have known what to expect, but nothing could
have prepared me for the way that Talbott kissed me or how I reacted to him.

I had no idea what I was doing with my lips, tongue or
teeth, but that didn’t deter Talbott at all. He coaxed me into kissing him back
with insisting kisses and expert moves of his tongue. His lips were so much
softer than I had expected and felt amazing as they erased every coherent or
logical thought in my head.

The feel of his mouth moving against me, tasting me…
devouring me was intoxicating. I found myself kissing him back, mimicking his
movements and trying to keep up.

His hands seared my waist with their possessive hold,
clutching me tightly to him. His chest heaved in panting breaths, brushing
against mine with every lift.

I had never been kissed before, but now that I had, I
would never be the same.

This kiss changed me.

Talbott, against all my better judgment… changed me.

He pulled back from my lips and I immediately felt the
loss. I wanted to follow his mouth until I felt it on mine again. I wanted his
hands to pull me closer. I wanted to taste him until I took my last, dying
breath.

“Lilly, we need to talk.” His accent was thick with
desire and his eyes sparkled in their darkness.

“No,” I pleaded. I didn’t want to talk. I didn’t want
him to make me fall deeper for him. I just wanted him to kiss me again.

Was that so much to ask?

He led me to a seat and sat me down. He deliberated
between the seat next to me and the one across the aisle before choosing the
latter one.

“I’ll be better with some separation,” he explained.
But then he leaned into me anyway, so I wasn’t sure what separation he meant.
“I want to be with you.”

He said it. He just said it. He said it as if it was
the most obvious, clearest thing in the world.
I want to be with you.

Like it was possible.

“No,” I said again. Apparently, his kisses reduced me
to a single-word response.

“I care about you,” he went on with a low, intimate
voice. “I have cared about you for some time. My actions have not always
reflected this. And I have made many mistakes. But I need you, Lilly. I am
tired of fighting what I know is inevitable.”