Golden's Rule (15 page)

She eyed him warily, reaching up to tuck a lock of her blonde hair behind a tiny ear. She was keeping a distance from him she’d never wanted before.

“Yes.”

He must have looked as stricken as he felt for she reached out and touched his face with one small, warm hand.

“Not physically, no. But, I don’t want to be…to be with you this way.” Her hand fluttered between them, meaning sex, he knew. “Not if you need other women.”

“I won’t be. I couldn’t anyway,” he hurried to tell her.

“But you tried.”

He took her hand in his. She felt chilled even though they’d both been blazing hot just moments before. He thought she might have pulled away, but barely stopped herself.

“I only want you. That’s why I was angry. Why I stayed away.”

Her slender shoulders stiffened and she looked away, playing with the fabric of the sheet and avoiding his eyes. His heart tripped over itself, but he remained quiet, giving her the time to come to terms with his reversal. Even if it killed him.

“If you need sex for your magic—”

“I can jack off and get the same flood of power.”

She glanced up at his face for that and frowned harder. “Then why go to these…what did you call them? Toys?”

He brushed a hand down her heavy hair. “Let me hold you.”

When she exhaled heavily, he grudgingly told her, “It’s only sex, nothing more. I’m a man, Beauty, jacking off isn’t the same.” He grimaced. “Those women mean nothing to me, and shit, I mean absolutely nothing to them. They are nothing like what we shared. I…” He paused then grabbed his courage and ploughed on ahead. “I called them toys because all they wanted was sex, nothing more than that, and it made it easier somehow to hide how dark inside that made me, I suppose.”

She frowned over at him and ducked her head, avoiding his eyes. What was she thinking? Was she thinking to leave him? Panic ate at him, twisting his gut. He had to clench his fists not to pull her close. He’d never willingly let her go now. She couldn’t leave him. She couldn’t. Not now, not after he’d found her.

With a soft sigh, she tucked that loose curl back behind her tiny ear again and his heart clenched tighter. Gods, how much he loved watching her. He’d missed that the most these three days. Sitting and watching her. Didn’t matter what, speaking, eating, sleeping, making love, no matter what she did, Beauty glowed, full of life and love. Had he ruined it all with his fear? His doubts and suspicions?

Slowly, tentatively she looked up and raised her slender fingers to his face, lingering over his goatee as she simply tilted her head and watched him. His heart thudded painfully. A flush spread up his body as relief swamped him. He caught her hand and threaded their fingers, holding her in the stormy sea of emotions. He couldn’t breathe. His heart hurt and the only cure was her, this small beautiful woman so very precious to him, and he’d nearly lost her.

“Would it help to say I’m sorry again?”

One of her delicate eyebrows arched. Her pink, swollen lips tipped up in a half smile. “Again? I don’t recall you saying it the first time.”

She was teasing him. That had to be a good sign. “I’m sorry for what I said. What I did tonight—”

“No. No you’re not.” Drawing her knees up to her chest, she curled her arm around them, shaking her head at him. “I want you to be sorry you ever thought to go to another for this—” She waved a hand between them. “For what we have. Are you? I don’t know. But don’t ask me for forgiveness for making me orgasm at least a dozen times.”

Well, shit. She had too. She’d enjoyed their battle, he realised with a swift and hard reaction from below the belt. She’d liked him dominant, him demanding she submit. She was perfect. But he’d been angry. His temper, never too far below the surface, had blown out of control. He could have hurt her.

“Torque, are you listening to me?”

Hell yes, he was listening. “Yeah, Beauty. I heard you. I’ve never gone to another for—”

“Enough of that. Tell me why you accused me of such vile things. Why…” she began, arranging the covers over them both, but waved her hand like a bossy little queen for him to talk.

The tightness in his throat eased. She smelt of cherry blossoms and the scent of their loving—sweet and musky. Her skin glowed, so soft and warm he wanted to hold on and never let go. He shifted and curled his arms around her shoulders. She softened into his side and trailed her slim fingers over the bite mark on his chest, then brushed along his scar. His heart felt too heavy in his chest. The faint smile that shaped her pink lips had his breath catching before she sobered, a sad, faraway look filling her expression as she traced the diagonal path he’d received from a Death Stalker mage.

Before she could protest, he cupped her face and tipped her head up to kiss her gently, savouring her taste, going deeper when she eased into him, devouring her, stroking, sucking her mouth tenderly. Little by little, he released her, leaving warm kisses along her smooth cheeks and silky jaw until he pulled back completely to meet her eyes again.

Her eyes were not as stormy, but she frowned slightly. With a sigh, she reached up and brushed a stray lock of hair off his forehead. He only flinched a little.

“I…this…” He gestured to his dick, which swelled as if knowing they spoke of it. “This is a curse.”

She glanced up at him startled, then slowly smiled. “Your size… It’s not natural.”

Now how did she know that? Because he could hit a home run with the bloody thing obviously.

“It was a curse. I wouldn’t sleep with a witch who took it personally and she cursed me.”

“Oh!” She covered her mouth in surprise, then smiled, her hands not hiding it. He gave her a frown meant to let her know it wasn’t funny and she giggled louder. Immediately he felt like hugging her closer. He was a goner, wasn’t he?

“Mmm, don’t some men think it’s size that matters?”

He tried not to smile but ended up grinning. Gripping his half-hard flesh, he turned her to the side and smacked her lush ass with it. She laughed harder and rolled back over to hug him tighter.

“Stop that! You’ll hurt it and then what will we do for your magic?”

We.

She had said
we
. She would stay. He hoped.

“You can kiss it better,” he purred. If ever he got this curse lifted, he was going to be flat on his back with her sucking him for weeks.

“Mmmm, you’d like that, no?” she purred right back, teasing the hell out of him. The next instant she sobered again. Still frowning, she said, “So you thought because this witch spelled you, I was doing the same?”

He sighed and nodded. He couldn’t deny that the thought had driven him insane with anger. “We are fated, Beauty. You and I. I think you are my bond, the one female in the world I can have a life with. But I didn’t know that. All I knew was you filled my thoughts until I felt like I was going nuts.”

A brief smile slipped over her face before she sobered again quickly. She had power. He could feel it, like a soft caress over his skin. Not dangerous to him, but there all the same. Earlier, when he’d told her of the other women, then, he’d been close to being fried. He’d felt it. The surge of a threat, directed right at him.

“And you know that I am this one now because…”

“Because you’re mine. I want you to be happy, I want your tenderness. You. Only you. I want you, Beauty.”

She frowned and considered his words. Long enough to make him wonder what she was thinking. Finally, she sighed. Her full breasts rose and fell, but he kept his eyes on her face.

“Torque, I need to explain something to you.”

He nodded, suddenly worried all over again. She looked serious, her brow furrowed as she kept her gaze down on her lap where she twisted the silk sheets. Exhaling explosively, she looked up at him. “I meant what I said. I’m not weak—” She held up a hand when he would have responded and stopped him. “Please, just listen. I am not weak. I don’t sit on the sidelines. I don’t know much about myself, I realise that my memory may never come back, too, but Torque, I know deep down”—she cupped her hand over her heart and her eyes darkened—“I’m a fighter. I will not sit by and not fight. I don’t think I was part of what you’re involved in, but I was involved in the battle with the Death Stalkers.” She stopped and shook her head. “It’s so odd, I can remember things, like movies, books, information on who heads the covens, but it’s distant, like I read it in a book. It’s odd, but I know I like coffee, I know I love espresso in the afternoon and I can easily read in any language ever spoken, but I can’t remember one single thing, one detail of my life until I do something. Like my run. Tonight? I went on a run and I felt powerful. Strong.”

She inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. “I’m not sure you can handle or want a woman like that in your life.”

“What?” He reared back, amazed she so quickly saw the panic hitting him as her words flowed from her. His worst nightmare was experiencing her getting hurt again, but here she was, just like before, telling him exactly that—she would fight. And he’d better not stop her. Her empath no doubt filled in all the areas he couldn’t express. He shut his emotions off and tried to listen to her.

“I’m not reading you, Torque. But you radiate strongly, too strongly for me to block when you’re upset.”

He grimaced at her soft whisper. Reaching up slowly, he watched her face, wanting nothing more in this world than to do exactly what she was telling him not to—coddle her. Lock her away and keep her safe.

“I’m not upset,” he began but leaned in to kiss her smiling lips. “Okay, you scare the fuck out of me. Do you know what it was like to see you fall that day?”

“What day?”

“That day I found you, you were powerful. So strong you gave me a tongue-lashing for even suggesting you leave.”

She moved back and gave him a surprised look. “I did?” A smile blossomed on her face, making her glow. He felt worse. He’d kept this from her and obviously she needed to hear this.
Of course she needed to hear this, you dumb ass. She didn’t have any other memories.

“Yeah, I’m sorry, Beauty. I kept this from you, but I swear to you it wasn’t on purpose, not really. I just wanted—”

“Me safe.”

He nodded. Yeah, she got that, didn’t she?

“Torque?”

He looked up from where he’d been stroking her arm and saw she waited on his answer. Did he want her in his life? Strong, independent, fighting.

“Yes. I want you. I want you as my bonded. I want you any way I can have you. If you leave, Beauty, I’m warning you, I’ll find you and harass you until I convince you of how much I want you.”

“Torque!” She laughed and shook her head. “You say that, but…I’ll want to come with you, you realise that, don’t you? On your meetings and missions and oh, don’t give me that look.”

He snorted and tried not to do whatever look she didn’t like, but hell, he would take her everywhere as long as she swore to be his, and listen to him. “I’ll take you with me, but Beauty, you have to realise, sometimes it’s just a meeting—boring stuff full of council members who’d rather be doing anything but meeting. I can’t take you there, at least not yet. I have to talk to them first. Identities are sacred, sweet. All that bullshit.”

“So you’ll agree, that easy, huh? To simply take me with you into dangerous situations.”

He kept his face blank and his emotions lidded. He’d take her with him when he knew the mission wasn’t so dangerous. At first, at least. “I will. Give me some time though. We should try to figure out who you are still and—”

“Torque, are you being honest with me?” She quirked an eyebrow and folded her arms over her breasts, clearly not buying his line.

Something deep inside grew, filling up his chest. She was going to be in his life. They would be bonded, he knew it.

“Bond with me, then you can hear my thoughts, sneak around like in my head.”

She laughed and smacked his chest lightly. “I’m not so sure I want to sneak around in your head.”

He bent closer and kissed her, trying to get as close as possible to her. She broke off the kiss breathless and wild-eyed to stare at him.

“But…but you have me…is this all there is to it? This?”

“No, Beauty. You have to want
me
.” His voice deepened on the last word. Would she want him? He couldn’t see how, not after this night of anger and threats.

She watched him thoughtfully, as if she were weighing the truth in his words. Or worse, weighing his worth.

“Do you? Want me?” Had those words ever left his lips? Never. Now they seemed the hardest thing in the world to utter. He felt tied down and vulnerable for the first time in his life. “After what I thought of you, accused you of tonight, do you still want this, what we’ve found?”

She sighed and reached up to cup his jaw with one hand. “I know you like control, Torque, but you surprised me tonight. Surprised me. Not hurt me.” She traced a finger along his face. “As long as you’re willing to accept that I’m strong, and not go to these others—”

“Beauty, I’ll never go to another woman again, you know that shit, now say you’ll bond with me, here, now.”

“Torque!” Her exasperation had the opposite effect she probably wanted. He grinned, but hid the smile against her throat. Damn she was hot.

“Sweetheart, I am. I’m all yours. I can swear it. Hell, I’ll promise—”

She reached up, covered his lips with her fingers, and laughed. “Shhhh, wild man, you need to earn back some trust. That’s all. I’ve thought of my first rule. No other women.”

First rule?
He sputtered on a laugh.

She narrowed her green eyes warningly. “Yes, you heard me. Now, just hold me, Torque.” She watched him closely, her soft creamy face flushed a delicate pink but fearful for the first time since she’d woken in his bed.

He made a quick decision to gain some points, then press for more. “Promise me you will think on this. But Beauty?” He waited until she met his eyes, caressing her soft silky body with his hands. “I will be using everything in my arsenal to get my answer. The one I want.”

Tomorrow he would work the spell to let her experience a touch of the need for sex he felt. Maybe even add on a little climax with her breasts for fun. She’d love that. And only he would be here to relieve her. One way or another he’d be tying her to him as tight as he could without the ritual words.