pushed?”
“Thirty minutes for a whirlwind tour of the house.”
“The tour can wait.”
He shook his head. “I want you to feel at home. Thanks.” He accepted the toast.
“Steve.” She didn’t know what to say. Everything was up in the air. Having broken ties with the Collegium, she had to build a new life outside its orbit. She had to find a job. She picked up her coffee mug, cradling it as she leaned against the counter. They hadn’t discussed where they’d live. “This is a holiday.”
“This is us, together .”
His emphasis puzzled her.
He abandoned his food to frown at her. “I’m in deep with you, Fay. Everything I am, everything I have, is yours.”
It took her breath away.
He wasn’t finished. “I get that you’re building a new life. You’re going to have to try things to find out how you want to live outside the Collegium. I wanted to give you that time.” His light brown eyes flickered to the wild topaz of his leopard-were nature. “Uncle’s screwed that. I have to take you to Tomy and Raha, to the fort.”
“The fort?”
“The Suzerain’s home and Court is an ancient fortress in Alexandria.”
She grappled with that, edging her way towards the truth Steve seemed intent on forcing on her. “You’ll have to live there one day?”
“ We will. I hope.”
“Oh.”
He uncurled her fingers from their tight grip on the coffee mug, took it from her, and clasped her hand. “You’re deciding what sort of life you want to lead, free of the Collegium. Being with me…you need to know the good and bad of who I am and how I live. What I’ll have to take on one day as Suzerain. I’m in deep with you, but I don’t want to haul you blind into a situation you’re not comfortable with.” Anxiety flickered in his amazing eyes.
Steve was never anxious, never less than confident and in control.
She had chosen not to think of her future. She had savings and she could always find work as a magical mercenary. She’d wanted to concentrate on her personal life, on the sheer sparkling joy of being in love with Steve, rather than worry about her future.
But the future was about being with Steve.
Love flamed through her, powerful and claiming, as she understood that he spoke the absolute truth: he was in deep with her. And she was in just as deep, fathoms drowned, in love with him. Love wasn’t measured in time, but in heartbeats.
She walked around the corner of the kitchen counter and into the V of his legs as he sat on a stool. That brought them to the same height. She kissed him. Then she pulled back enough to look at him steadily. “I don’t care where we live, or how we live, or if we have to juggle a thousand djinni and all the weres in the world. You’re mine and I’ll be with you.”
His fierce kiss answered her flare of love and passion. He lifted her onto the counter and she wrapped her arms and legs around him, binding him to her. His own arms were strong bands around her. “I love you, Fay.”
Steve had kept his possessive instincts locked down the last two weeks, aware of how new Fay was to life outside the Collegium, and to loving and being loved. But her vow broke his control. “I’m going to love you in the moonlight and the sunlight, in the ocean and in our bed. I’m going to make you purr and scream.”
“You already have. I screamed last night.”
“That little gasp?” He rubbed his face against hers, a cat marking his mate. Her shower-fresh scent spiked with arousal. “If I hadn’t chartered a plane in two hours, I’d show you the difference.” He kissed her carnally, drawing back reluctantly before he lost his mind. She was his, more than she knew. “Come on, I’ll show you the highlights of the house on the way to the garage before I drive us to the airport.”
The first part of the house tour whirled past Fay unnoticed. Her body hummed with wanting and her brain was awash in hormones. She had a vague impression of light and
“Thirty minutes for a whirlwind tour of the house.”
“The tour can wait.”
He shook his head. “I want you to feel at home. Thanks.” He accepted the toast.
“Steve.” She didn’t know what to say. Everything was up in the air. Having broken ties with the Collegium, she had to build a new life outside its orbit. She had to find a job. She picked up her coffee mug, cradling it as she leaned against the counter. They hadn’t discussed where they’d live. “This is a holiday.”
“This is us, together .”
His emphasis puzzled her.
He abandoned his food to frown at her. “I’m in deep with you, Fay. Everything I am, everything I have, is yours.”
It took her breath away.
He wasn’t finished. “I get that you’re building a new life. You’re going to have to try things to find out how you want to live outside the Collegium. I wanted to give you that time.” His light brown eyes flickered to the wild topaz of his leopard-were nature. “Uncle’s screwed that. I have to take you to Tomy and Raha, to the fort.”
“The fort?”
“The Suzerain’s home and Court is an ancient fortress in Alexandria.”
She grappled with that, edging her way towards the truth Steve seemed intent on forcing on her. “You’ll have to live there one day?”
“ We will. I hope.”
“Oh.”
He uncurled her fingers from their tight grip on the coffee mug, took it from her, and clasped her hand. “You’re deciding what sort of life you want to lead, free of the Collegium. Being with me…you need to know the good and bad of who I am and how I live. What I’ll have to take on one day as Suzerain. I’m in deep with you, but I don’t want to haul you blind into a situation you’re not comfortable with.” Anxiety flickered in his amazing eyes.
Steve was never anxious, never less than confident and in control.
She had chosen not to think of her future. She had savings and she could always find work as a magical mercenary. She’d wanted to concentrate on her personal life, on the sheer sparkling joy of being in love with Steve, rather than worry about her future.
But the future was about being with Steve.
Love flamed through her, powerful and claiming, as she understood that he spoke the absolute truth: he was in deep with her. And she was in just as deep, fathoms drowned, in love with him. Love wasn’t measured in time, but in heartbeats.
She walked around the corner of the kitchen counter and into the V of his legs as he sat on a stool. That brought them to the same height. She kissed him. Then she pulled back enough to look at him steadily. “I don’t care where we live, or how we live, or if we have to juggle a thousand djinni and all the weres in the world. You’re mine and I’ll be with you.”
His fierce kiss answered her flare of love and passion. He lifted her onto the counter and she wrapped her arms and legs around him, binding him to her. His own arms were strong bands around her. “I love you, Fay.”
Steve had kept his possessive instincts locked down the last two weeks, aware of how new Fay was to life outside the Collegium, and to loving and being loved. But her vow broke his control. “I’m going to love you in the moonlight and the sunlight, in the ocean and in our bed. I’m going to make you purr and scream.”
“You already have. I screamed last night.”
“That little gasp?” He rubbed his face against hers, a cat marking his mate. Her shower-fresh scent spiked with arousal. “If I hadn’t chartered a plane in two hours, I’d show you the difference.” He kissed her carnally, drawing back reluctantly before he lost his mind. She was his, more than she knew. “Come on, I’ll show you the highlights of the house on the way to the garage before I drive us to the airport.”
The first part of the house tour whirled past Fay unnoticed. Her body hummed with wanting and her brain was awash in hormones. She had a vague impression of light and
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