Forged by Fate (21 page)

“Oh my gosh.” The utter sense of dedication swarmed over her. Commitment. Love.

“You are mine. I am yours. There’s nothing I wouldn’t sacrifice for you.” He brought his hands into view, and the left one held the jewel.

Pewter-colored metal with their Mark etched into the face of the ring.

“How’d you know what our Mark would look like?”

“It’s the same as it was at the beginning of time. A sacred Mark. Binding.”

“But—”

“I will still give you time. Halena can marry us when you’re ready.”

“You know about her?”

He nodded and held up the ring.

It was beautiful, but was she ready to wear it? Logically, hell no. Emotionally, getting there really fast. Physically, hell yes. Her body was on fire for him.

He held her gaze, along with his breath, it seemed.

She nodded, “Okay. I’ll wear it.”

He slid the metal over her knuckle, and a switch flipped within her. Lighting a flame of hope deep in her chest.

He twined his fingers with hers, then planted a thorough kiss on her tingling lips.
Mine
. His other hand finished his task of unhooking her bra. She tensed, but only for a second, because as if he sensed her nerves, he slowed.

Tender brushes with his tongue, gentle caresses along her spine, slowly soothed away her fears.

Still propped against him, the fabric across her chest hadn’t slid from her, but he had free rein on her back, and both hands navigated the flesh as if absorbing each and every inch of it.

Heat bloomed deep within her, needing escape. His touch fueled it like kerosene. Bubbling, teasing. Dizziness.

“Theo,” she gasped.

He tilted her to the side, but kept her close and rolled her beneath him. A firestorm of tingles filtered through her body and settled just south of her belly. He shifted his weight down, nibbling along her neck to her chest, and she buried her fingers in his silky hair.

And then the bra was gone.

Instead, his body covered her. His moan vibrated through him and into her. Electrical pulses charged her heart. Her Mark.

Theo moved against her in a steady rhythm, all the while dropping kisses along her face and neck. His talented hands caressed her until her mind was dizzy.

The cliff’s edge approached. Her heart hammered. Tension and heat bubbled deep within her.

“Theo,” she cried out, arching into him.

“Go. I’m with you.”

White lights burst at the corners of her vision. Her body tensed with his, and he let out a long, contented sigh. He pressed his forehead to hers as he settled against her, their bodies sweaty and nearly bare.

“Oh my gosh, Theo.”

“I love you, Sadie.” He pressed a kiss to her lips. “I can’t wait to have all of you.”

She hugged him tight against her and peeked at her ring.
Soon, love.

She didn’t say the words, and maybe he even heard them with his ESP, but she knew it wouldn’t be long until they were married and together in every way.

But what would she become?

Chapter Thirty-three

“Justin’s all healed.” Theo shut the door to his bedroom, then stopped, back against the door.

Sadie lay in the middle of his—er—their bed on her side, hugging a pillow. The sheet only covered the lower half of her, leaving her bare back for his perusal.

Her head lay perched on the pillow, eyes closed, mouth slightly open. Her skin called out to him. Healing Justin hadn’t taken as much from him as it usually did since he’d just been close with Sadie, but still he felt the loss of energy, and Sadie was the cure for that.

He hurried to the bed, removed his jeans and T-shirt, and slid in behind her.

“Justin’s all good?” she whispered, edging against him. His heart leaped at the contact.

“Yes, love, and he just left to go get Dasha.” He kissed her bare shoulder.

“Good. Now talk,” she ordered.

“Direct. Just what I like.” He wove his arm around her waist, pulled her back against him, and sneaked his other arm beneath her head. He touched as much of her skin as possible since they weren’t completely naked.

Yet.

“Halena,” Sadie said.

“Another Shomrei. Stationed in France. She’s in charge of the European section.” He rested his head on her pillow, absorbing the delicious scent of her hair. “She checks on Justin quite a bit.”

“She sounded pissed.”

“She doesn’t agree with my brother’s lifestyle. Thinks his recklessness will bring attention to the supernatural world.”

“Reckless, huh? She mated?”

“No.”

“Hmm,” Sadie said.

“What?”

“Nothing. How old is she?”

“Eight centuries. Very strong.”

“Why is she coming here? She can’t leave her post, can she?”

“We don’t normally leave our stations, no. She sent word as I slumbered that she was coming, yet didn’t tell me why.”

Sadie rolled slightly and captured his gaze. “Sent you a message?”

“Gatekeepers can talk telepathically among one another no matter the distance. She sensed my healing slumber, alerted me to the phone conversation, and said she’d be coming.”

“How can she marry us? Is she a priest or something?”

He laughed. “Gatekeepers are the direct line to The Great One. Since we were created by Him, we have quite a bit of authority. She can bind us much like a priest here in earth’s contemporary churches. We’re already bonded, though, Sadie.”

“Call me old-fashioned. But, Theo, I—er—well, what’ll happen? I mean, when we marry?”

“I love that you said ‘when’, love.” He touched a kiss to her temple. “I’m not sure you’re ready to hear it.”

Her body tensed, but she said nothing. He caressed her stomach, already wanting to be close to her again. To touch her all over.

“I accepted your ring, your fangs, and your bed.” She let out a breath. “Please, tell me. I’m ready to know.”

He brushed away her hair and rested his chin on her shoulder so their cheeks met. “You’ll shed your human self. And if what Aggie spews is true, then you may shed whatever other half you might be. Or it will merge with your new Shomrei being.” He held his breath, waiting for a response. So far she hadn’t moved.

“I’ll become a Shomrei? Like you?”

“In a sense. When we mate, our beings will merge. So yes, in a sense, you will become a Shomrei Gatekeeper with me. You’ll no longer require food and water to remain alive. Though you’ll still eat when you can as it fuels healing. Like your skin energizes me, I, too, will energize you. We will sustain each other.”

“Our Marks.” Her voice was faint. Tight. “They changed.”

“You got your Mark when it was time to call your Mate to you. I felt a ripple in my being, and I knew my Mate was being prepared for me. I followed the sense here. I was in another state at the time, closing a splice. Once in town, getting closer to you, it drew me in. I found you at the diner.”

“My last night working there since I was getting set to graduate and start Bendz Chem in a couple of weeks.” She laughed.

“I saw you early on in the day and decided to get things set up here for you right away while I worked up the nerve to approach you.”

“You were nervous?” She tapped his nose. “I can’t picture you nervous.”

“Very.” He gulped. “Even had to go get Justin to come with me to the diner.” He shook his head. “I’m strong and know a lot, but with you…this is all new.”

“New for me, too.”

“I didn’t think you’d be here, in my bed, this soon. I’d
hoped
, but I wanted things ready immediately, regardless.” He laughed at the memory of throwing money around to make things happen quickly. “Another reason I brought Justin with me was so he could meet you and begin watching over you if I got called away.”

“If you two were created, how are you brothers?”

“A Gatekeeper is created with a Companion. What the world perceives as brothers. He’s created to assist me. He’s a Shomrei and has great power, but he’s not bonded to both worlds.”

“Hades and Heaven.”

“He told you.”

“A little.”

“Companions are bonded to their Gatekeepers. If we perish, so does the Companion.”

“And if the Companion is killed?”

“We survive. But…we’re different. Imbalanced. We’re unlike anything ever created, and it can be lonely. Our Companions fill that void with loyalty and dedication, and help us stay centered.” He kissed her shoulder. “Until we join with our Mates.”

“Then what happens to the Companions?”

“They assist us both. And, eventually, find their own Mates. Though Justin insists he’ll never be mated.”

“Yeah, I asked him about that once. He didn’t much like that.” She smiled. “How can he deny it if every other Companion gets a Mate?”

“He can’t. Justin’s just stubborn.”

“But sweet in his own way. Especially when I kinda freaked out about your fangs.”

“I’m glad he was there for you. He always will be, you know that, right? You can count on that.”

She shifted within his grasp to face him. “Can I see your fangs again? How do they work?”

Theo closed his eyes and held his breath at her request. The fangs. The part of him he despised. It was necessary to dominate the demon world—conquer it—but still, it made his gut churn. But another part of him was relieved she’d asked to see them. That meant she accepted them.

Accepted me.

“So, you’re part demon?” She gazed up into his eyes. “That’s why you have fangs?”

“I’m not
literally
part demon. I have a connection to evil only so I can master it.
And
they are wicked fighting weapons as well.”

She kissed his chin. “I can’t believe how strong you are.”

“I get my strength from The Great One and you.”

“Can I see them?” she asked again.

He drew in a deep breath. Might as well show her since she, too, would get them. What would she think of having fangs? A Shomrei never to die unless beheaded? Constantly facing evil. Traveling.

He opened his mouth and ordered the teeth down. The familiar cracking sounded, and a slight pulse of pain as the lethal tips broke through the gums. Slowly, so she could see.

“They’re thin.” She propped herself up on her elbow, watching. “Just above your eyeteeth. Over them and longer. Oh my God.” Her eyes widened. “I can’t believe this. It’s amazing.”

The weapons finished their dramatic entry under her scrutiny, and he lowered his top lip.

“Does it hurt you?”

“Not much. Only a brief minute when they breach the gums. They slide down from the root, over the tooth.” He brushed his knuckles along her cheek. “You like information, don’t you? Helps calm you down about things that scare you.”

“Always has.” She smiled. “Though this is testing my logic for sure.”

“I can imagine.”

“They don’t cut your lips, but they cut my finger before when I touched one.” She cupped his cheek with her hand, still staring at his mouth.

“No. You learn to work with them.”

“What do you mean ‘learn’? You’ve always had them, right?”

“Yes. But still…” He leaned into her, a breath between their lips. “It takes time to control. And even after nine centuries, when things are intense, they have a mind of their own.”

She glanced at his mouth and licked her lips. “Intense?”

He rolled her beneath him, savoring the silky feel of her bare skin against his. Energy pulsed through him, replenishing what was drained healing Justin. “I don’t enjoy them coming out. Even now, I don’t like it. And when we were first together…”

“They came out,” she whispered. “That next morning you were such a jerk—er—distant.”

“I was a jerk. I’m sorry.” He inched closer to her lips, wanting to devour them.

She dropped a kiss on his chin, then another closer to his lips, as if testing the waters. He held perfectly still, allowing her time. Maybe she wouldn’t be too upset she’d have fangs. Maybe he’d been wrong rejecting this side of himself all this time. The Great One had equipped him with these. They had a purpose.

“Have you ever bitten a human? You know, like a vampire.”

“I don’t drink blood, love.” Though he’d tasted his fair share in battle while ripping out throats.

“Good. Because that’d be entirely too gross for me to handle.”

He smiled, and she froze, her eyes fixed on his mouth. A wave of fear swarmed her blue irises, but only for a flash. Soon the information-seeking genius returned. Constantly analyzing, learning, figuring out.

The Mark on his neck pulsed. He settled into the warmth between her legs, and she smiled. Her heart hammered through her chest into his. Did he dare kiss her with his fangs extended? He sensed she wanted to try, but a hint of fear mingled through that held him back.

Then she lifted her head and sucked on his bottom lip. Slowly, with calculated movements, her tongue slid into his mouth. She brushed against the fangs. On instinct, they softened slightly as if they knew they’d injure her.

“Not so sharp,” she whispered into his mouth, then her tongue stroked a fang.

It felt more like she was licking the Mark on his neck. A jolt of heat flooded his chest and tightened his spine. His breath whooshed from his lungs.

Another stroke.

He nearly came undone.

“They’re softer. Not so pointed now.” She kissed him harder. “God, you feel so good.”

“I don’t know what you’re doing, but don’t stop. Just don’t stop.” He moved against her, and she held on as she deepened her kisses.

She broke away, gasping for air. His fangs retracted all the way. “See, they’re not so bad.” She smiled and ran her fingers through his hair. “A little dark and sexy.” She kissed the corner of his mouth.

He stilled his movements and framed her face with his hands. “I hope you feel that way when yours come.”

Chapter Thirty-four

Sadie leaned into the mirror and lifted her upper lip to see her full gum line. She tongued her eyetooth, trying to envision fangs like Theo’s coming down.

A shudder coursed through her, and she released her hold on her lip. The fangs freaked her out more than the idea of not being human anymore after sex with Theo.