Lustful Cravings (The Seven Sin Sisters) (17 page)

“I am so happy you have acclimated to the
C
laiming. It is nothing but the future I now desire with you.” Madden placed the ring onto her finger as he spoke
.
“It was my
grandmama
’s
ring. And now it is yours.”

“I love you, Madden.” The kiss they exchanged in that moment was both gentle and full of need. Anton joined them, stroking her back until Madden released her. Then he
lifted
her and took her to the shower.
Anton
lavished her with soft strokes as he clean
s
ed her body,
rubbed her achingly sore muscles with
lotion and helped her prepare for her day
as he had done every morning in her new home
.
Well loved, well pampered, Layla was rea
dy to face the details of her Pronouncement.

*
*
*
*

Layla sighed
as she walked
through
the gardens back to her new home with Madde
n
.
Taken off guard by her mother being present at the
meeting with Adelina
and completely overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the older women, Layla was relieved
when the mothers
excused
her
with
the singular assignment of selecting her dress.
Having given her pr
eferences to Adelina and Chiara, all other
plans
were
now out of her hands
. Now she
could visit with her sisters.

I
n just five days, she would
officially
be part of the Santucci family
.
Every day u
ntil then
was filled with parties and other social obligations for both her and
Madden
.
T
oday was for just her and
her
sisters and her only responsibility was to choose
a dress.
Adelina had set an appointment with a dressmaker
,
and if Layla worked fast enough, she could gather her sisters to meet her there.

“Madden. Anton,” Layla called from the foyer when she entered their home. Both men had been excused when the details of the event had caused a glaze to settle in their eyes. They had gladly bowed out, explaining that they would begin working on the security details for the event back at the office.

Using their absence at the meeting to her advantage, she sought answers from Adelina and
her mother and
found
both mo
st willing to ease her curiosity.
F
or once, Layla soaked up every bit of information the women passed along to her.
While she had understood the fundamentals of mating, the nuances were what she was missing.

“When you meet your mate, it is natural for the
C
laiming to take place immediately.
T
hen it is expected that the couple will need time to acclimate, to accept, their mating. This is the period between the
C
laiming and the next full lunar cycle,” Adelina explained. “It is important to follow the timeline.”

“Because
the Circle of Magdalena
is
most powerful during the full
moon, we celebrate our Pronouncements only on this day.
It will heighten your powers should they not have already been released through the Acclimation period,” her mother explained.

“My powers?”
Layla asked.

“Yes, your powers are not fully realized yet but soon yours will be as powerful as ours, sweet child,” Adelina answered.

“Know this though,
to forego the Pronouncement once a claiming has taken place challenges the very fate which casts two mates bound,” her mother
warned
.

“The powers of a
Valendite
Breed are magnificent
,
but they can only find eternal life with a mate
from our circle
. At maturity, their aging slows
while they
await
a mate. But this process becomes permanent only when
each
receives the blood of his mate.”

“And they become in tune with one another,” Layla nodded, “This is why I can feel everything Madden feels.”

“Yes,” Adelina smiled and placed her hand on Layla’s arm, “My dear, you give Madden the greatest gift through your blood. While he has strength and other abilities one can only imagine, he sustains these through his bond with you now.
”

“But also know,” Chiara interjected, “that you
will
come into your full powers because of your bond with Madden. He now sustains you as well. Together you are nearly indestructible.”

“But should something happen to one of us, it is both of us who suffer,” Layla finished her mother’s sentence. The silence that set in was heavy as Layla reflected on the past week since Madden claimed her. She felt more alive than ever
—
nearly able to feel her powers coursing through her blood. “And yet with him, I feel so powerful,” she spoke almost to herself.

“Do not misunderstand,
Layla. The role
of
the
Magdalena Circle
woman
in a Mating is often a challenging one. There are times your powers can easily overpower your mate but never can you let them feel inferior. You need one another equally
.
” Chiara covered Layla’s hand and squeezed.

Layla flushed remembering their earlier
lovemaking
and her use of powers to hold Madden down. She hoped her mother couldn’t read her mind as she tried to force away the image.
“
Y
ou literally feed each other life. But there will be other times when you’ll wish nothing else than to take that very life away.” Adelina laughed at her last statement.

Like a typical woman, her mother added, “Men
.
Y
ou can’t live with them and you can’t live without them.”
And like that, the solemn moment they’d shared was over.
Chiara
laughed along with Adelina until she sobered up, wished them well and excused herself to begin working on her guest list
for the party
.
Then
with a swirling puff,
Chiara
was gone.

Layla
called for the
m
en
again
,
but not getting an
answer,
she
hurr
ied
to their home office to use the phone and call her sisters.
The phone had not even begun to ring when Eloise picked
up
.
“Layla
!”

“Eloise, it is so good to hear your voice.”

“Why has it been so long? It
isn’t
even a week until the full moon.”

“I know. I wanted time to know him.”

“And Anton as well,” Eloise wasn’t beyond calling her
on
any half-truths.

“Yes. He is our
T
re
A
doro
. You knew?”

“
When he came to help gather your books and things from the library, we all met him. He was fabulous.”

“Y
es. He did tell me how
most
helpful you were to him,” Layla laughed and it was good to hear Eloise laugh as well.

“Let me put you on speaker phone.
We’re
all here except Gracie who is off doing whatever it is Gracie goes off to do.”

“Layla,” she hear
d her
name bei
n
g
called out by each of her sisters and she fought back the tears that threatened to emerge.

“Sisters, I’ve missed you,” Layla nearly sh
outed into the phone in excitement to hear the voices again,
“
You have no idea what
it’
s like to
be away. But we
see one another
today. I need help selecting my dress.”

“You tell us when
and where
and we’ll be there,” Sadie assured her.

“And I will be certain we are all on our best behavior,” Paige assured her.

Layla laughed as she spent a few more minutes on the phone with her sisters. She missed this bantering, the shear comfort in being near to them. She heard Madden come in the front door so she quickly gave them the address and agreed to meet in an hour.

“
Layla
l
ove, where are you?” Madden called to her.

She walked from around the corner and into the solid wall of Madden’s chest. He caught her around the waist before she tumbled backwards. “I went to Mamma’s but you were already gone.”

“Yes. We were done and I need
ed to talk to my sisters. They’
re meeting me at the dress shop in a bit. Who will come with me?”

“I’m afraid both Anton and I are tied up. I will send Stefan and Tomas with you.” Layla had met both men. They were part of the Santucci family security team and
were
usually
assigned to
go along with Adelina on her trips into town. They were both quiet men and she felt safe with them.

“That will be fine.
It’s
just a trip t
o
the dress shop and maybe coffee with my sisters afterwards.”

“Did my mother set the appointment with the dressmaker?”

“Yes.”

“Then
it’
ll be a private showing.
That’s
perfect.” Madden smiled, stepping closer again and stroking his finger gently along her jaw.
“Remember what I told you
, Layla
. My job is one of discretion but I have made enemies. And my enemies would not hesitate to use any weakness they see against me. You are that weakness now because I would kill countries to keep you safe.”

That probably shouldn’t have felt as romantic as it did
,
but his declaration warmed her heart.
Then Madden spent the next half hour going over safety procedures he expected her to memorize and follow.

Stefan and Tomas arrived fifteen minutes later and escorted her to the car.
By the time they arrived at the dress shop, her sisters were waiting. Just seeing
them
lined up in the window watching for her arriva
l made Layla want to jump from the car
,
but she waited and followed protocol as Madden had explained it before she left the compound.

Aside from her security guards, she also had a tracker in her purse should she be separated
from Stefan and Tomas
. She was beginning to think Madden had forgotten she was a
member of the
Magdalena Circle
with some wickedly good powers of her own. She felt
certain
she could defend herself if she really needed to. Between her
now stronger
powers and her self-defense skills, she was pretty kick-ass when she needed to be. Perha
ps she should mention
the
years of self-defense classes her father had insisted on
o
r maybe she’d surprise him sometime and show off her skills.

Lost in thought, the door suddenly opened and Stefan told her it was clear for her exit. Tomas took her hand while Stefan dropped a half step behind
,
and together, they
walked her into the small shop where
her sisters
immediately bombarded her
with
enthusiastic embraces.

“I’ve missed you all so much,” Layla was wiping at her tears when a
clearing of the throat from a robust woman brought all of the Sinster si
sters to attention.

“Let’s get down to business,” the woman clapped her hands and two slight little women came out with dresses in their arms. “You’ll need to give me some idea of what you like. Mrs. Santucci already instructed me to show only red gowns but there is much variety
from which to choose
.”

And so the dress shopping commenced
.
Layla chose her favorite
s
and began trying them on.
Dress on. Walk, turn,
and
walk
again
. Dress off. It felt endless until the moment the softest satin and lace graced her legs as she stepped into the perfect gown.
The gown was a
red so deep it was near burgundy
and it
hugged her curves and gave her more where she was lacking. The
ivory lace overlaid the red satin skirting and
,
when draped with a matching lace veil, was stunning.