Temptation, Chronicles of the Fallen, Book 3 (23 page)

But dear Lord, it was frigid down here. So cold in fact, that despite pressing tightly against Gideon’s warm skin, in a matter of minutes, she was shivering. But she refused to be the first to yield.

“Damned stubborn, argumentative woman,” Gideon muttered beneath his breath and rolled away. Before she could protest, he scooped her up in his arms and strode to the bed.

“Stay with me,” she urged as he lowered her to the soft mattress. She locked her arms around his neck, forcing him to hover over her.

“I’ve taken your choices from you at every turn. I won’t force this on you too.” He made to pull back, but she refused to let go.

“If you leave this bed, then that’s exactly what you’re doing.” He paused, staring down at her with a frown on his shadowed face, and she pressed, “I want this, Gideon. I want you. I am making this choice.”

“But you know what I have to do to survive now. How can you—”

“I can, because I know you.”

He stared down at her for so long, she thought for a moment she’d lost the battle after all.

Desperate to get through to him, she gave him back the very words he’d once spoken to her. “We’ll figure this out…together.”

The edges of his mouth curled up, reminding her of the first time she’d seen him, standing across the nightclub, leaning against the bar, staring at her as if she were the only woman in the world.

He was looking at her like that again, right now.

Slowly, he lowered his head and captured her lips, branding her very soul. His lips were so very hot. His tongue swirled into her mouth, plunging and rubbing in a sinful mimicry of the sex act.

Without breaking the kiss, he shifted above her, slipping beneath the blankets, until he lay full length against her. Gideon got rid of their clothing with one of his little vanishing tricks.

Maggie’s world narrowed. The pinpoint of her focus centered in this room, on this bed, in the intimate warmth of the two of them snuggled on their sides facing each other inside the warm cocoon of blankets. This was a world of sensation. A world of erotic, gentle caresses. Of soft sighs, and tender murmurs.

Gideon slipped a warm thigh between hers. The slightly coarse hair on his leg abraded her sensitive skin, sending delicious shivers through her. He slipped one arm beneath her neck, cradling her.

She splayed her fingers over his back, savoring the ripple of rock hard muscles and controlled strength while she tangled her free hand in his hair. When she set her fingertips to tracing the gruesome scars on his back, he tensed.

“Do they hurt?” she whispered, there in the intimacy of the bed.

“No,” he admitted, scowling.

“Then why do you tense when I touch them?”

“Because…because they’re a reminder of the beast inside me. A reminder of my fall.”

She continued to trace the scars. “That’s not how I see them.”

He frowned as he waited for her to explain, but his body was slowly relaxing into her touch.

“I see them as a symbol of your strength and the things you’ve overcome to be where you are now. Be what you are now. A being who’s made mistakes and done everything in his power to correct those mistakes. And the beast inside you, as you call it, is a part of you. You need to learn to work with the rage instead of fighting it.” She reached up, shushing him with a finger pressed to his lips. “Besides, without these scars, I wouldn’t be able to be here with you like this.”

He stared at her, long and hard. And then he smiled, a purely Gideon kind of smile.

His warm hand settled over her breast and he smoothed the rough pad of his thumb back and forth across her nipple. He stole her breath as he kissed her then, long and slow. Then he released her mouth, and Maggie gasped as his lips skated down the side of her neck. He edged down on the bed, lavishing every inch of her skin with soft caresses and erotic nibbling kisses. His hands moved to her hips, urging her over onto her back.

And when he settled his shoulders between her thighs, she sighed in pleasure. The last time he’d done this, he’d taken her with wild, reckless abandon. He’d utterly devoured her.

Now he took his time. Starting at her knees and working his way to the tiny bundle of nerves at the apex of her thighs, he nipped and nibbled. He licked and sucked. He nuzzled and teased. He drew it out into infinity. He leisurely savored as she slowly lost her mind.

Only after she’d drifted in a dreamy sensual haze, did he finally climb back up her body. Gideon’s expression as he eased his rigid, thick length deep inside her, gentle but determined, was one she would hold close to her heart for the rest of her days.

And then he began to move.

They’d had sex before. She could honestly say she knew the difference now. What had happened between them before had been untamed, lust-filled, earth-shaking, mind-blowing sex.

Here and now, Gideon made love to her.

She’d never be the same again.

There would never be any going back, no changing her mind. No halves. No compromises. For better or worse, as his body rocked over hers, as he surged inside her, Gideon laid claim to more than her body. He laid claim to more than her heart. He branded himself upon her soul.

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Again,” Maggie panted, wiping sweat from her brow.

Xander hurled another plasma ball at her, this one at her feet, and she leaped to the side, tumbling, rolling, coming up with a ball of Angelfire already palmed and ready to launch just as they’d coached her. Xander vanished a split second before it would have set his hair on fire. He reappeared a foot away and made to kick her in the face, but she flung herself backward, rolled and shot to her feet, lobbing another ball of Angelfire on the fly.

This one left a scorch mark on Xander’s forearm. But he wasn’t done. He continued to attack, disappear and attack again, until Gideon finally called out, “Okay, that’s enough.”

Maggie had to give him credit. Though he’d flat out refused to stay away from practice—and he hadn’t been able to bring himself to play the role of her attacker—Gideon hadn’t argued this time when Xander had stepped into the role. And he’d kept his promise to not interfere once practice started.

He’d lasted much longer than she’d thought he would. Although, his lower lip looked nearly chewed to pieces, and he had bluish marks on his arms where his fingers had dug in to keep from leaping to her defense.

He’d given her far more today than she could ever thank him for. He’d given her the tools to protect herself. And he’d bolstered her self-confidence. Supported her, encouraged her even though allowing her to continually put herself in dangerous confrontations clearly went against every belief he held dear.

Xander acknowledged Gideon’s dictate by extinguishing the flaming ball in the palm of his hand and straightening. “Your aim is improving. But shoot for the chest. It’s a bigger target. You’ve done well,” he told her before stepping back to make room for Gideon. Maggie beamed under the praise. And high praise it was indeed, considering the source.

Gideon stepped in front of her. He began touching her, turning her this way and that, obviously checking for injuries. His fingers skimmed a fresh bruise on her shoulder where she’d rolled over a rock. Maggie flinched before she caught herself. His expression turned thunderous.

“Don’t,” she warned, poking him in the chest. “I’m fine.”

Gideon pinched his lips together. He didn’t like it. Not one bloody bit. But he remained silent and he nodded. Pleased, Maggie went up on tiptoe and pecked a kiss on his lips. As she settled back on her feet, he grabbed her up and planted another kiss on her, one designed to knock her socks off.

Mission accomplished
, she thought fuzzily when he finally released her, leaving her swaying on her feet. Apparently satisfied at venting his thwarted frustration, he stalked off to confer with Xander. Shaking her head, a small grin tugging at her lips, she decided to let him off the hook for good behavior.

Maggie swiped more sweat from her brow and plucked her damp T-shirt away from her body. Flapping it in the air to cool off, she watched Kyanna slip from Xander’s arms. The stunning, leggy blonde snatched a bottle of water from a cooler filled with ice near the fountain and crossed to her side. Maggie tried not to be self-conscious, tried really hard. Usually, her weight was a nonissue for her. A take it or leave it kind of thing. What you see is what you get. She was very pragmatic that way. But her ego took a hit nonetheless. How could it not? Short, pudgy plain her next to a woman who looked like Kyanna Hughes.

Oh, not that Kyanna had done anything to warrant this sudden attack of body envy. Quite the contrary. Kyanna had gone out of her way to be friendly and welcoming. The only shortcoming, Maggie was certain, was solely in her own mind.

“You’ve impressed Xander,” Kyanna said as she offered Maggie the bottle.

Maggie eyed the tall warrior demon in question as she drained half the bottle in one long guzzle. “He’s not holding back?” she asked, leaning a sore hip against the aged stone.

“Maybe just a little,” Kyanna admitted, grinning as she plopped down beside her. “I don’t think he wants to give Gideon a coronary, not just yet anyway. But Xander wouldn’t tell you that you were doing well if he didn’t truly mean it.”

Maggie grunted and finished the rest of the water. Kyanna held out her hand for the bottle. Then, turning, she called, “Hey, baby?” As Xander glanced over, a dark brow arched, Kyanna tossed the empty bottle into the air. The bottle vanished. “Thank you,” Kyanna chirped.

“You’re welcome,” Xander responded dutifully, earning a blinding smile from his wife.

Xander vanished without warning, and reappeared directly in front of Kyanna. He swept her up into his arms and straight into a blazing hot, toe curling kiss. Maggie fought the urge to giggle and averted her gaze.

Laughing, Gideon joined them, his humor apparently improving now that Maggie was no longer a target for Xander’s potentially lethal attacks.

“Get a room,” he teased.

Kyanna finally managed to break the kiss, but she had to lean her forehead against Xander’s chest and curl her fingers into the front of his shirt as she struggled to regain her composure. At last, still a little breathless, she pushed out of his arms. Maggie could tell, if given half the chance, Xander would have shimmered them away to finish what he’d started.

“I need to check on reports of a nest of Carpathï in Denver,” Xander told Kyanna, his own voice a little rougher than normal. “Will you be all right here for a bit?”

“Go,” Kyanna said, giving him a quick squeeze. “Do your macho demon thing. But you better hurry,” she added, trailing a finger down the center of his white V-neck T-shirt. “I feel like taking a bubble bath…and I might decide not to wait for you if you take too long.”

Maggie blinked. She could have sworn Xander’s eyes had just flickered red.
Hmm. Must have been a trick of the light.

“Woman, if you start that bath without me, I’ll turn you over my knee,” he rasped.

“Promise?” Kyanna asked cheekily.

Xander growled. And this time, Maggie was absolutely positive. His eyes had turned bright, flame red. Without another word, he disappeared in a now familiar distortion of air.

Kyanna turned back to Maggie. “That should give us a few hours—”

“Half an hour, at best, darlin’,” Gideon corrected. “Carpathï don’t offer much of a challenge, at least not as much, oh, say Charocté or Animagi. And let’s face it, sugar, that was one motivated demon you just sent off.”

Blushing, Kyanna laughed. “Then I guess we better get busy.”

Gideon sat on the front veranda, leaning back on his elbows. He could relax now a bit. Maggie and Kyanna were only practicing simple charms. He watched as Maggie called forth a bubble of water from thin air, then caused it to float up and hover, shimmering in the golden glow of the late afternoon sunlight. The bubble popped, and crystal droplets sprinkled down over both giggling women. Maggie’s skin glowed with vitality, her face alight with excitement.

She took his breath away.

He could hear the murmur of the women’s voices as they spoke quietly back and forth, Maggie asking questions, Kyanna instructing and praising. Maggie was a quick study, picking up the finer points of angelic magics like she’d been doing it all her life. He felt his own chest puff just a bit every time she easily mastered what Kyanna often warned might be a difficult enchantment. She was gifted. And smart.

And he was starting to sound like a sap, but he just didn’t care. The woman amazed him at every turn.

His first inkling that something might be wrong came in the form of an odd wave of power quivering through the air. At first, he thought it was Maggie and Kyanna, one of the many angelic enchantments that often caused a demon’s skin to crawl.

A huge black void appeared out of nowhere, opening up about ten feet from the women. It seemed as though time stood still, yet leaped ahead a thousand years all at once. Gideon was off the veranda and sprinting across the yard before the next heartbeat.

Everything swayed toward the vortex, foliage, grass, even the very air seemed to be pulled inside. The cooler overturned. Cubes of ice and bottles of water, the cooler itself went skidding across the lawn before the whole mess was sucked up inside the black void. Maggie and Kyanna screamed as they were dragged backward.

Maggie managed to grab hold of the lip of the old stone fountain with one hand. She hung horizontal above the ground, the vortex pulling relentlessly at her. Her other arm was stretched back, and she clung tenaciously to Kyanna’s hands. Kyanna, who’d been closer to the vortex, floated precariously in the air, her feet all but disappearing into the void; the only thing keeping her on this side of the portal was Maggie.

“Hold on!” he shouted.

The closer Gideon got to them, the more he could feel the terrible pull of the vortex. His boots began skidding across the grass, until he was no longer running toward them, but skating along, trying to keep his balance as he angled for the fountain. He collided with the aged stone hard enough to severely injure the ribs Michael had already bruised. Thank God the thing weighed nearly a ton, or both women would have been long gone by now.

Frantic, Gideon scrambled around the massive center tiers until he could reach for Maggie. She was hanging on by the tips of her fingers now. Terror closed his throat, trapping any words of instruction inside. He had to hurry. Her wide, terror-filled eyes sought his, pleading with him. She wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer. She screamed, but the vortex sucked even that away.

Throwing caution aside, he leaped for her. His fingers brushed hers, but it wasn’t enough. Before he could get a grip, her hand slipped from the fountain, and both women tumbled into the void, disappearing before his eyes. The whole thing had happened in less than a minute.

“No!” Gideon screamed.

He launched himself from the fountain, aiming for the vortex. But the vortex slammed closed, and Gideon landed facedown on the grass.

Everything in him rebelled. No. She couldn’t be gone.

Oh God! Oh God, Maggie! No.

Though it was a desperate struggle, he forced himself to focus on the house. He shimmered into the den, his wild-eyed gaze swinging around.

Alone. He was alone.

He shimmered to the bedroom.

Alone again.

To the farm.

Alone.

Bellowing, he went to his knees, his fists gripping his hair. His mind raced, but panic had him by the throat.
Maggie! Maggie!
He had to get her back.

Get it together. You’re not going to save her like this.

Forcing himself to his feet, he shimmered back to the plantation. With trembling hands, he yanked his phone from his pocket and began dialing.

Within minutes, Xander, Mikhail, Niklas and Carly arrived. But those minutes were the longest of his life.

“Where the hell is she?” Xander exploded the second he materialized. He had Gideon by the throat in the blink of an eye, slamming him into the kitchen wall. “Where’s Kyanna?”

Guilt kept him from fighting back.

“I don’t—” He gasped for air as Xander’s fingers bit mercilessly into his flesh. “I don’t know.”

Niklas and Mikhail leaped forward, peeling a straining, feral Xander off him. Head pounding, chest filled with terror, Gideon sucked in one breath after another.

“What happened?” Niklas, ever the voice of reason, asked, turning to face Gideon once Xander had backed off a bit.

“Maggie and Kyanna were practicing charms by the fountain,” he summed up succinctly, fearing their time was running out. “I felt an odd wave of power in the air, and a split second later this huge void opened up right beside them. The pull of this thing…it was unreal. It sucked them in and then snapped closed before I could jump in after them.”

All four demons glanced at each other. Niklas yanked his phone out and dialed a number. He cursed after a moment, then shoved the phone back in his pocket.

“Sebastian isn’t answering.”

“Can’t you shimmer Maggie back?” Carly asked, pointing to the cuff. “Won’t that work?”

Gideon shook his head. “I tried. When I shimmer, I get there alone. Whatever this vortex is, wherever it brought her…or whoever has her, something’s blocking it.” As soon as the words left his mouth, understanding dawned. There was another possible explanation. One he hadn’t thought of until that moment. There could be another reason the cuffs weren’t working. What if she wasn’t wearing it anymore?

Mortikaï had the key to the cuffs. If she was no longer wearing her cuff, then Mortikaï had to be involved. He remembered what Mortikaï had done to the Amulet of the Gods, and a wave of nausea rolled through him.

“She might not have the cuff on anymore,” he finally managed to get out.

“What do you mean?” Xander demanded.

“Oh no!” Carly interjected, understanding dawning in her soft brown eyes as her gaze went to Gideon’s bare neck.

“You think Mortikaï has her?” Niklas asked.

Carly turned to Xander. “Can’t you sense Kyanna? Through your connection? Can you feel her?”

If possible, Xander looked even more upset than before. “I can’t feel her,” he snarled. The demon looked like a wounded animal. A vicious, lethal predator a hairsbreadth from slaughtering everyone in sight.

Gideon didn’t feel much better.

Mikhail asked, “The vortex opened by the fountain?”

Gideon nodded, leading the group out the back door.

He watched as Mikhail paced off the area, a fierce frown of concentration furrowing his scarred brow. Gideon opened himself up, wide open, like a raw, exposed nerve.

Nothing but lingering remnants of pure evil.

He followed Mikhail’s movements hopefully, praying the Demon of War might have some trick up his sleeve to help them find the women.

At last, Mikhail stopped in his tracks. “I can see the path, but the way is not clear. There is too much interference. I can’t get a lock on the destination.”

Xander exploded, his skin began to turn demonic red and his fangs began to grow. His fist smashed into the fountain in a shower of dust and crumbled rock. The massive fountain crashed to the ground in pieces.

“But there is a path, right?” Carly pressed, turning in Niklas’s arms to look up at him. Ever since hearing of the vortex, Niklas hadn’t let her out of arm’s reach, as if fearful she, too, might be snatched away. “There has to be someone who can follow the path, isn’t there?”