The Beast Within (23 page)

Gage whirled around and saw Mira standing in the doorway to the hall. His black T-shirt hung down to her knees, her hair was long and sexy and her eyes…

Oh fuck, her eyes. The pain.
Gage walked toward her. “Mira.”

She brushed passed him, picked up the potion, put it to her mouth and drank it.

He was too dumbfounded to react for several seconds. Then he leapt across the space and jerked it out of her hand, but she’d drained almost all of it.

She lifted her furious gaze to his and burped. Then she scrunched up her nose. “Ugh, what the hell was in that?”

Gage slammed the cooling beaker down and grabbed her shoulders. “Little late now to be asking that! What the hell were you thinking! That could be dangerous!”

Narrowing her eyes, she yelled back, “You were going to leave me, you bastard! You used me! Lied to me!” She burped and frowned. “Jesus, that tastes bad. Is that vinegar?”

It took every ounce of his self-control not to shake her. “I needed that potion. It had the gemstones that will flash me to Calia to rescue her.”

She lifted her eyebrows. “Now we’ll go together. After all, I know your secret. You’re a burned-out, washed-up, has-been creep.”

He saw himself in her eyes and Gage hated it. “Mira, I couldn’t tell you. I couldn’t risk anyone finding out. The only way to protect the town was to keep everyone believing I was at full power. I did my job. I kept the town safe.”

“Except for my grandmother. For days we’ve been bouncing around while you screwed me back to full…uh-oh.” Her eyes widened to reveal a ring of white.

“Mira?” Was she going to throw up?

She jerked out of his hold and said, “You’re fired. I’ll find Gram myself. Stay away from me and my family.” Then she vanished.

Gage stared at the empty spot. It took his brain a second to process it. His blood had activated the potion. Mira had jumped to her grandmother. Without him.

Impossible.

M
ira hit the ground like a sack of potatoes. Nausea roiled in her gut, her head pounded and her fingers and toes tingled. She forced herself to a sitting position.

“Nice of you to drop in,” a deep voice said.

She looked up a pair of long legs in black pants to slim hips, a narrow waist and a huge chest covered by a black T-shirt. Lifting her gaze to his face, she saw deep hazel eyes, a scar along one temple and sandy-brown hair. She shifted her gaze to see the thick lines of mantling curling around his heavily muscled arm. “You must be Sinclair.” She’d heard his name while eavesdropping on Gage.

He studied her. “How did you get here without Remington?”

Mira flinched at Gage’s name, at the memory…it was too brutal to think about. “I drank his potion before he could drink it and leave without me.” Leave her behind. Because she’d served her purpose and he was done with her. He’d been lying to her and using her from the start. Her throat tightened and hot agony twisted her heart.

“Impossible. You can’t flash-jump unless he sends you with his power. Are you supposed to distract me?” His gaze traveled down her form to her bare feet.

Mira didn’t like it. “I just want my grandmother.” She looked around and realized they were in the mausoleum of the Eternal Wings Cemetery. The marble was cold on her feet and one long wall was lined with crypts. Overhead, the thin moonlight barely passed through the stained-glass skylight. She looked back at him. “What are you doing in the mausoleum?”

He sighed. “Calia has not been cooperative. I figured it out when she told me we had to go to Remington’s VIP room in the club. I saw her leave the gemstone…and I knew she wasn’t talking to the spirits about me, but about Remington.”

That jerked her attention back. “What? No, why—”

Dryly, he answered, “A fried town wizard is next to useless.”

“Gram
knew
?” Mira sputtered. She fisted the material of the oversized T-shirt, trying to make sense of it. Everything she’d believed was just…wrong.

“After you and Remington tried to flash-jump into the room we were in, I’d had enough of being jerked around. I sprayed Calia with truth potion and she answered my questions. She has known that Remington was fried for the last seventeen years. I played right into her hands by kidnapping her and giving her the way to bring you and Remington together.” The edge of his left eye twitched. “I was played by an old woman.” He rubbed the twitch. “I brought her here where there should be plenty of spirits for her to consult.”

Jeeze, morbid much?
She dragged her gaze away from him. “Where is she?” She’d already looked over the rectangular reflecting pool flanked by angel statues and stone benches. It was a quiet spot for meditation or prayer in the middle of the room. This time, her gaze caught on the too-still figure sitting on a bench, wrapped in a blanket. The figure didn’t move, didn’t blink, and it took her a second to realize it wasn’t another statue. “Gram?” she called out and took a step.

“I froze her when you dropped in.”

Mira turned to the wizard and felt the last thread of her ability to cope, of her sanity, just plain snap. “Froze her? You froze a seventy-six-year-old woman?” Her voice rose and bounced off the marble in an enraged screech. Mira didn’t care. She shook with an adrenaline surge.
This bastard froze her grandmother.
She launched herself at him, hit his chest and knocked him back into the rows of crypts.

A bouquet of roses rained down soft petals and drops of cold water.

The wizard moved lightning quick, trapping her wrists in one hand before she could slug him stupid. Mira didn’t care. She lunged for his neck to bite him. She’d rip out his artery….

She heard a sizzle behind her, felt the wave of pure power race down her spine. Before she could draw a breath or form a thought, large hands wrapped around her waist and yanked her away from the wizard. She recognized the feel of Gage’s hands, the scent of his power. He shoved her behind him.

Mira stared at Gage’s powerful back covered in the ribbons of mantling. He still wore the sweatpants she’d seen him in earlier. Relief mixed with sick despair. She wanted to believe he’d come for her, but she knew he came to deal with the wizard and re-establish his authority. But with her grandmother frozen, Mira needed him. She looked around to see that Sinclair had gotten to his feet. He was roughly the same height as Gage and held a wicked-looking knife in his hand.

Gage held out his hand and his butterfly knife appeared, open and ready for battle. He demanded, “Why Sin? Why kidnap a matchmaker?”

The other wizard shrugged. “She’s the best and I only use the best. I tried to hire her for any rate she wished to name. She kept refusing.”

“For what?” Gage asked. “Never known you to have trouble finding women.”

Sinclair’s jaw twitched and his eyes shadowed. “I need more. A couple hundred years of grazing through endless women is losing its appeal. I need more and Calia Tate is going to find the woman that can relieve this biting edge of fiery lust in me so I can think and work again!”

“You kidnapped my grandmother to get you a woman for sex? You don’t need a matchmaker, you need a pimp.”

“Mira, stay out of this,” Gage said.

Stay out of it?
“Are all you wizards like this? Oh sure, maybe you’re devastatingly sexy, but you people need keepers! Kidnapping old women, big-ass secrets…”

“Not now, Mira. I have a situation to deal with here.”

His cold dismissive tone was like fingernails on a chalk-board. “Well then, when, Gage?” She didn’t know when she’d become this emotional, crazy woman. But she just
hurt
so damned much. “When were you going to tell me you were just using me to find this crazy-ass wizard?”

“Hey, I resent that,” Sin said conversationally.

“Shut up,” Mira snapped. Jerking her gaze back to Gage, she said, “Or that you were using me to fix your broken powers?”

Gage’s jaw bulged, the tendons in his neck swelled and his mantling writhed with angry colors. “It wasn’t like that.”

“Oh right, because I’m the witless magic-blind that you can lie to and trick.” The words she’d heard him say in his house. She knew this was idiotic, that Sinclair could probably kill them all. But the throbbing, raw, bloody ache drove her on. “You’re right, you know. I am stupid. I believed every lie you told me. I believed you didn’t need me but that you wanted me. Remember you said that in the hotel room? I believed you, I believed every fucking word.” She shook with the force of the choking humiliation and betrayal. Following the deep instinct to run to the one thing she had—her grandmother, Mira started to turn….

A blur flew at them and stopped her.

Gage’s arm shoved her back and he attacked. The two wizards slammed into each other. They moved faster than she could see. Sparks flew, flames ignited, then died, smoke billowed, and when it ended, Sin was flat on his back. Gage straddled him with his knife tip against Sinclair’s solar plexus where he had been branded with the triskellion. “I can’t let you live,” Gage said. “You kidnapped a woman out of the town under my protection. I have no choice.”

Sin’s eyes burned with green. “You kill me and granny dies with me. I have her frozen with my powers. She’s tied to me and will die with me.”

Mira cried out, “No!” Hot fear and grief choked her.

Gage pulled the tip of his knife back.

Sin’s massive shape shimmered, then vanished

Gage rose to his feet. He had a multitude of cuts and burns all over him from the fight with the wizard. But as she watched, the marks were already healing.

And he was stalking her. Step by step. His feet made zero sound on the marble. His sweatpants didn’t so much as whisper. The knife he’d clutched in his hand vanished.

Her mouth went dry. “You let him go.”

His eyes were locked on her, one hundred percent of his attention lasered in on her as if nothing else mattered. Only her. “Yes.”

Mira knew Gage had made a choice, and he chose to protect her grandmother over his position as town wizard. This was the man she knew, the man she’d trusted and made love with, but he’d still lied to her. Still used her. How did she really know which was the real Gage? She glanced over to see her grandmother waking and stretching.

Gage grabbed hold of her arms and dragged her to him, so close she could see blue fire burning in his eyes. “Now’s the time.”

“What?” She tilted her head back, her heart slamming against her ribs.

He lowered his head another inch. “I lied to you about my powers, but never about the way it felt to kiss you, or touch you and or slide deep into your body. When I touch you, I forget who I am, I forget about every goddamned thing but you. Trolls could invade the town and I wouldn’t have noticed. Or cared. But if anything came between you and me? I’d kill it.” His fingers twitched on her arms, then he pulled her closer. His mouth came down on hers, hot and possessive. Wet. With nothing between them. Finally he pulled back.

Mira sucked in a breath.

“You’re not the stupid one, Mira. Not you. You were honest and real and courageous. You were, you are, my ferocious, beautiful wildcat. I’m the one who fucked up and didn’t trust you when I should have. The only question here is, will you ever be able to forgive me?”

Her mind was reeling. His magic was reaching through his fingers, touching her, stroking her, trying to seduce her. “How? How do I feel your magic?”

His smile was slow, sensual. “My magic flows in you now. It’s how I got here so fast. I jumped right to you. I didn’t know how this whole grounding thing would work until you jumped without me. Once you drank the potion, and you wanted it badly enough, my magic reached out and gave you what you wanted. To get away from me, and to get to your grandmother.”

“I did that?”

Gage’s face softened. “It’s never been done before, ever. But you did it. Give us a chance, Mira. I’ll do anything to prove I’m worthy of you.”

She looked into his eyes. “Anything?” Did he mean it or would he just keep using her and she wouldn’t even know?

“Anything.”

There was only one way to see if he meant it. “Even three months of dating and no sex?”

Two months later

T
wo months and no sex. The little wildcat was enjoying torturing him.

But she was worth it. Gage was surprised how easy it was to spend time with her. Get to know her and her wacky family. After spending more time with Calia, he knew where Mira got her strength and smart mouth. He’d gotten very fond of the soul harmonizer.

Gage had learned Mira’s favorite color, ruby red. How she loved romantic comedies and she’d cry without shame. She’d told him stories about her cousins and aunt. Gage had told her about his mentor, Rhys. How he’d been more than a mentor, more like a father and a friend. And how Gage had raised him from the death-sleep after he’d fried, and the way Rhys had stuck by him, helping him protect the town while looking for answers.

Mira offered to go with Gage to send Rhys back to his rest until his beloved Phoebe joined him. But that had been something Gage needed to do alone. He’d said good-bye, then flash-jumped home, tired and sad. Mira had been there. She’d walked into his arms and stayed there throughout the night. No sex, just…

Love.

God, he loved her. And now he felt her growing restlessness, the ache that kept her awake nights. She’d gone past torturing him; now she was just torturing herself and that he couldn’t endure.

Mira stared at the numbers on the computer. It was late, past six. She been putting out proverbial fires at the winery all day, and now she was trying to catch up on paperwork.

She wasn’t sleeping. She was restless, tired, needy. The mantling from Gage had faded to mere shadows. She hated that and wanted those lines back. But she had challenged Gage to three months of no sex. Three months of dating and getting to know each other.

Stupid pride. Truthfully, she was ready to get on her knees and beg him. Or something much more interesting, as long as she was—

“Mira.”

She pulled her head out of Gage’s pants and said, “What, Gram?” Calia had recovered from her ordeal. She swore she had known Sinclair wasn’t going to hurt her. And that she’d used the opportunity to bring her and Gage together because the spirits had told her for years the two of them were a match. That was why they’d found the moss agate for Gage, ruby for Mira and, finally, rose quartz to bring lovers together.

Gram broke into her thoughts with, “You have a client in the Tuscany room.”

That got her attention. She shifted screens on the computer to her calendar. Had she forgotten? “There’s nothing on my schedule.”

“Oops, maybe I forgot to tell you. But the client is waiting.”

She sat back in her chair and rubbed the tension tightening the back of her neck. “What are you up to?”

“Nothing. I’m old, I forget stuff.” Calia blinked her big blue eyes in her delicately lined face. She weighed about one hundred and ten pounds soaking wet.

But each and every one of those pounds was filled with stubborn, crafty deviousness. “Gram, I’m too tired…”

“Too chicken? A coward? Afraid to take a chance on love?” Calia stormed into her office, slapped her hands down on Mira’s desk and shook off any pretense of silly old woman. “You deserve the chance to be happy, to be loved and treasured. I loved my son, your father, but the truth is, he was a fool to not see how special you are exactly as you are. But you have a man who loves you for the strong, courageous woman you are. Don’t let him get away, Mira. Don’t be the same kind of fool as your father.”

She went taut with excitement. “Gage? He’s here?” They didn’t have a date planned. For two months, he’d been letting her call the shots. Giving her all the power in their relationship.

“In the Tuscany room. Go, Mira. Take a chance.”

She stood up so fast her roller chair hit the wall behind her. Then she hugged Gram. “I love you.” She hurried out of the office and down the hallway, her heels tapping in tandem with her nerves. The Tuscany room was a big room they rented out for parties and events. Why would Gage be in there? Finally she reached the big oak door and stopped.

Gage stood outside the door. He wore jeans, boots and a leather bomber jacket over a T-shirt. His dark hair fell over his face and his eyes tracked over every inch of her.

It made her tingle and yearn and need. “Gage.”

He reached out, moving so fast she was spun and pressed up against the door, his hands flat against the wood before she finished saying his name. He dragged in a breath. His eyes burned. “How long did you think I’d let you hurt with need, Mira? How long?”

Shocked ripped through her system. “You can…how?”

“We share magic, and damn it, I love you. The first seven weeks you were learning to trust me. And you liked torturing me. But since that night you came to me, since the night you held me in your arms when I”—he visibly shuddered—“when I said good-bye to Rhys, since then, you’ve been ready. You’ve ached and you haven’t come to me.”

She couldn’t stand it. She reached out, slipping her hand into the jacket to touch his chest through his T-shirt. “I was scared. You are a master wizard. You will live on while I grow old and…what if I’m not enough?” That was always her fear.

Gage wrapped his hand around hers. “You are everything. All you have to do is trust me. Trust us.” He didn’t move, but held himself suspended, as if her answer mattered more than his next breath.

Mira took the leap. “I trust you. Us.”

He brushed his mouth over hers. “Let’s go in.” He turned her, reached past her and opened the door, then ushered her in.

Her breath left her chest. She heard the door close, realizing that they passed over some barrier she couldn’t see. Their clothes had vanished. She was too focused on the room to worry about clothes. On the left, waterfalls cascaded down over jewel-colored rocks. On the right, a huge fireplace crackled, and in the center sat a massive four-poster bed covered in a thick white comforter. Overhead, the full moon shone and icy stars twinkled. The air was crisp and scented with the tang of magic.

“Where are we?” She walked to the edge of the bed and realized she was walking over a carpet of soft grass.

He stood in front of her, backlit by the fireplace. “The Realm. Where all sacred ceremonies are held.” He moved in front of her. His skin gleamed in the firelight, the mantling flowing out from his triskellion in winding ruby rivers with streaks of hot yellow. She visually followed the trail down to his huge erection. She reached out to touch him, stroke him.

He caught her wrist and pulled her into his arms. Holding her tight against him, he slanted his mouth over hers, ravishing her. Slipping his hand into her hair, he thrust his tongue against hers, demanding she open, demanding she give him everything she had.

Gage was taking control.

Magic crackled around them. Her body grew hot and desperate. Need built between her legs. She tried to climb up him, tried to get the hard length of him where she needed it, where the ache was turning to an unbearable fire.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and lifted her.

Mira bit and sucked at his lower lip as she rubbed herself on his erection, trying to take him deep inside her. But he kept shifting his hips, preventing her. She clawed at his shoulders in frustration, in need.

He broke the kiss. “Mira, look at me.”

She forced her eyes open, responding to the hum of pure magic and the timbre of love in his voice. She saw the flush of hot desire riding his cheekbones, and his eyes churning with more than lust.

She saw love there and she saw purpose. Her body tightened and throbbed, but she focused. Trusting him to hold her, she cupped his face with her hands. “You brought me to the Realm for more than sex, more than love.” It dawned on her her that Gage was giving her something he’d given no one else. She didn’t need to ask that, she knew it. And she simply trusted him.

“Yes.” He turned his head to softly kiss her palm. Then he returned his gaze to hers. “Mira, I love you beyond myself, beyond my magic and beyond time. Magic is a circle, binding and with no end.” Holding her with one arm, he held out his other hand and a small, silver knife appeared.

She looked at the silver blade, then watched as he eased her back and cut an inch-long gash in the center of his triskellion.

She winced, hating to see him hurt, even such a small pain. “Gage…” She watched as the line of blood welled.

He waited without words.

A choice. She knew it in her soul, and she took one hand from his face and touched her fingers to his blood.

A tremor went through him. The knife vanished and he took hold of her wrist and pressed the two fingers with his blood to the inside swell of her left breast directly over her heart. “Vowed in blood, our bond is sealed and unbreakable.”

Her breath caught, and the skin over her breast tingled. She felt his touch brand her skin, not with pain but with love. Then it sank deep into her blood and took root. The sensations traveled through her, touching each cell and growing. What had been a need to share sex with him became more, morphing into a need to be one with him. She stared into his eyes. “Now.”

He thrust his cock into her, driving deep and true, and said, “We are one.”

Magic and love exploded, fire raced across her skin, pleasure burned, and through it all, Gage held her safe as he thrust into her, driving her higher and higher. “Say it, Mira.”

She knew instinctively. Leaning her head back, she stared into his churning eyes. “I love you.” She barely got the breath to finish it. “We are one.”

They both shattered in a love-filled bliss.

When Mira could breathe again, she realized she was lying on the bed, cradled in Gage’s arms. At some point, while she had still been in the throes of the tremendous orgasm, he’d gotten them on the bed.

“It was that or we collapsed to the floor.” He leaned over and kissed her mouth.

She caught hold of his face. “You heard me? I didn’t say that out loud.”

He smiled.
We are joined, now and for eternity. I heard you. And you, little cat, can hear me.
“Look, Mira.” He stroked his thumb over the top of her left breast.

She looked down. There, where he’d touched his blood to her, was now a small mark exactly like his triskellion. Every time he touched the spot, a fission of pleasure raced through her. She lifted her gaze to him.

“You wear my mark. You have access to my magic any time now. This mark binds us. You’ll live as long as I do. And if I die first, then I will wait for you. Like Rhys is waiting for his Phoebe.”

“You gave me magic,” Mira said, her heart filling with joy. “And love.”