With Everything I Am (13 page)

She took in a soft breath and stated, “So you think I’m your bride.”

He grinned and replied, “You
are
my bride. The oracles foretold you.”

She nodded and went on, “And your people think I’m your queen.”

He felt his grin widen to a smile as he declared, “You
are
my queen.”

“And this is why I’m important to you.”

“Yes. The mate of any male of my people is important, important enough to lay down his life for her. But you’re
queen.
Any one of my people would lay down their life for you.”

She stared at him a moment, her eyes unreadable then she commented, “That’s an awesome responsibility.”

His hands moved under her arms to pull her up his chest so her face was closer to his and he teased, “And
I
know how
that
feels.” He watched one side of her lips quirk up before he went on, “It’s my duty to prepare you to take on that responsibility. Today has not been a good day, baby doll, but I promise you, from now on, I’ll be more patient.”

“This would be good,” she whispered.

He grinned at her, pleased with his endeavors and even more pleased with the results, all the while wondering if it would be a tactical error to kiss her.

Then he thought,
fuck it
.

His fingers sifted into her hair and brought her face closer to his but before his mouth could capture her own, she spoke.

“Do all your people’s eyes do that?”

“The gold?” he asked in return and she nodded. “In a way,” he answered. “The eyes of those of us with royal blood go gold. Others, yellow or brown.”

“So only your family has that pretty color?”

Yes, Sonia Arlington was definitely sweet.

He nodded as he pulled her face closer at the same time tilting his to hers. “Yes.”

Her head resisted and there was resistance in her tone when she whispered, “Callum –”

He ignored both and finally captured her lips.

She continued to resist, pushing her head against his hand and her hand against his chest.

He slanted his head, his mouth opened over hers and his tongue touched her lips.

They tasted sweet too.

He felt her mumbled, “Oh,” against his tongue but used that opportunity to slide it between her lips.

His tongue touched hers, her head stopped pushing as did her hand and she melted into him, tilting her head, her hand sliding up to curl around his neck.

The kiss was not fiery or spirited.

It was simply, brilliantly, unforgettably, sweet.

And it stirred Callum in a way he’d never felt before.

Therefore, before he truly made a tactical error by exploring that feeling and pushing her too far after fucking up so royally that day, he broke his mouth from hers and tucked her cheek against his chest.

He slid his fingers through her hair and he could hear her breath was accelerated but she didn’t pull away. She just lay in his arms, her cheek against his chest.

And he prayed his damage control worked.

She took in a satisfyingly fluttering breath before she asked, “Do you want your whisky?”

“Yes, little one.”

She leaned forward, nabbed his whisky and handed it to him. She leaned again and hooked her mug with her finger.

Then Sonia lay silently, cocooned by his body with her cheek against his chest, occasionally lifting her head to sip her tea while he sipped his whisky, the fire burned and the snow fell outside.

Yes, he thought with relief, it appeared his damage control worked.

And, Callum thought, living a life like this with Sonia didn’t yawn before him.

Instead, it might just be sweet.

Chapter Seven

Family

“Um…” Sonia muttered.

“Quiet,” Callum clipped.

Sonia tensed in Callum’s arms.

It appeared her attempted escape had
not
been such a good idea.

She remained still, cradled in his arms as he marched angrily, no,
furiously
through the snow heading back toward the cabin.

She had made good her escape plan (kind of, before it was thwarted).

After their first very bad day which ended in a not-so-bad late evening, she decided to spend some time lulling him into a false sense of security before she got the hell out of there. She’d pretended, through his gentle explanations that he was king of a secret sect of society, to understand and acquiesce to his lunacy. And she found pretending wasn’t hard to do because of said gentleness, his talk of her father (insane and maybe even mean, even though what he said about her Papa was nice) and his father (who he obviously missed, or convinced himself he did).

Although it wasn’t hard to pretend during their chat, it
was
hard when she found out he expected her to sleep with him in the big bed.

Yes.

Sleep.

With.

Him.

She demurred (as anyone would!).

He insisted (but gently).

She demurred again.

He insisted (a bit more firmly).

She gave in.

Fortunately, this was relatively easy considering he was busy with the fires. This tugged at her heartstrings as she remembered her father doing the same thing. He was always at the fires in order to keep his family warm when they were at the cabin. In the bathroom, she had changed into one of her lacy, sexy, silky nightgowns and slid into bed before he’d gotten a glimpse of her.

Unfortunately, after he changed in the bathroom and walked out wearing nothing but a pair of navy flannel pajama bottoms, she got a full on view of his chest. His massive, defined, muscular chest, complete with a furring of hair that was spread in a tempting array across his chest and down his belly. Chest hair that only the hand of God could have created after which, God could only remark, “My work here is done.” Callum’s chest hair was just… that… perfect.

Really, the cosmos had it out for her.

He’d slid into bed beside her and she was certain his big body would take most of the space (it didn’t, she had a nice, comfy section all her own).

He called a soft goodnight to which she’d replied in turn.

Then she held herself tense waiting for him to try something.

He didn’t.

He lay on his back and she listened as his breathing grew steady.

It took a while but finally Sonia fell asleep.

Unfortunately when she woke up, she found he’d turned his back to her but
she’d
turned into him and was spooning him all down his length.
Close
to his length. Her knees cocked in his, her hips snuggled in his, her arm around his waist, her torso against his back but her forehead was pressed to his shoulder blade.

She started to pull away. Before she could succeed in this, however, his fingers curled around her wrist and kept her where she was.

“I, um… need to go to the bathroom,” she told the smoothly muscled skin of his back.

He released her wrist but rolled, she scooted back to avoid his big body but before she could scoot out of reach, his arm tagged her waist and he pulled her mostly underneath him.

Her eyes caught his and his were tawny.

Good goodness, but she liked it when his eyes went tawny (even though she told herself she didn’t).

“Look forward to waking up like that every day, baby doll,” he muttered, his voice hoarse with sleep.

Sonia gulped.

Callum smiled.

Her heart clutched at his smile.

His head dropped down and to the side, he rubbed his temple against hers and then he let her go.

That day couldn’t have been more different than the one before.

They did not fight.

They ate way too much and way too fatty foods.

They talked. About his father, her father and the fact they’d been long-time friends (supposedly). About his kingdom which, apparently, was
world-wide
and included armies and territories which were overseen by governors and all sorts of other stuff.

Seriously, he had a vivid imagination. It was fascinating but it was insane.

Though, deep down, the more he talked and the pride and fondness in his voice made her want to believe this world was real.

And he talked about her queendom. Essentially, she had nothing to do except the small duties of being at his side
all the time
and supporting him
in everything he wished to do
.

Even though she asked, he said they’d get into “the war” later.

Most of the talking happened while they were cuddling, either Sonia sitting in his lap or both of them stretched on the couch with Sonia in his arms.

Indeed, his informing her that his people were “affectionate” was an understatement. He was the touchiest person she’d ever met.

Gregor, nor Yuri, touched, hugged or cuddled. They were often coolly affectionate but not in any physical way.

But with Callum, even when they weren’t cuddling he found ways to touch her. Like while she was cooking, he’d get close, put a hand to her waist and look over her shoulder at the food she was preparing. Or when she was playing solitaire on his computer, he walked up behind her, wrapped his arm around her chest, pulled her back to his front and held her there for long moments before bending, rubbing his temple against hers and letting her go.

He never said anything. He just touched.

He was, all day, as he promised, entirely different – patient and tender, sometimes teasing and sweet.

Especially when he gave her the injection. His reaction was no less severe and her reaction to his soothing embrace was no less deep.

Obviously, since he did have men (he, again, talked to them on the phone often that day and she’d even met the cheeky but deferential Waring), she decided he was a leader of a cult or something. Somehow, he’d locked onto her as his “mate” and, being the leader, had convinced his people she was their queen.

They had resources. That was also obvious. Even small as it was, her family’s cabin was outfitted spectacularly. His and her clothes were outdoorsy but they were of an excellent brand and very high quality. His cell phone and computer were top of the line. The kitchen was not only stocked to the gills, everything in it was the finest you could buy – from the appliances, to the utensils, pots and pans even the food.

She didn’t believe a word he said about her father but she reckoned, in his loopy mind, he did.

It was sad that this glorious man was obviously not well.

But it was scary that, as the day progressed, something was telling her she didn’t care.

She understood how he recruited his followers. Because he was the kind of man you followed, even if he was insane.

There was something about him. It was more than the fact that he was incredibly good-looking (but that helped). More than the sharp intelligence in his blue eyes. More than the rich depth of his attractively accented voice. More than his manner filled with absolute confidence and exhibited through every movement of his powerful body and every word he spoke.

It was the quiet yet fierce force of his personality which was compelling and nearly impossible to resist.

As the day wore on Sonia found she
wanted
to believe in his world, to be a part of it, even (Lord forbid) the ridiculous but appealing idea of being his queen.

She was even trying to find ways to sort it in her brain. Telling herself seeing him in dreams for years meant they were supposed to be together just like he said they were. That maybe she
was
his queen. That maybe he
was
her handsome wolf.

But the logical side of her brain which was fighting the battle of its life against Callum’s captivating pull told her there were no such things as secret sects with kings and queens and wars.

He was just a madman who kidnapped her, maybe murdered men while doing it (even bad men, but still) and he intended to make her his “mate” without her getting a word in edgewise.

Therefore, long after she heard his breathing even the second night, she made good her escape.

It scared her silly, trying to creep around silently getting prepared and out the backdoor but she did it.

Even with four pairs of thick socks on, walking in his boots was clumsy and time-consuming, it was freezing and the snow was only gently falling, which meant she had to waste precious time covering her tracks.

But even though she remembered the cave being only a short, maybe twenty minute walk away from the cabin, it took her what felt like hours to get there.

She didn’t light a fire because she had no idea how but also because she didn’t want him to see it.

Instead, she carefully unbundled her medicine and food, wrapped herself in the woolly blanket she brought (and she was still chilled to the bone within minutes) and stayed awake until dawn touched the sky.

She fell into an exhausted sleep while considering her next step.

Then she sensed him.

Instantly awake and alert, she jumped up but his large form was filling the mouth of the cave before she even got the blanket off her shoulders.

She stared at him.

That was impossible. When she’d sensed him, he hadn’t been close.

How did he get there so fast? He couldn’t sense
her
and no one could move that fast. He had to know about the cave.

“You knew about the cave,” she whispered.

“Quiet,” his voice was even and calm.

She squared her shoulders, faced off with him and told him courageously, “I don’t want to go back.”
 

“
Quiet!
” he roared, his voice
not
even
or
calm
in the slightest
.

Sonia went still.

Callum strode forward, snatched up her medicine, wrapped her in the blanket, picked her up in his arms and strode angrily from the cave.

So much for her escape attempt. She only managed to stay away a few hours.

Seriously, she was in trouble.

And she was in even
more
trouble because she didn’t know whether to be frightened out of her mind that he found her or…
elated
.