A Destiny Revealed (15 page)

“You are mine.” The raspy growl was barely human.
“Everything about you is my business.” His erection pushed at her entrance,
punctuating his vow.

Dalia gasped when he buried himself within her body with a
single stroke. Her inner walls gripped him. The burning friction of his
forceful entrance dragged a moan from her. His face was set in a fierce mask,
his eyes searing her as he lifted her legs, pushing deeper into her heat. Dalia
had no snappy retort, no defiant remark to refute his claim— his every stroke
would've named her a liar had she tried. Bron devoured her mouth as his body
drove hers up and over the edge. Dalia screamed her pleasure, stars exploding
behind her eyes.

He nudged her head aside to gain access to her neck, she
moaned as his teeth nipped her shoulder. His growls moved through her body,
awakening nerve endings. The tree biting into her back added little stings of
pain to her sensitized skin that should've hurt but instead added to the
pleasure.

Bron growled low in his throat, his beast unleashed, sending
power along his skin, fueling his pleasure. He tasted the salt from her skin as
he licked a path from her shoulder to her ear.

“Tell me.” He pulled her earlobe into his mouth.

The hot, wet walls of her body tightened around his shaft,
and his knees buckled. He thought his heart would stop when he watched her get
bounced around by those waves. He lost sight of her for five minutes, and his
panic quickly gave way to anger when she surfaced. He thought of nothing but
asserting his dominance over her when he backed her against the palm tree.

Now with her legs around his waist, her moist heat
enveloping him, his mind was a haze of lust. His hips thrust into hers seeking
and demanding her submission. His hands gripped her butt, adjusting her to
deepen his strokes.

'Tell me!'
He demanded. She was so damn stubborn, and
yet it turned him on as nothing did. Need rode him, driving him near the edge.
He clenched his teeth to hold it back, his muscles tense from the effort. Sweat
trailed down his back, the sensation like little fingers driving him that much
closer.

'I’m yours.
'

Her declaration filled his mind. A ragged moan was torn from
her as his hips picked up speed, once again sending her shattering over the
edge. This time, he followed and clamping his mouth tight to keep his lion's
roar of satisfaction.

'I love you,'
she whispered through his mind. Dalia
was limp in his arms, her body completely sated.

Bron kept his kisses tender as he lowered her legs. He
kissed her brow lightly, rubbing his face into the side of hers. He rubbed his
body into hers, marking her with his scent, allowing his animal the comfort of
reasserting his claim on its mate.

“I love you,” he told her.

She tensed for a moment and then relaxed when he took her
lips in a possessive kiss.

“I don’t know how to do this, Bron. I’ve never done this
before.”

His heart stopped. "You don’t have to do anything,
Dalia. I only want your trust,
mi ôkàn
.”

“That’s asking a lot, Bron.” Nervous laughter gave her away.

She was hiding something. Her confusion danced around in his
thoughts and he searched her mind for the source. Bron studied her. She needed
the time, but there was a grain of something hidden within what she was saying.
He didn't like it.

 “Give me a little while longer.”

 “Tell me what's bothering you,” he demanded.

“You need to work on your tone, papi,” She frowned when he
produced a towel out of thin air and wrapped it around her waist. “How did you
do that?”

“We were blessed with the gift of magic.” He shrugged.
“There are many things that I'm able to do.” He thought of the years he was
restricted to the temple. He had used the majority of them honing the magic he
was blessed with.

“I believe you,” she said. “Will you give me more time?” She
cupped his cheek.

Bron turned his face into her palm and inhaled. He nodded
briskly and stepped back to allow her room to move. Giving her time would cost
him. Already his felt his lion fighting him, the restless energy buzzing
through him. “Will you call to me when you have made your decision?” He
followed her to their blanket.

She nodded as she pulled on a shirt, grimacing at the sand
in her hair. She rolled her eyes when Bron easily willed on a pair of jeans and
t-shirt.

“That’s so unfair,” she muttered.

He smiled at her. “You're just jealous that my clothes
aren't covered in sand.” He kissed her nose.

“I'll call you when I've made my decision.” She hugged him
close to her.

He nodded and gave her a deep kiss. He had run out of time.
He knew once she returned home, the barriers he had worked so hard to tumble
would come back up. He'd built a precarious trust between the two of them and
her return home could shatter that. He still hadn't talked to Dalia about their
mating, some part of him didn't want it tainted by what he would be forced to
do.

 Dalia broke the kiss a minute later and smiled softly
at him. She waved and disappeared right before his eyes. Bron sighed and called
to Zahra. Some part of him knew he would pay for these weeks he'd stolen with
his mate. He took one last look around the beach.

It was worth it. Now he prayed he would be strong enough to
do what he needed to ensure she could stay with him.

Chapter 14

“YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT?” Bron looked up to see Fynn
lounging against the doorjamb of his bedroom. Little Lord Fauntleroy raced over
to him and scurried up to his shoulder.

“Traitor,” Bron muttered. “There's not much to talk about.”

Fynn sauntered in and sat on the edge of the bed where Bron
was seated.
"Seems to me, you have been sulking,
bàbá
.”

“You were always a disrespectful cub.” Bron smiled for the
first time in days. He'd been at the safe house waiting to hear from Dalia for
three days now, each day he and his beast became more restless.

“Well, you raised me, so there you go.” Fynn smiled.

Cheeky bastard.
  Still, pride
for his son swelled his chest. “I promised your mother, she caught me at a weak
moment.” He'd promised the first oracle on her deathbed that he would take care
of her son, so when the woman caring for Fynn died, he'd gladly taken over the
duty. Having a child in the temple had taken away the loneliness, if only for a
few years. Bron imagined that Fynn didn’t realize how much he had saved him.
Little Lord bounced on the bed between them restless, sensing the tension.

“What’s on your mind?” He sensed the inner turmoil in Fynn.

“Zahra is getting impatient.” He flopped onto his back.
“There's only so long she'll wait for Dalia before she decides to go to her.”
Fynn growled in frustration. He was very protective of his wife.

“As stubborn as Zahra is, Dalia is more so. I can't push her
on anything Fynn, I’m sorry.” Bron let out a frustrated sigh of his own.

Fynn sat up on his elbow and stared at him. “What if I talk
to her?”

Bron raised his eyebrow “You’re not exactly known for your
finesse, cub.” He drawled.  Fynn snorted at that understatement. “Besides,
Zahra’s not letting you go without her.”

“You damn straight,” she said from the door. Both men sat
up, having been caught. She sashayed into the room and stood over them, her
head shaking. Her dark brown skin glowed as she smiled down at them. Her almond
shaped eyes were mischievous. “Tsk tsk, talking about the little woman while
she is not here to defend herself.” She teased. Fynn pulled his petite wife
down onto his lap.

“It’s not polite to eavesdrop, Zahra,” Bron scolded, smiling
at her.

“That’s the only way to hear the good stuff,” she said
breezily. “So when are we going to see Dalia?”  She asked sweetly.

Fynn stiffened and threw a panicked look to Bron.
“Zahra.”

She held up her hand to silence him. "Fynn, this needs
to be resolved, if Dalia is uncomfortable coming to me, then I'll go to her.”

“We'll talk with the
Ijoye,
figure
out how to do it safely. If we can't then we don't go, is that clear?” Fynn
told his wife, his tone broking no argument.

She nodded, her eyes heating in temper. She opened her mouth
the blast her husband. Bron put his arm between the two of them. Fynn turned
and growled at him.

“This is my room, none of that here,” Bron said.

Zahra glared.
"Fine."
She
gave her bossy husband a small kiss and stood from his lap.

“Come Little Lord, let’s go get a snack.” She extended her
hand so the monkey was able to climb to her shoulder. “Bron contact Dalia and
find out if she is willing to meet with me in New York. I'll call the warriors
together for a meeting downstairs.” She stopped at the door and smiled impishly
at her husband. “Take your time, my husband and father-in-law will need time to
stew, and figure out the safest way for this to happen.” She tossed a saucy
wink to her husband over her shoulder and left the room.

 Fynn stared at his wife’s retreating form with
undisguised love as well as frustration, and Bron sighed. It was hard not to be
a little envious of the way Fynn and Zahra were with each other. He tried to
imagine how Dalia would react once she learned they were mates, but he had a
hard time picturing it. In the weeks they spent together in Puerto Rico, Bron
had learned that she was unpredictable. She did things her way, she expected
those around her to either go along with her or stand aside. Their fights for
lead made things interesting in Bron’s eyes, and he wouldn’t have it any other
way.

“I'll leave you to contact Dalia,” Fynn stood.

Bron waited until Fynn left the room before he sent out his
call to Dalia on the link they shared.

THE ARGUING in the living room greeted him as he hit the
bottom of the stairs. A small laughed escaped as he walked into the room. Zahra
was on her toes standing up in her husband’s face, while the four other
warriors sat with their faces chagrined. At only five six, even on her toes
Zahra could barely meet her husband’s shoulders. All the warriors were well
over six feet tall. He quickly smothered his laugh when Zahra turned to face
him. Her hazel eyes held sparks of anger and her mouth was set in a mulish
line. He could only speculate as to what her husband had said. Bron sat in an
armchair next to the Ijoye and waited.     

“What did she say, Bron?” Zahra snapped. She took a deep
breath and paced to patio doors to calm down.

“She was okay with the idea.” He told everyone. It had taken
some convincing, but he finally got her to agree.

“Zahra, you understand that it'll be nearly impossible to
secure,” Fynn said tightly. The look she gave her husband would have knocked
down a lesser man, but Fynn met her angry glare with one of his own. Bron could
not help but feel a little pride in how strong Fynn was.

“There is a Haven in New York.” Saleem had his six four
frame curled into the other armchair in the room. His pose was relaxed, almost
indulgent, but tension and readiness in wafted from him. Of the warriors,
Saleem was the hardest to read.

“What's a Haven?" Zahra asked.

"A safe house, if you will, for all things
that go
bump in the night." Saleem answered. "No
harm can come to those who enter their doors."

Bron thought it the perfect solution.  "If you are
wary, Zahra…"

“I'm not the one wary,” Zahra said heatedly.

“Zahra, your safety must come first.” Fynn held his hands
out.

          
“So I'm to be coddled to death?” she asked the group. The warriors shifted
uncomfortably in their seats. “If the goddess has chosen her, then I can’t see
the harm in meeting her.”

“We've been over this before, Zahra.” The Ijoye spoke up
next to Bron. “You were kidnapped last year, was that not enough excitement for
you?”

Zahra shuddered. 

 “Dalia is my mate. There has to be a way to resolve this.”
The silence was thick as they took in his words. The look he received from the
Ijoye chilled him.

Saleem broke the silence first. “Security will already be in
place there, Ijoye."

 Bron released the breath he had not realized he was
holding. There were no recriminations from his brothers, well at least not all
of them, only curious stares.

“No one would risk the wrath of Rugaba, trust me, the place
will be secure." Aren chimed in.

“Ajani, you and Aren take the new warriors there now and
check it out.” Fynn instructed. Ajani nodded. “Check all exits and entrances.
Leave two of the warriors there to keep an eye on it while we figure out what
time to meet.” Aren gave them a mocking salute and headed to the barracks. Bron
eyed Fynn speculatively.
            “That was
well done.” Bakari’s dry tone seemed to go over Fynn’s head.

 Fynn nodded absently. The fact that he had made
decisions without the Ijoye did not register to him but to the others in the
room it was glaringly obvious. Saleem looked between the two of them as though
waiting for a fight for dominance. When none came, he and Bron both breathed
easier.

“Saleem and I will accompany the three of you into Haven,
Fynn. We can leave Ajani and Aren outside to make sure she does not bring
company.” Bakari told him.

Fynn nodded, reaching his hand out to his wife. After a
tense moment Zahra grabbed his hand and Fynn pulled her to his side, he leaned
to nuzzle her neck. Everyone looked to Bron expectantly.

“I'll have Dalia meet us there at nine.” He stood to prepare
for their meeting. He would make sure that everything went fine. Where his mate
went he would be forced to follow, he didn't want it to be at the expense of
his family.