The Mating Season: Werewolves of Montana Book 6 (31 page)

They collapsed to the ground. But he did not pull out. She felt his cock thicken inside her.

The mating knot of Lupines.

Tristan rolled them onto their sides, his arms possessively wrapped around her, anchoring her close. After a few minutes, he eased out of the tight clasp of her body. He lay on his back on the soft, damp grasses, and pulled her into his arms, the sweat from their bodies sealing them together.

For a while, they simply lay together, the sound of their ragged breathing filling the air until her breathing slowed and she could finally think straight.

He skimmed a gentle hand over her belly. “We made a baby tonight.”

Raising her head, she glanced down. “How do you know?”

“I can sense it.” He kissed her again.

Tristan’s child. And she was now his forever mate. Overwhelmed with joy, Niki pressed her hands to her belly. She would have a child, a child to raise and care for, a child to watch grow, and guard.

Her mother had died giving birth to her. Joy turned to ashes as she curled up next to Tristan, tunneling her fingers through the hair on his chest. “What if something bad happens?”

Tristan’s gaze became fierce. “I will not let any harm come to you or our child, Nikita. I promise, you will both be safe. I pledge you the protection of my body and my powers as the Silver Wizard.”

His voice trembled a little. “I will not lose you again.”

Such devotion in those words, and in the kiss he gave her. Tristan pulled her closer and stroked a hand tenderly over her belly.

Tears clogged her throat, partly from joy and partly from dread. She dreaded their time together ending.

For then she must choose.

Stay with him here, forever.

Or go.

Chapter 17

Never had he experienced such tender bliss.

Not since he’d walked the earth as mortal had he known such joy. The days passed from one to another in a rush of erotic pleasure and sweetness, for Nikita was in his arms at last.

Mine
, he thought in a possessive rush of pure male satisfaction, gazing down at his sleeping bride.

He’d filled his cottage with all the most luxurious items she could ever want, even the chocolate cereal she and Nia had loved to eat. He pampered her with dinners fit for immortals, and in the mornings, brought her breakfast in bed, teasing her mouth with the strawberries he dipped in fresh, clotted cream.

Now, on the ninth day of their allotted time, Tristan felt a pang of impending loss. One more day with his Nikita, and then he must return her to Earth.

His forever mate.

The potion in her veins that had allowed her entry to Tir Na-nog had long worn off. She was mortal once more and could live a long life as Lupine on Earth.

The protective bubble encasing his property and his home that allowed them both to dwell here as mortals would vanish after sunrise on the eleventh day.

When that happened, his powers would return, but Nikita would wither and die before his eyes, banished to the Shadow Lands. And she still had not made up her mind about taking the elixir that would allow her to dwell here, with him, forever.

Losing her would be too painful to bear.

He must not think of those dire consequences, but live in this moment. Time was too precious for them both.

Tristan lounged in bed, enjoying the luxury of silk sheets and Niki’s warm, soft body cuddled against him. Propped up against two fat pillows, he scanned his tablet, knowing he still must keep tabs on his charges.

Stirring, she lazily opened one eye. “Is that an iPad? In Tir Na-nog?”

“It’s a tablet. It has voice recognition software, and works off a cloud. It’s how I can track Others and make notations on their activities.”

She sat up, pulling the sheet over her breasts. Tristan caught a glimpse of smooth, pale flesh and his sex stirred.

“Can you see any shifter on Earth with that?”

Nodding, he set the tablet down to reach for her, but she grabbed it.

“Show me my twin sister,” Nikita said, speaking at the tablet.

“I am sorry, but I do not understand twisted titter,” the tablet chirped in a frilly female voice.

Tristan folded his arms across his chest and grinned at the adorable frown puckering Nikita’s forehead.

“Nia the wolf. Show me Nia the wolf.”

“
Beowulf,
an Old English epic poem consisting of…”

“No! Show me Nia and Aiden.”

“I am sorry, I do not understand Need An Apron. Would you like to find cooking classes?”

He doubled over laughing as Nikita threw the tablet on the floor. “It’s useless.”

Still chuckling, he reached over and dropped a single kiss on her pouting cheek. “It is my tablet, programmed for my voice, my sweet. Let us forget electronics.”

With dawning hunger, he pulled the sheet down, exposing the perfect curve of one rounded breast. “I have much better, and more enjoyable, activities for you.”

Her eyes went dark and her skin flushed the prettiest shade of red. “Do they involve your mouth and my body?”

“Of course,” he murmured, leaning over her.

She glanced at the sunlight dappling the trees outside the window. “You promised to take me on a picnic today.”

“Do not worry, my sweet,” he murmured, his usual arrogance returning. “This shall not take long.”

With deliberate care, he traced a line over the swell of her left breast with his tongue, enjoying her little shivers of pleasure. Tristan swirled his tongue around her nipple as Nikita threw back her head and sighed. He took her nipple into his mouth and suckled gently, knowing the exact amount of pressure to deliver the most exquisite pleasure.

As she moved restlessly beneath him, he threw back the sheet and moved over her. Fisting a hand in the tangled masses of her long, silky hair, he nudged her plump thighs open with his hips, his erection hard and throbbing. Tristan drove into her hard, groaning as his cock made contact with her warm, welcoming heat. Nikita moaned and wrapped her arms around him as he began moving deep inside her.

As he’d promised, it did not take long, for he was too aroused, but she cried out and squeezed around his driving cock. She’d always been like that, he thought in a haze of passion. Nikita had been in perfect rhythm with him, even when he’d been too eager and could not wait to reach his own pleasure.

Tristan stared down into her face, loving the way she climaxed, eyes wide open with dazed pleasure only he could give her. He let himself go with a loud groan, spurting deep inside her.

Panting, he rested atop her, his grip on her hair loosening as she idly stroked the muscles of his back.

The erotic pleasure shuddering through his body faded, nudged aside by mingled feelings of sorrow and alarm.
I can’t live without her. Not after having her here at my side, like this. Each day waking up with Nikita in my arms, each night falling into her. How can I live without her in my life?

You must. You are the Silver Wizard and your duty is to your people. You cannot have her here in the afterworld and you cannot stay with her on Earth. And how can she give up seeing her family? You know how close she is to her twin.

For the first time since his death and his ascension to being the Silver Wizard, Tristan wished he’d refused the job. Duty first, always. In his past life, and now.

Having experienced a taste of happiness and fulfillment in his woman’s arms, he wanted more.

Don’t fall in love again, Gideon had warned.
You have only ten days in Tir Na-nog with her.

Ten days. It might as well be ten minutes, for all his longing.

Ten thousand years would never be enough with his Nikita, his beautiful wolf.

She touched his face as he braced his weight on his arms, so as not to crush her. “What’s wrong? Your eyes…they’re changing colors again, Tristan.”

He slid off her and turned away, knowing eyes changed because of his growing sadness.

“It is nothing, my sweet.” Bending his head so she could not see his eyes, he kissed her hand. “We should get dressed.”

He wanted her affection.

Her heart.

You cannot fall in love again.

A hard knock sounded upon the cottage door. Frowning, he looked out the bedroom window and his heart dropped.

Gideon, the Crimson Wizard, stood outside. His fellow wizard would not interrupt his time alone with Nikita unless it was urgent.

Tristan frowned and slid out of bed, pulling on a pair of black sweatpants. “Shower, my love. Gideon is out front.”

He strode with impatience to the front door. Gideon was the last wizard he wished to see.

Your sister is the one who killed my Nikita, and betrayed me.

But one did not make such accusations lightly, and for now, Nikita was safe here with him. He would deal with Gideon and Mara later.

Dressed in a crimson tunic, red leather pants and red boots, Gideon stood outside, arms folded across his chest. His gaze swept up and down Tristan and he gave a disgusted sniff.

Tristan shut the door behind him and leaned against it. “Why do you look like you have something permanently shoved up your ass? And why the hell are you interrupting me?”

“You’ve done it, wolf. Exactly as I warned you not to do. You’ve fallen in love.”

He stiffened. “No.”

“Don’t deny it. It’s all over you. On your face, your hair… I can smell her on you like perfume.”

“Sex,” Tristan growled, “does not equate to love.”

Gideon sighed and looked backward over one shoulder. “X!”

The Crystal Wizard appeared, took one look at Tristan. “Wow. Look at you.”

Tristan gave his friend a contemptuous look as he studied Xavier’s white jumpsuit, studded with sequins. “You should talk. Are you in one of your Elvis moods again?”

But Xavier ignored the jab and turned to Gideon. “Damn. He’s done it. He’s fallen in love, just as you feared.”

Truly irritated now, Tristan scowled.

“Dude, your eyes.” X opened the door and pushed him inside to the hallway, where a large gilded mirror hung on the wall.

Gideon joined them. The trio stared at Tristan’s eyes.

They were not bright, electric blue with the surge of his powers, nor the usual dark brown. They were a clear, deep blue.

As blue as the days when he’d walked the earth as a mortal.

Tristan touched the mirror with a wondering hand. “They have not been thus in more than nine hundred years,” he said in awe.

“She’s making you Lupine again, Tristan.” Gideon’s voice rang out with ominous warning. “Get rid of her, before it turns permanent and you’re lost to us.”

Leaning against the hallway table, Tristan folded his arms across his bare chest. “It is not permanent. I had to alter my body chemistry and lose my powers to impregnate her.”

Gideon stabbed a finger in his direction. “Changing your body chemistry to become temporarily mortal, to beget an heir, yes. Your hair and your body are as they were in mortal times. But your eyes are always dark, except when your powers flare. They are the window to your immortal soul.”

Dread snaked through him as Tristan turned back to the mirror. His friends were correct. He
was
turning mortal again. And if this continued, he could become permanently damaged.

“You know what happens to us when we lose our powers, Tristan.”

Shuddering at Gideon’s words, Tristan touched the mirror. With tremendous power came tremendous responsibility. In exchange for their magick and being guardians of Others, the wizards had pledged to the goddess Danu that they would never lose their magick by giving it to another. If they neglected to request her permission, they would suffer the consequences—the wizards would turn into Shadow forever, ghosts wandering the Shadow Lands.

Danu had given him permission to create the potion that would save Nikita, and allow her entrance here. But it was a temporary sharing of power only.

“You’re going to Hell,” X offered helpfully. “In a handbasket.”

Palm trembling, he touched his face. An ugly thought flashed through his mind. He would become immortal again, but if she chose to stay on Earth, he would be obsessed with protecting her. And his job as the Silver Wizard was to protect all, not merely Nikita and their babe.

If he became so distracted with Nikita on Earth, and failed to adhere to his duties, would the goddess strip him of all his powers?

Banished from Earth and never able to see Nikita again? Left helpless to protect her and shield her from all harm?

He scowled at X. “I am not. I have not chosen to share my powers. This is merely a side effect of becoming temporarily mortal.” He turned from the mirror. “It will not last.”

Gideon’s expression turned hard. “She’s probably pregnant already, Tristan. Get rid of her.”

Once Nikita leaves here, she will be vulnerable to your damned sister again. Mara killed my Nikita once. She will not do so again.