The Mating Season: Werewolves of Montana Book 6 (32 page)

“Do not interfere with my business, Gideon. You have enough trouble of your own.” He fisted his hands. “I want from you a promise that you will keep Mara away from Nikita once she returns to Earth.”

The Crimson Wizard blinked and Xavier whistled. “Why?” Gideon demanded.

Tristan chose his words with care. “I do not wish Nikita to be plagued by someone from her past who will cause her distress. And your sister is a powerful Fae who can be…annoying.”

Something flickered in Gideon’s gaze. “Very well. I promise. I will make sure Mara does not come near Nikita. She is an ancient, but her interest in your woman is mere curiosity, Tristan. And if it means you may focus on your duties as the Silver Wizard instead of worrying about Nikita, I will be most glad to do it.”

“Good. Now…” Tristan narrowed his gaze. “Why the hell are you here?”

“Danu has called a formal convocation to discuss Drust. You must attend.”

Damn.
The goddess rarely called them all together and her commands could not be ignored. He looked at them. “Why now? Is it that important?”

“I asked her for this convocation. You know the matter of Drust is important, Tristan. The dragons are growing more and more out of control and someone needs to keep them in line.” Gideon suddenly looked weary. “We will need their strength and their unity in the future.”

He could not argue that, for Drust’s great-grandson, Prince Alexander, was proof of how headstrong dragons could become.

And proof of how powerful as well.

“When?”

“This afternoon, at dusk.” Sympathy filled Gideon’s expression. “I am sorry, my friend. I asked her to delay the meeting, but she insists on today. You have until twilight to be with your Nikita, and then you must return her to Earth and the mortal realm.”

“I’m to have ten full days.” Stricken, he stared at his friends, his fellow wizards, who had sacrificed their own blood to bring Nikita to the immortal realm.

Gideon cleared his throat. “The goddess cut your time short for this meeting. If you wish the full ten days with Nikita, you forfeit the meeting…that’s not a wise choice.”

Duty first. Always.

X looked at him with sympathy. “I’m sorry. It sucks. I wish you could have more.” Regret flickered in his eyes. “I wish we all could have more. But this is the price we paid for becoming immortal.”

The price we paid.
The irony slapped him full in the face. He had demanded of the goddess the chance to find his beloved Nikita again, and impregnate her with his heir so his legacy would not die. When the executioner’s blade had taken his life, he died knowing his Nikita, and their babe, would live. But when she’d died along with the babe, his purpose in the afterworld had died as well.

He wanted a child of his own blood, his line, more than anything else.

But he failed to realize he’d wanted something even more precious—Nikita in his arms forever.

He could not remain here in their blissful utopia forever, nor could he be with her on Earth, walking as a mortal. Their destinies took them in separate directions, unless she took the potion.

His friends looked away.

He must abide by the goddess’s dictates. “Very well. I will give her up and allow her to return to Earth, but I was promised ten full days. Nikita must have one more day to make up her mind about taking the potion and joining me here, forever.”

“I cannot see how the goddess would not grant that, when she did promise ten days,” Gideon admitted.

He was the Silver Wizard. His personal needs came last. Tristan straightened. “I shall be there.”

Closing the door as they walked away, he leaned against it. Nikita came into the room, toweling her hair. “Did you meet with Gideon? He had better have a good reason for interrupting your time with me.”

Heart heavy, he went to her and gently wrapped his arms around her
. I will miss you so much. So much. Every day I go without you near me, I will die another death. But I must. I made a promise.

He had promised her, as well. But the greater good, and his duties, came first.

Tristan laid his cheek against her hair. He could say the words weighing on him since the moment he’d poured the magick potion that saved her life and enabled her to accompany him into the afterworld.

“I love you, my sweet Nikita,” he whispered. “I never stopped loving you, and I shall love you for all eternity. You have my heart, always.”

Nikita pulled away, searching his face, her mouth wobbling. “What’s wrong? You look as if you’re about to die all over again.”

He brushed a kiss against her forehead.
It feels that way.

Through the opened windows, a thrush sang in the trees. Wind-tossed leaves skipped over the stepping stones leading to the cottage. The air felt cool and smelled of earth and pine, but inside he was so damned cold, he wondered if he’d ever be warm again.

“What do you wish to do besides your picnic, my sweet? It’s a gorgeous day out. Let’s make the most of it and do whatever you desire.”

“You’re talking differently, too.” She cupped his face. “I know speech patterns, Tristan, as much as I know biology and plants and Lupines. Something happened. What did Gideon tell you?”

“It doesn’t matter.” He trailed a finger over her lips. “Today is for you and me only. Let’s go on the picnic I promised you.”

Her eyes were wet, but she offered a faint smile. “Like you told me we used to do?”

He nodded. “Pack a basket with food and wine, and I’ll get ready.”

The spot he’d chosen was breathtaking.

Turquoise waters spilled over the waterfall, frothing the pool below, which was lined with mossy trees. Birds sang in the trees. Lemon-yellow water lilies floated lazily on the pool’s surface as blue iridescent dragonflies landed on the pads and then flew off.

As Tristan set down the basket and she spread out a blanket upon the grass, Niki had the vivid recollection of being here once, long ago.

“It’s a recreation of where we used to picnic, near Castle Baldwin,” she told him.

Tristan bent down and swirled his forefinger in the water. “Tir Na-nog is whatever we wish, my sweet, especially for the wizards. All of us are allowed to create worlds of our imagination and choosing. I created several such areas where my memories were happiest.”

She stepped onto the stones in the shallow end of the pool, delighted to feel them beneath her feet. Not slippery or slimy, but soft as down.

“Of course I added my own enhancements.” Tristan stretched out on the grass and picked a yellow daffodil, twirling it between his fingers. “I remembered how you once fell after walking on those stones and I caught you.”

Joining him, she took the flower and playfully swatted his face with it. “And then I pushed you in.”

He grinned. “We were both quite wet, and cold.”

Then his gaze turned dark, pupils dilating against the blue of his irises. “I found a most interesting method of warming you, my sweet. But let us save that for after lunch. I am hungry.”

They feasted on fried chicken, a joint of beef and fresh figs grown from the tree outside his cottage. Clear white wine sparkled in the goblets she’d packed as they toasted each other. Secrets seemed to swirl in his eyes, but she did not press him.

Today was for creating new memories. She did not want to ruin this wonderful time and what little time they had left with uncloaking his secrets.

Niki leaned over him and pressed a kiss against his mouth. They kept kissing, hands roaming over each other. And then Tristan stood and pulled her with him.

Kissing her still, he backed her against a thick oak tree.

He lifted her up against the tree, his gaze wild and haunted. Whether his feelings stemmed from their past or their doomed future, she did not know. Niki opened her thighs as he settled between them. Tristan shoved up the hem of her flowered skirt.

“I want to fly into the sun and burn with you, burn so brightly your light will never extinguish. I want to bury myself in you so deep, you’ll never let me go. I want to sink inside your soul, so we will always be one and nothing will ever part us again, neither time, nor death. No matter what happens to us, we shall always be together as one.”

Guiding himself inside her, he sank deep, his cock like soft steel pushing into her. Niki winced and then sighed, wrapping her arms around his neck. He began to thrust hard, whispering into her ear as she closed her eyes and clung to him.

He fisted a hand in her long hair, tilted her head back and kissed her throat as he pumped hard and deep inside her in long, lingering strokes that made her gasp. Niki raked her nails down the strong muscles of his back as he took her. She cried out, wrapping her legs around his lean waist.

Each graceful, powerful move of his hips increased in tempo growing faster, a melody to the harmony of his deep grunts and her sweet sighs. Tristan nuzzled her neck, sweeping his tongue across the tender flesh.

“Open your eyes, Nikita,” he commanded softly. “See me. Only me, my sweet. I am a part of you as you are a part of me. You own my heart. I shall never give it to another. I never did.”

He moved faster and faster, his dark gaze pinning hers, his eyes smoldering with fierce passion. “You shall always be mine. I am forever yours. Nothing, not even the power of destiny, will ever separate us.”

He shuddered inside her, his cock jettisoning hot seed, and she screamed as sensation shot straight to her core. Shaking from the power of her orgasm, Niki felt herself float upwards. Then she realized it was not the pleasure nor her imagination.

They were indeed flying.

They soared skyward, toward the sunshine punching a hole in the clouded sky. The sky was so blue it hurt her eyes through the tears, and the freeing sensation of flying made her giddy. Tristan kept ejaculating inside her, each pulse sending new little quivers of orgasm through her. She clung to him, wanting to soar into the sun, never letting go.

“Look at me, Niki,” he said, sounding broken. “Look at us, and remember this moment well.”

She stared into eyes, his expression filled with tenderness and desire.

“Do not look down.”

Niki glanced over his shoulder and froze. Oh dear…

They were higher than the tallest trees, floating upwards like balloons. Tristan’s cottage was a microdot on the green landscape.

Her grip around him tightened. “Don’t let go of me, Tristan.”

He stared down into her eyes, his gaze haunted. “Soon I must, my beloved.”

Slowly they floated downward to the ground. When her trembling feet touched the grass, she sagged against him as he separated their bodies.

“That was exhilarating. So freeing!”

Tristan tunneled his fingers through her long hair. “Such adventures we can experience together, my sweet, if you remain here with me. For all your life you have been sheltered and hidden away. Here, safe with me, you can truly live.”

Her euphoria faded. If she remained here, she would still live within the confines of the heavenly afterworld, never able to return to Earth and her beloved twin.

He rubbed his cheek against hers, in the way of wolves rubbing their muzzles against each other. “I do not wish to pressure you, Nikita. I know you will be giving up much to remain here, including your sister.”

She did feel pressure, but not from his words. She had fallen for his seductive ways, caught in the sensual snare of his erotic lovemaking, not the phantom dreams that teased her while on Earth, but the very real touch of his hands, his mouth.

The Silver Wizard had woven a spell around her as effectively as if he’d trapped her in a cage. Niki knew if she left him, the taste of his mouth moving subtly over hers, the feel of his cock deep inside her, would become nothing but memories.

And having experienced the very real pleasure he could deliver, she did not want any more memories.

She wanted the living, breathing Tristan, making love to her each night.

They dressed and returned to the blanket and rested, gazing at the sky. Tristan kept staring at her, his expression sad.

“What’s wrong?” she rolled over.

“We need to return.”

Niki went to gather the picnic items. He shook his head. “Leave them.”

“Why? Aren’t we returning to the cottage?”

Tristan touched her cheek. “My Nikita. I wish…how I wish…”

Something was very wrong. “We have a day left.”

“No.” He glanced at the setting sun. “We have only this moment.”

Her heart pounded with dread. “You told me we had ten days. Today is the ninth day!”

“We were granted ten days, but Gideon has called for a convocation of the Brehon with the goddess Danu, on a matter of great importance.” His eyes closed. “I must assume my immortality again to meet with her.”

“And then you’re returning to me.” But her heart began to pump hard, as she saw the answer in his face.

“I cannot. I know not what she will ask of me, and I cannot stay with you as an immortal. You are far too tempting. You consume my thoughts, my every waking moment.”

Suddenly she saw her life as it had been in the past. “Because your duties come first. Not me. Just as before.”