Now, he just wanted a way to live out his life staring into those eyes. Feeling her tiny hands on his skin.
Erin listened to V'Aidan's heart beating under her cheek. He smelled of warm sandalwood and spice. She ran her hand over where the thief had shot him, still amazed that no scar or wound remained. It was an awful reminder of the fact that her entire day with V'Aidan had been an illusion.
He wasn't born of her world. And no doubt tonight they would be parted for eternity.
The thought broke her heart. She couldn't stand the thought of not seeing him again.
If this was her last night with him, then she wanted it to last.
Crawling up his body, she met his gaze and saw the hunger in the crystal silver gaze. She cupped his cheek in her hand and kissed him.
V'Aidan growled at the taste of her as his body roared to life. He tore the shirt from her as he rolled to press her down into the couch.
Erin heard the cotton fabric tear but didn't care. She wanted him with the same desperation. She pulled his shirt over his head and feasted on the sight of his bare chest. Only scars remained of the wounds he'd suffered, and he'd told her that, by tomorrow, if he survived tonight, even those would be gone.
He removed their clothes so fast that she could barely follow his moves. He leaned her up against the back of the sofa arm and drove himself deep into her.
They moaned in unison.
She wished she could keep him inside her forever. She never wanted another day without him in it.
V'Aidan made love to her feverishly, savoring every deep stroke. He caressed her breasts as he kissed her, felt her from the top of his head all the way to his toes.
Her warm body surrounded his, fit him to perfection. And the feel of her hands on his back…
It was bliss. Pure bliss. He closed his eyes and delighted in the feel of her breasts on his chest, her tongue on his throat. Oh, yes, he wanted to stay here with her.
Forever.
Erin ran her hand through his long hair, her fingers clenched as pleasure ripped through her, each thrust deeper and harder than the last. She wrapped her legs around his waist, bucking her hips in time to him. Drawing him into her body even deeper. She clung to him as she came, crying out his name.
He kissed her lips and quickened his pace until he released himself inside her.
Erin lay still, feeling his essence fill her. She didn't want to move, didn't want to feel him leave her.
"I love you, V'Aidan," she said before she could stop herself.
V'Aidan froze at the words. Pulling back, he stared at her in disbelief. "What?"
Her cheeks turned pink as her brown gaze shredded what was left of his heart. "I love you."
"You can't. It's not possible."
"Possible or not, I do."
V'Aidan gathered her into his arms and held on to her desperately. He shook from the force of what he felt for her. So powerful, so overwhelming.
Sated to a depth he'd never known before, he pulled her on top of him and listened to her even breaths as her sleep took her.
He wanted to wake her up but knew better. Unlike him, she had to have her sleep.
"Erin," he whispered softly as he stroked her hair. "I promise you, I'll always be what you think I am."
Resigned to the inevitable, he closed his eyes and waited for M'Ordant and Krysti'Ana to come for them.
Chapter 6
V'Aidan woke up to a piercing screech that felt as if it would shatter his eardrums.
He groaned at the awful sound as Erin stirred on top of him.
"What is that?" he asked.
"My alarm clock," she said, rising from him to rush to her bedroom.
It wasn't until her return that they both realized what had happened.
Nothing.
"Did you have any dreams?" he asked.
She shook her head. "You?"
"No," he said, smiling.
"Do you think…"
His smile faded. "No. They can find us. Sooner or later, they will."
Erin closed her eyes and cursed the thought of it. "Maybe they won't bother." She saw the doubt in V'Aidan's eyes.
Wanting to cheer his dour mood, she pulled him up by his arm. "C'mon. Let's take a shower and then I'll call in sick to work."
"You can't. What if you get fired?"
She shrugged. "I'll find another job."
He shook his head at her. "You are amazing."
She smiled at him.
Erin called into work only to be reminded of the marketing report that had been due on Friday, which she had forgotten to drop off.
"The meeting is at noon," John told her.
"Okay, I'm on my way up there with it."
"Is something wrong?" V'Aidan asked as she hung up the phone.
She shook her head. "I just have to take something to the office. Want to come with me?"
"Sure."
They didn't speak much as she drove across town. V'Aidan held her hand the entire time and Erin had to admit she liked the strength of his hand wrapped around hers.
Once they reached her building, Erin led V'Aidan into the maze where her cubicle was. He watched the hustle and bustle of corporate life with a dispassionate stare.
Erin went to John's office, only to find it empty.
With V'Aidan directly behind her, she dropped the report in John's in-box, then turned to leave.
Chrissy stood in the doorway with Rick Sword behind her. The two of them stepped into the office and closed the door.
Erin heard V'Aidan curse.
What the devil was going on?
"What are you doing here?" V'Aidan asked, his voice laced with anger.
"Waiting for you." Chrissy stepped around them and pulled the blinds closed. "You won't dare fight us in her workplace, will you, V'Aidan? All we have to do is make ourselves invisible to the humans and they won't see or hear anything but her. And her they'll lock up in an asylum as soon as we're gone."
Erin still didn't understand what was going on. But she had a sick feeling that she had been duped from the very beginning by all of this.
If V'Aidan could be real, then so could they.
"What is this?" Erin demanded.
Chrissy's eyes flashed to yellow and it was then Erin knew the truth.
Chrissy was the she-snake from her nightmares.
"Stay out of it, human," Rick said. "We will deal with you after we finish with him."
V'Aidan pulled Erin behind him.
"How very sweet." Chrissy's tone was mocking. "One would think you were Oneroi they way you coddle her."
"He is Oneroi," Erin shot back, her entire body shaking from panic. How could she and V'Aidan fight them here? Like this?
Rick laughed at her words. "Is that the lie you told her?"
V'Aidan held his breath. He didn't want her to find out like this. "Erin, I…" His words faltered as he turned to see the confused look on her face.
He didn't want to tell her the truth. He didn't want to be what he was anymore. She had shown him something better and he didn't want to go back to the way he'd been.
"What does she mean?" Erin asked.
"He's your dragon," Krysti'Ana said mercilessly. "The thing I fought the first night we met in your dreams."
"No." Erin shook her head. "It's a lie. V'Aidan, tell me it's a lie."
He wanted to, but he couldn't. He'd lied so many times that it shouldn't have mattered to him. Yet it did.
"I'm a Skotos, Erin."
Her eyes filled with tears. "It was you! You who made me so terrified I couldn't sleep? You who chased me and… and…" She couldn't even begin to recount the torture he had put her through during those first few weeks. She had thought she was losing her mind. "Why did you trick me into thinking you were Oneroi? Was it just so you could feed from me?"
"At first, I only wanted to get you away from Krysti'Ana. I knew you wouldn't go with the dragon, so I appeared to you as a man. And then later…" His voice trailed off as his eyes went dead.