Reaching up, she drew his head down so she could kiss him. When they broke apart after long moments, both of them were breathing hard.
«I love what you do to me, Sebastian.»
«You'll not get an argument from me, my love. You're more than I ever could have dreamed of having for myself and I will cherish you the rest of our nights.» He clasped both of her hands, kissing her lips, her cheeks, her eyes and then moving downward over her collar bones, pausing at her breasts to nibble and suck while she writhed in ecstasy beneath him.
«Sebastian!» His name was torn from her lips as her fever rose. All Sebastian had to do was look at her a certain way and her body responded with overwhelming passion. «I need you now.»
He rose over her and smiled. «I need you always, my Christina.»
«Then come to me now, lover. Make me yours alone.» Christy felt sexier than she ever had and knew Sebastian was with her. He wanted her. Her! And he felt the same way about her as she did about him.
It was fantastic. In less time than she could have believed, the bonding they'd undergone made them closer than any mortal could understand or hope to achieve. The magic that was Sebastian lived in her heart and soul, never to be displaced.
Sebastian rose over her, gazing down at her with love and longing as he slid between her thighs. With tender motions, he joined them, sliding into the place that welcomed him now, and would for eternity. When he was seated fully, he rested there, holding her gaze.
«I wish I could stay joined to you like this all the time.» His sexy, low voice fired her senses, while his masculine scent drove her wild.
«Mmm. Me too. But right now…» she whimpered as he moved by small degrees, setting off shockwaves within her core, «…I really need you to move, Sebastian. I need you to make love to me. I need you to make me come.»
Sebastian's eyes glowed as he thrust. His motions were slow and deliberate at first, then increased in urgency as their passion expanded. He moved like a wild man, but she wanted it all. She wanted him, any way he chose to come to her and she knew he felt the same. It was a novel experience, feeling your partner's thoughts, but the more time she spent joined to him, the more natural it felt.
«Come with me now, my love. Come for me.»
«Sebastian!» She crested the highest wave yet. She'd never felt such an explosion of pleasure, never known a person could fly so high. «Sebastian!» She shouted as her orgasm rocked her world to its core. She felt him convulsing inside her, joining her in the greatest bliss she'd ever known.
«I love you, Sebastian.» Her voice was weak with strain, her mind barely functioning as she drifted down, her body still quaking with aftershocks as he cradled her close. «I love you so much.»
He kissed her face with soft touches, stroking her hair with one large hand. «I love you too, my lady, and I want you to be my bride.» When she would have objected, he soothed her with gentle motions. «Let's not think of the difficulties right now. It's enough to know that as soon as you're free, you'll consent to join your life to mine in the eyes of man. Will you marry me, Christina?»
A soft smile hovered around her lips as she drifted. «Yes, Sebastian. Nothing would make me happier.»
He brushed her lips with his as he shifted them to lie side by side on the large bed. He didn't release her. He held her close, stroking her skin as sleep claimed her, his proposal and her answer foremost in her mind.
She slept with a smile on her face the rest of the night and all the next day, as did Sebastian.
CHAPTER 6
The next evening Christy awoke wrapped in Sebastian's strong arms, her body and mind humming with the knowledge that they were One. He'd let her sift through some of his memories, as he'd seen into her past. Of course, he'd lived a couple of centuries longer than she had, so the marvelous things he'd seen and done in eighteenth-century England were like something out of a romance novel to her. It also would take some time to sort through all she could now see in his mind.
There was bad and good, mixed with the fond memories of friendship with people like Marc LaTour, but under it all, a deep loneliness that haunted him. When they'd joined the night before, that vacant space in his soul had been filled, just as its mate in her own soul had been forever filled with the new beauty of their union. It was the purest form of magic and it humbled her to think this wonderful man could want and love her as much as she wanted and loved him.
It was all so sudden, but ever so right.
Sebastian leaned down to kiss her, a smile lighting his handsome face.
«Good morrow, my love.»
«Mmm, Sebastian.» They kissed, communicating on that new pathway between their minds.
«Glad you two are finally awake.» The teasing tone of Matt's unmistakable voice sounded through the intimacy of their link, breaking them apart.
«Would it be too much to ask for a little privacy?» Sebastian groused.
«Sorry, friend, but we've got a situation and you need to know about it, like yesterday. So no rest for the wicked. Get your asses out here and let's get to work.»
«Where the hell are you? I thought you couldn't hear us last night after we put some distance between us all.» Sebastian's tone was suspicious.
«That's true, but I'm waiting outside your door. I knew if I didn't, you'd spend all night holed up in there, making love.»
«This better be important then,» Sebastian grumbled as he rose and scrambled through some drawers looking for clothing. He tossed one of his shirts to Christy, along with a pair of gym shorts that came down past her knees, but at least she was covered.
«It is. I wouldn't have intruded otherwise.»
Sebastian opened the door and waited for Christy to precede him up the dark passageway to the chamber above. Sealing everything behind him, Sebastian paused a moment outside the above-ground bedroom door to kiss her once, with promise, before opening the door. Matt waited outside, leaning against the wall, dressed in worn jeans and a tight-fitting black T-shirt. Christy was struck once again by his movie-star good looks and killer body.
«Stop that.» Sebastian ruffled her hair, his expression teasing. He had to know from the way they shared their minds that she was merely admiring a thing of beauty. Her heart was well and truly Sebastian's, but Matt was just too good looking not to notice. She shrugged and smiled at Sebastian, knowing from his teasing growl that he understood.
«Now, what was so important?»
Matt straightened and pulled a large envelope out from behind his back. With an apologetic look at Christy he shared his news. «Jeff Kinsey's out. Seems the first thing he did when he realized Christy was gone from the hospital was place a call to a man named Benjamin Steel. We have reason to believe he's a highly placed Altor Custodis agent. Hastings had a thick dossier on the man and was already tracking him. Hastings got a heads up from one of his contacts on the East Coast when Steel moved out here a few weeks ago.»
Sebastian opened the envelope and rifled through the papers as they moved down the hall toward the more public areas of the house. Arriving at the living room, he stopped short. Christy looked between the two big men to find a third seated on another large leather couch, studying what looked like a batch of eight by ten photos strewn on the coffee table in front of him.