Maybe strength came in unity, not solitude.
He deepened the kiss, for the first time in years feeling that strength filling him. With Mandy at his side, he felt more powerful than ever.
They only had a few short hours until night fell. Isabelle felt the clock ticking even louder, the pounding echoing in her heart, tightening her throat like a noose. She tried to stay busy at the cabin as she watched the time click down to the zero hour, grateful at least that Dalton had brought her back here after telling Michael and the others that she needed a few hours’ rest before the big event. She needed to be away from the main house, felt claustrophobic around the sympathetic looks and gestures of Dalton’s friends and even her own sister. She couldn’t handle it.
Before they’d left the others, they’d gone over the ceremony with Georgie, outlining every possible scenario, though they realized that no one could predict what might really happen once things got under way. And playing the “what if” game with Isabelle’s destiny-with her and Dalton’s lives-had only ratcheted up her tension to the nth degree. By the time Dalton had called a halt to things and dragged her out of there, she’d been ready to explode.
She stared out the front window and watched the sun move over the water, every inch of its descent reminding her that time grew closer for tonight’s event. She dreaded it, didn’t look forward to it at all, wanted to just be a normal woman in love with a normal man.
She hated having no control over her own destiny, being unable to make her own choices regarding her future and what she wanted. She wanted Dalton in her life, and that wasn’t going to happen.
So unfair. She closed her eyes, and for the first time in a very long time, she whispered a prayer for his safety. If she couldn’t have him, she could only wish that he got what he wanted. No matter how things turned out for her, it was about time that she thought about someone else’s needs. Dalton had paid a severe price over so many years for doing something so incredibly noble.
His time for redemption had come. She could only hope she was the catalyst. Maybe after all the bad things she’d done in her life, all the selfish ways she’d tried to serve herself and her own desires, she could finally do something good for someone else.
When Dalton’s hands came around to encircle her waist, she melted into him, needing this more than she needed to breathe. His touch, being near him, was a balm to her psyche. She leaned against him, resting her head against his chest, wishing she could freeze this moment in time. She’d be perfectly content to stay like this, with Dalton’s hands around her, the feel of his heart beating against her back, his chin resting on the top of her head. She’d never felt so relaxed.
“Our time is running out, Dalton.”
He turned her around to face him. “Then let’s not waste a minute of it.” He kissed her, his lips barely a feather brush against hers. She sighed in utter bliss, swept off her feet from the sheer romance of his mouth sliding against hers. She poured everything she had into touching him, tasting him, knowing this would be the last time she would ever be close to him.
He led her into the bedroom and took his time removing her clothes. She was torn between wanting to hurry up and taking each moment in slow motion, wishing she could capture every second in her memories so she’d never forget. As he peeled away her shirt he pressed his lips to her neck, her shoulder, the touch of his lips so reverent it brought tears to her eyes. She sensed this moment was as special to him as it was to her, that he knew as well as she did that they would only have this time together, and then it would be gone.
He turned her around and drew her hair to the side, placing his lips against the nape of her neck. She shivered, goose bumps prickling her skin. He tilted her head up and pulled her against him so he could reach around her to touch her breasts, sliding his thumbs over the piercings, tugging them with gentle pulls that made her whimper. She felt the sensation between her legs. So incredible, so erotic, he knew her body like he owned it.
He did.
How would she ever live without him?
Don’t think. Don’t waste a moment of this. Just feel.
She did-everything. His touch, his hands on her nipples, the ecstasy of his familiarity with her, the way his body felt against hers after he pulled off his shirt. The smoothness of his chest against her back, the heat, the possessiveness as he drew her shorts down and pressed a soft kiss to her right hip, then turned her around and claimed her sex with his mouth. She widened her legs and let him take her, threading her fingers through his hair, watching him while absorbing every wild sensation and committing it to memory. He loved her slowly, sliding his tongue in tantalizing fashion over her until she lost the ability to think coherently. She gripped his hair and held him to her while she rode the crest and fell, rocking against him in unabashed frenzy.
He rose and took her mouth again in a tart kiss that told her she belonged to him and only him.
As if she could ever hope to experience this with anyone else again. She was his, always would be, no matter if they were separated.
When he lifted her and carried her to the bed, she wrapped her arms around his neck, staring at his face, sliding her fingertips along his jaw. There was so much she wanted to say, but she said nothing. Neither did he. She understood.
There was nothing they could say to each other now. They could only show, without words, the depth of their feelings.
He rolled her to her side to face him, lifted her leg over his hip and slid inside her. Slow and easy, he rocked in and out, letting her feel every inch of him. Her body gripped him in utter pleasure, and now it was her turn to claim him, to tell him that he was hers, and always would be.
She watched the tension on his face, the way he clamped his lips together and concentrated on their bodies gliding back and forth as one. She pulled up and kissed him, rimming his lips with her tongue. He opened for her and she found his tongue, sucked it, and he groaned, curling her toes at the extreme pleasure of his response. He tunneled his fingers in her hair and gripped tight, tilting her head back to kiss her hard as he quickened his movements with harder thrusts.
As he ground against her she lost control, bit his lip, tasting his blood in her mouth, but she didn’t care. It was just more of him that became a part of her. She wrapped her leg around him, digging her heel in his buttocks to drive him harder. And when her climax washed over her, she didn’t bother to hold back the tears that told him how much she’d miss him, how much she loved him. He buried his face in her neck, his teeth grazing her skin as he groaned and shuddered against her.
He held her tight and stroked her back, her shoulders, her hip. And still, neither of them spoke.
They’d both just said all there was to say.
They loved each other.
But it was over.
For some reason Isabelle thought the ceremony would take place in the house, but that’s not how it was going to happen. She stood outside along with Dalton and the other hunters, as well as Georgie and several of her family and coworkers. The women wore long cotton dresses, the men knee-cropped pants and vests, no shirts. Even children came along. Georgie had told her that young children were groomed in the way of voodoo at an early age, many to take over as mambo or houngan-the female or male voodoo priestess or priest-when they came of age.
They’d all taken a walk deep into the woods, staying parallel to the bayou. The night was sultry, the moon full, the sounds of birds and God only knew what other kinds of creatures keeping them company as they trekked single-file along a narrow pathway carved into the dense woods. Alone with her thoughts, Isabelle had stayed in step, Derek in front of her, Dalton behind her, all of the hunters fully armed in case the Sons of Darkness decided to make an impromptu appearance while all of this went down tonight.