Healing His Soul's Mate Read online

  “Why do you think you have been suffering from unexplained headaches?” He brushed her bangs from her forehead.

  She jerked her attention from the parents she barely knew anymore to the blond man at her side. “Um, duh. I was knocked out by a lighting instrument.”

  “Yes, well, there is that. But I suspect it was building long before the accident, from the moment Dana took her leap of faith and broke from the family.” Cemil pulled Ashlynn away. “It was the first time you realized you could escape, too, but your mother had her claws into you. Where she didn’t love Dana, she did have some emotional connection to you. She saw her as a responsibility, a burden.

  “But, deep inside, you knew something odd surrounded your house and a little voice warred with the person you had been trained to be.”

  “I still don’t understand.”

  “We are victims of our environment. Even the gentlest of puppies can be turned into a killing machine under evil influences. You hid your light deep inside to protect yourself. And, I think, to protect your sister.”

  “Mother would hit her if I was kind.” A memory hidden deep shot to the surface.

  Cemil nodded as if the news didn’t come as a surprise. “I believe that is information we should keep to ourselves. There would be no controlling Rekkus if the knowledge came to him.”

  “I’ve never spoke of it before. I didn’t remember until now.” She shook her head. A great weight lifted from her shoulders and head.

  “Nothing can save your parents’ marriage.” Cemil stopped in the lobby.

  “I don’t think they should try.”

  “A healthy response to an unhealthy situation. But I am thinking it’s you who needs to divorce them. Time to rebel.”

  Ashlynn watched the sun drop below the tree line. Her heart and other parts of her clenched. He would be here any moment. With a quiet shove from Cemil, she ran, stopping long enough to hear Myron say, “Synergy Room.”

  The Haus shook, followed by a loud rumble. Dana had said it happened every night, but Ashlynn hadn’t believed her. At the end of the hall, two guards in black flanked the ever-formidable Sarka. “Only those three come through.”

  The guards nodded, and Cyrus, well, Cyrus with fiery hair, came into sight. A second later, Rekkus walked through then patted Cyrus down before nodding. Only then did Cyrus shake his head and the red disappeared. She stared at the swirling, inky cloud until Shade appeared. He leaned on the wall, gasping.

  “I…hate…portals.” His eyes met hers.

  “Dana?” Rekkus asked.

  “Sleeping in your office,” Ashlynn replied.

  Rekkus smiled and broke into a run down the hall toward his office.

  She didn’t think. She had spent too much time thinking, thinking about what was right. What everyone expected and what was normal. Now she needed to feel. Grabbing Shade’s hand, she pulled him along until she found a door marked Synergy Room slightly ajar. Pushing it open, she towed him into the dark room. Ashlynn jerked off her sunglasses and, with a hand tangled in his hair, brought his lips down to hers, forcing his mouth open and tasting him with her tongue.

  “What are you doing?” he asked when they paused, gasping for air.

  “Rebelling.”

  “Oh, I like the sound of rebelling.”

  “You’ll love how it feels more.” Grinding her pelvis against his, she reveled in the moan escaping him.

  “I’m not complaining” he whispered against her neck. “But what are you rebelling against?”

  “My mother, and I don’t want to think or talk about her anymore.”

  “I don’t want to think about her either.”

  Holding her against the door, he worked down her body until he knelt before her. Anxious, she shimmied her pants into a puddle of expensive fabric at her ankles. He removed them, first one foot then the other, careful to keep her high-heeled shoes she wore secure on her feet. Another jolt of excitement ran through her as she watched his gaze follow the long line of her legs. She hadn’t known why she put on heels today, seemed trivial and frivolous, but now she thanked heaven she had.

  “I have never seen anything more beautiful.” The truth lay in his expression for her to see.

  “I want you.”

  He kissed her inner thigh, breathing deeply. “I know.”

  The lacy panties soon joined the pants leaving her bare from the waist down, with her blouse open but remaining on her shoulders for him to remove. The only article of clothing yet to be touched was the matching bra to her discarded panties.

  Hooking her leg over his shoulder, he closed his eyes and drank from her like a man dying of thirst. She laced her fingers through his hair and with the other hand reached for anything to stabilize her. He wouldn’t let her fall, but she sensed he would rock her world. In the end, her fingers closed around a towel rack.

  She guided him, teaching him what pleased her and, in turn, she learned what pleased him as well. She could almost feel her fingers on his skin, as if he were touching her. As she tried to wrap her mind around little odd sensations, his tongue entered her and all thoughts vanished. He pressed her against the door, preventing her from moving. She might have started this, but he had taken charge.

  Perhaps she had been celibate too long, but in the back of her brain a small voice she didn’t want to listen to kept telling her the reason this felt so good, so right, had to do with the man as much as his technique. Behind her closed lids, an orange glow appeared.

  Opening her eyes, she gasped. Sandstone rocks glowed, lighting the room. “Are those rocks humming?”

  He pulled back, looked around, and smiled. “They are. I must not be as dusty at this as I had worried.”

  “How long has it been?”

  “Longer than you care to know.” Strong fingers gripped her hips, pulling her to meet his waiting mouth again. Thoughts of crystals left her mind as her stomach knotted, and she reached for him in time to have the first wave of inexpressible pleasure rack her. If she had been able to catch her breath, she might have screamed the building down, but she could no more whisper his name as yell it to the ceiling.

  Relentless, his tongue worked her, and when she couldn’t take another orgasm, the room spun. The pillows supported her as she lay horizontal below him. Clutching his shoulders, she lifted her head so she could kiss him again. Instinct overrode every thought as if her body no longer needed her brain to his lead in the dance. Her legs spread wide to make room for him. Her hips rose in welcome as his cock entered her in one quick, smooth stroke.

  Gasping, she arched into him. Nails dug into his shoulders, begging for his body to move. He pounded into her like a stallion, speaking in a language she’d never heard before but somehow understood perfectly. Words of love, pleasure, and need. He told her in his own beautiful language, and showed her with his body, his desire both strong and pure.

  She gave him all she had to give, offered him more. She would follow him to the end of the world. So when the orgasm enveloped her, she followed him over the edge and let the darkness take them both.

  ***

  He had bound himself to her. Lying on the sea of pillows, he pulled her into his embrace. The crystals hummed as much from their passion as from his love.

  “Can I ask you a question?” She ran fingernails over his flat stomach.

  He took a stabilizing breath. “Anything.”

  “How did you get naked so fast? One second you were dressed, the next, boom, you were on top and naked. Is this some sort of Wiccan Haus magic?”

  “No.” He couldn’t keep from laughing. “Quite the opposite. I think you would call it desperation, and I’m not naked. I hoped you wouldn’t notice my pants hanging around my ankles. Not very sexy at all.”

  Reaching down, he pulled them up to prove his point then locked the door and helped her get dressed. Anyone could have walked in on them. He didn’t want to share her with anyone, not this glow she had in the light. Re
aching up, he caressed her scar. “You are so beautiful.”

  She pulled away as if the words burned her. “Maybe once, not now.”

  “Says who? Society? You are beautiful to me. Imperfectly beautiful, every inch.” He let his lips brush over the jagged angry skin. “Perhaps one day you will see what I see in you.”

  “Will you be leaving tomorrow with the other guests?”

  “No. I’ll be here until the babies are born. Even without the babies I’d have stayed.”

  “Why?”

  “Do you not know? Ashlynn, I’m in love with you. You are everything I want in a mate.” Even barring the fact the Fates had already chosen her for him, he wanted her on a level not entirely having to do with his soul. She touched his heart as well.

  “I couldn’t stop thinking about you today,” she murmured. “I felt as if a part of me had been ripped out. I don’t understand, but it doesn’t scare me as much as it did and I would like to give it a chance.”

  “Not to mention it would bother the hell out of your mother.”

  “There is that.” Her smile fell. “Dana is my half-sister.”

  “And your mother plays the role of wicked stepmother.”

  “Yes.”

  “I suspected something of the sort. It didn’t add up otherwise.” It would be a relief to Rekkus that the woman wasn’t kin, though, perhaps, it would be better for all around if he still had that as a leash. “How did Dana take it?”

  “She doesn’t know yet.” The soft light reflected the pain in her hazel eyes. “Is it cowardly that I don’t want to be the one to tell her?”

  “Depends on what you are scared of.”

  “I don’t want to be the cause of any more pain for Dana. I haven’t always been the best sister. She needed me to support her after her botched wedding, and I did nothing but cower behind my mother, afraid to stand up for what was right.”

  “When you were little, what would happen if you and Dana played together?”

  “Oh, there was no playing. I can’t remember ever being in Dana’s room or her in mine. Her room lay at the other end of the house. If I started toward it, my mother would snap at me.”

  “So, it’s safe to say you were harshly discouraged from attaching yourself to your big sister in any way.”

  “Yes. Dana was forced to stand outside in the snow barefoot because I wore her shoes one day. My father didn’t know about it, and no one dared go against my mother.”

  Shade tried to imagine a young Dana being punished in such a way, but his brain wouldn’t allow it. “You were both abused by a callous woman. She played into your fears with venomous words and actions guaranteed to hurt.”

  Tears ran like two small rivers over her cheeks. “Dana wouldn’t accept my apology the day of the shoe incident. She told me to shut up and stormed off. She never let my mother see her pain. One of the house staff snuck off to make sure Dana was okay, and mother fired her on some trumped-up charge the next day. But as much as I wanted to go make sure she was okay, Dana didn’t want me to.”

  “Perhaps Dana wanted, no, needed, to protect you as well. She might have felt the only way to do that was for her to prevent the natural relationship from forming.” With the pad of his thumb, he wiped away her tears. “Do you want me to ask one of the siblings to break the news to Dana? I think she will be relieved.”

  “I would be.” But she nodded.

  “Done, but I think we should do it after your mother is on the ferry back to the mainland.” He pulled her close. “The siblings will know best when to break the news.

  After allowing himself the luxury of holding her in his arms for a little while longer, he got up and helped her to her feet. Myron would keep anyone out of the room, and he doubted after her little greeting at the portal Sarka would send security after either of them. But they needed to get some food because he didn’t plan on making this a one off.

  She had awakened a sexual appetite he planned on feeding until he was satisfied. In the back of his mind, the niggling worry this feeling would disappear as it had with his parents arose. But, unlike his Shenshaw mother who understood the process of bonding, Ashlynn would think she hadn’t been good enough. Lifting his eyes to the heavens, he closed them and prayed the Fates would be kind. If this feeling left him, he wouldn’t be aware if she was in pain, because once an ability to read a soul had been taken, it didn’t return.

  When the full moon crested over the sea, his future and hers would be sealed.

  Chapter Nine

  “Perhaps you and your father can focus on your healing,” Sage said as they stood on the hill, watching the ferry pass from sight. She placed her hand into Ashlynn’s and held tight.

  “I’m glad Dana decided not to see her off.” Ashlynn had expected her to be there to say good-bye—closure she called it. Dana took the news of her maternal heritage well, the Rowans reported. But everyone—including Ashlynn—agreed Rekkus should be told after Mrs. Stone stepped off the ferry on the mainland.

  “I have a feeling it wasn’t her decision to miss it. Rekkus was pretty adamant that nothing good could come from her being there.” Sage turned back toward the Haus. “But perhaps there wouldn’t be closure either way.”

  “With my mother, probably not. So, did Dana tell Rekkus?”

  Sage gave an unladylike snort. “If he knew, I am not sure your mother would have made it off the island in one piece. Where is Shade?”

  Ashlynn shrugged. Everyone here seemed to know everything everyone did. “He left before I woke.” She rubbed her temples, another headache forming, but less intense than usual.

  “Do you need a shake?”

  “I don’t think so. I’ve been stressed about this morning. Worried Mother would insist I come with her. But, in the end, she got on the boat with not so much as a good-bye. Good thing I don’t have anything important still at my parents’ house. It would be in the trash by the time I got home.”

  “We allowed your father to use the office phone to call his lawyer and his work. Perhaps you need to contact the attorney as well. You sure there is nothing there you’d like someone to fetch for you?”

  “No. Nothing special. And she’ll be too busy badmouthing my father. If she spoke ill of her poor, injured daughter, she would only come across as a bad mother. To her, image is everything.” And above all, she could be thankful for small things. She had nothing to lose. She had no job, no real friends, and her relationship remained here. She had become closer to her sister than she had ever imagined. “Not that I care what she says to her shallow friends.”

  The Haus stood strong in the mist of chaos. She had been warned it would be this way as they prepared for the new week. They had a couple of hours from when the ferry left with the humans and returned with the new guests. The paras left at sunrise and the new arrivals would show up at sunset. But, this sunset Cemil would leave through the portal. They needed someone they trusted on the other side to close the portals and ensure they stayed closed until after Dana delivered. Sending Cemil also ensured the empath wouldn’t be overwhelmed by Dana’s pain. His presence on the other side also served to reassure the Syndicate the Rowans were not using the situation as a trick to close the island from all future interference.

  Shade had agreed to take over Cemil’s classes for the upcoming week, and all the paras coming through were warned they might not get back in a week, as the portals would be going through maintenance.

  “What kind of maintenance would the portal require?” Ashlynn asked.

  “I haven’t the foggiest idea, but, then, neither does anyone else, so it plays to our advantage. The longer the portal stays down, the louder chatter in the capital will become. For everyone’s sake, the sooner Dana births these babies the better.”

  “Will Cemil be in danger?”

  “Rekkus has some men in the city he trusts to take care of Cemil. And, much like Cyrus, he will disguise his appearance. He is much stronger than he looks and can
take care of himself.”

  It seemed Rekkus knew everyone and had connections everywhere. Shade’s staying remained her main concern. He sidestepped any conversation about the future, saying they would have to see what happened. But she had never felt closer or more in touch with a man than she did with him in the bedroom.

  “Can I ask you something?”

  Sage cocked her head. “Of course.”

  “How old is Shade?”

  “Why not ask Shade?”

  “I did and all he would say is ‘I am older than you can imagine.’ Which….”

  “Makes you more curious. Honestly. I don’t know how old he is.” She closed her eyes and tapped her foot. “Wait, he is at least…. Perhaps you should sit down for this.”

  Ashlynn asked no questions because every time someone on this island said sit down she either wished she had or was glad she listened. Taking a seat in one of the overstuffed leather armchairs of the Haus, she nodded, ready to hear whatever Sage had to say.

  “As I said, I am not sure of his exact age. He was born sometime after the American Revolution and before the Civil war.”

  “Making him over a hundred years old.”

  “Closer to two hundred is my thinking.”

  She leaned forward in the chair and thought she might start hyperventilating. “Years. You…are…talking…years.”

  “Can someone get me some water, please?” Sage turned to a small, older woman who was arranging flowers across the room. “Perhaps I should have broken it easier.”

  Ashlynn asked, “How?”

  “No idea.” Sage touched her back, making calming circles.

  “What happened?” She couldn’t bring herself to look at him. Not yet. What was age? Except he happened to be older than her great-great-great-grandfather. And as she aged, he wouldn’t.

  His face. Not a single line or whisker marred his face. “Two hundred years old?”

  “Dammit, Sage. She wasn’t ready.”

  “When would she be ready?”