“Fuck sandwiches,” I grumbled, then bit back a gasp as another pang of need shot through me.
“What?”Xochitl asked with a light laugh.She loved when I said that particular phrase.
Then, to my horror, she gasped and shivered.“Ummm…Mom?I hate to make this awkward, but…”
“Fuck!”I growled, both out of frustration that this had to be happening to me here and now, and remorse that my affliction had set off my daughter’s.She wastoo young, damn it!
“Go to Zareth!”I hissed between clenched teeth in effort to keep coherent.“Now!And if you see any other man on your way to him, run away, fast!”
“Why?”Xochitl squirmed and sucked in a breath.“What’s happening to me…us?It’s happening to you too.”
“The Yearning,” I panted, gripping the edges of the desk with so much force it hurt.“I don’t know if it can cause you to fuck someone who’s not your true-bonded mate, but you shouldn’t risk it.”
Xochitl’s already dilated pupils enlarged further.“Oh shit.Okay.”
She pulled out her sorcerer’s staff, so like the one Lucian had made for me and was lost in the destruction of Medicia, and with a whispered word of magic, vanished.
Pride filled me at her quickly learning how to ‘poof’ to places, as she’d called it.Then another hot wave of lust pressed down on me, tearing a moan from my throat.I needed to decide whether or not I should try to ‘poof’ away so I could take care of myself as I had for my past ten Yearnings.
I could have Lucian.
Despite the fire in my body roaring in demand for that very thing, the thought manifested clear in my mind and my heart.If I did so, that meant that not only would I be accepting him as my mate again, a move there would be no going back from, I’d also be opening myself up to the possibility of conceiving another seedling…and two years of agonized worrying about whether or not it would become a living baby.
Did I really want that?
Yes!My heart cried.
Please!My body demanded.
I tried to silence both and listen to my mind.But all it had to say was that I’d spent the past five months trying to decide what to about Lucian.And now I was out of time.
So I decided.But first, I took a quick detour to my suite.The feel of the soft silk nightgown on my heated skin sent another shiver of erotic pleasure through my being.Quickly, I put on the matching robe and ran barefoot out of my room.
When I knocked on Lucian’s door, I had a moment of worry that he was somewhere else in the vast castle, then groaned in sweet relief when his gorgeous, irresistible form filled the doorway.He was even shirtless.
“Lucian,” I gasped, then threw my arms around him.Fates, he was so warm, so deliciously firm everywhere.
He yanked me into his room with such force that my breath hitched in anticipation.But instead of taking me, he grasped my shoulders.
“It’s the Yearning again, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” I moaned, letting my eyes drift shut in preparation to give myself over to absolute sensation.“Take me.”
“No.”His voice was hoarse.
I opened my eyes and gaped at him.“I don’t understand.This is what you wanted.”
“I do,” he growled.“But it’s notreallywhat you want.Only your body wants me now.”
I growled in frustration.Of course he’d be a gentleman about this.Especially after all the times I’d rejected his attempts to win my forgiveness.I wouldn’t have him any other way, but damn it, this was the worst time for chivalry.
“Lucian, please.”I couldn’t hide the desperation in my voice even as I tried to reason with him.“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want you truly.Instead, I would have gone off somewhere to ride it off in isolation.”
“Kerainne?”His voice roughened further.
“Yes?”
“Don’t mention riding right now.Not when it’s so hard for me to think.”