Twisted Fate: Of Love And Darkness Part 19

"Two nights ago. And if you ever do that again, I'll kill whichever one it is you were imagining."

Sydney rolled her eyes and then gasped. "I was unconscious for two days?"

Gavin nodded. "The injury to your neck was nearly fatal." She heard the pain in his voice. He couldn't live without her, either.

She paced to the door and back, contemplating. "What if we destroyed the Rakshasa population?" she asked. "Wouldn't that basically eliminate the threat to the Light Ones?"

"Yes. But there are far more of them and they're better warriors and-"

She cut him off with a wave of her hand. He gave her an annoyed look as his mouth worked soundlessly for a moment.

"Don't go all Negative Nelly on me right now, Gavin. I need some positive in my life. The only way you and I can stay together is if we figure out a way to keep the Light One population stable without me singlehandedly repopulating the earth. And the only way I can see to do that is to go on the offensive and start attacking them, instead of waiting for them to attack us."

"Your mind certainly works furtively when you sleep."

"Don't mock me," she warned, growing annoyed that he wasn't immediately buying into her idea.

In a flash, he was across the room, snagging her around the waist and pulling her back to the bed. Somehow, she found herself lying on her back again, naked, with Gavin's equally naked body pressing down on her.

"When you start talking war and politics it gets me hot," he said as he nuzzled her neck.

"Everything gets you hot," Sydney pointed out as she obligingly lifted her chin to give him better access.

"No. You get me hot." And then his hands were everywhere, and his lips were on hers, demanding, insistent, telling her without words what she meant to him. And as she crested her climax, she thought, I will never let this go.

Epilogue.

"They're in," Gavin stated.

"Really? All of them? Even though I won't mate with any of them?"

Gavin almost laughed at the narcissistic question. "Sydney, they've known that since they joined the pack. That hope may have been what drove them here, but the opportunity to fight-to win-is what keeps them here."

"Oh."

This time, Gavin did laugh. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to him, burying his nose in her hair and breathing deeply of her utterly intriguing scent. His Chala.

"I stay here because of you. Is that good enough for you?"

Sydney gave him an impish smile. "Yes. That's plenty good enough for me." She paused and looked over to the clearing, where a group of s.h.i.+fters was being led through a series of strengthening exercises.

"Thanks for letting Brandon stay," she said, the playfulness gone from her voice.

"It's only because of that thing you did with the ice and the candle the other day."

Sydney rolled her eyes. "No, it isn't. You let him stay because you realized he'd made a mistake and was sorry for it. G.o.d knows you've made plenty of mistakes in your time."

"Hey," Gavin protested, but weakly. She was right, of course. "He's going to have a rough time of it," he predicted. "The pack doesn't trust him right now. They're going to haze the s.h.i.+t out of him."

Sydney's brow furrowed. "They won't carry it too far, will they?"

"Nah. At least not by their standards."

"Gavin!"

He kissed her nose. "I'll be sure to step in when I think it's going too far."

"Thank you."

"No, thank you."

"For what?"

"For loving me."

Sydney blushed. "We're going to make it, aren't we?"

"d.a.m.n straight."

Together, they walked toward the practice field, to join their pack, their friends, their army.

end.