Celeste Read online

  “How good we are,” she said changing it to present tense. “We’re both here now. It’s our time.”

  His gaze smoldered down at her. Then he lowered his head and kissed her hard, his touch possessive. Loving, but letting her know in no uncertain terms that she was his. That this was a point of no return. They were going to be together now, and for always.

  She couldn’t wait. She reached up and tried to tug him closer, but he wasn’t having any of it. He dropped kisses on her collarbone and down to the top of her breasts, his hands gently gliding across her belly and wrapping around her hips. Long fingers slipped down to her bottom, and squeezed gently. She shifted restlessly under his hands, wanting him closer and closer. When he slid his all-too-knowing fingers down the back of her thigh and around to the top, she twisted, but he held her firm.

  “Oh no,” he whispered. “I waited too long for this.”

  She smiled then moaned as he tangled his fingers in damp curls. Those damn teasing fingers. How could she forget that part? She gasped, as he pushed her legs apart. Tugging at him, she tried to move him over her, but he wasn’t listening. Then, he touched her intimately. Shudders rippled down her spine, and when he slid first one finger then a second finger inside her tight passageway she arched, crying out.

  “Matt… Come to me,” she demanded.

  But he refused. Instead, he stroked her, again and again. When he slowly withdrew then entered her again, the tightness inside released and she cried out in joy.

  He rose up over her, replacing his finger with his erection, and waited at her entrance.

  She lifted her hips and wrapped her legs around his waist.

  “Come to me,” she said.

  And he surged deep inside. She groaned as he filled her, coming to rest at the entrance to her womb. So damn special.

  Then he started to move.

  And it started all over again. Small eruptions built, as he moved faster and faster and deeper, until he jerked hard above her. As his seed spurted deep inside, her climax ripped through her. She cried out and rolled her head to the side, shudders rippling over her skin.

  *

  He couldn’t stop cuddling her. He’d been so afraid this day wouldn’t come. That she’d meant the split to be final. So much stuff had arisen between them, he knew it would take time to sort through. But the bottom line was they were here now. Together.

  Thank God.

  He shifted so he could look down on her, but she lay with her eyes closed. Asleep? He knew she was still healing, but he didn’t want to end this now. He wanted to go on loving her all night long. But maybe a little rest would be good for both of them. He pulled the blankets up and over the two of them and moved to get comfortable, tugging her half over his chest. She never made a sound. He smiled. Good. Maybe now she’d get the rest she needed.

  He closed his eyes and relaxed. He wasn’t sleepy, but he had no intention of moving again. His gaze shifted around her room. She’d spent her entire lifetime in here, short of the year she’d been away. The insight into her younger years was too tempting to ignore. There were no teenage posters up on the wall—not that she’d been a teenager in a long time, but it was a room of a young woman. Except for something like a star chart on the wall, they were plain, unadorned.

  Had she had pictures up and ripped them off when she knew she was leaving, or maybe when she came back? Or maybe she’d left her walls bare growing up. They’d had such an unusual childhood that he couldn’t imagine. He could see the back of the bedroom door, and there was something on it that he couldn’t see in the dim light. Glancing over at her night table, he realized Silky and Darbo were sitting with their arms around each other, staring at him.

  “Right. We’re bonded, and you need me as much as I need you.”

  Silky moved to perch on Celeste’s shoulder, her head laying across Celeste’s cheek. They were special, these two. He glanced up to see several other animals in the room now, as well. Did they stay out while Celeste and he were otherwise engaged, or did they read the energy to know that all was calm again? He had a lot to learn. That reminded him of the paperwork he’d brought to study. To see if he could figure out what was happening with the storms.

  He glanced down at Celeste, confirming that she still slept soundly. He snuck out of bed, easing a hand on her shoulder when she murmured in protest. “I’ll be right back.”

  While up, he used the bathroom, then stopped in at the kitchen to stare out at the world outside. The night appeared to be clear, with bright stars twinkling in the black sky overhead. Peaceful. Quiet. And he didn’t trust it one bit.

  He snatched up the paperwork and made his way back to the bed. It took a bit of maneuvering, but he managed to get back into the bed without waking Celeste. Leaning up against the headboard he opened up the files he’d brought. Scott had translated several of the texts. He selected the first one and buried himself in the world of stargazers.

  Several paragraphs in, he was frowning. By the end of the page, he was damn near terrified.

  He wanted to wake her up and ask if she knew about this. Was it still a common practice? But as he studied the lax look on her face, he realized that she was lucky she was sleeping. After what he’d just read, he wasn’t sure he’d sleep ever again.

  Chapter 20

  She woke slowly, as if coming back from the dead. With her eyes barely open, she assessed her surroundings. It was her room. Her bed. But the big, hulking male sprawled out across the mattress hadn’t been hers in a long time. She was grateful to see him there now.

  He slept heavily, his thigh across hers, pinning her down. As if even in sleep, he wanted to make sure she didn’t leave him. She didn’t plan to, ever again, but she knew it would take time for him to trust her.

  Wiggling out from under him, she took a quick shower. As she dressed, she realized he didn’t look to be waking any time soon, and wandered out to the kitchen. She frowned at the weather outside. Apparently, last night’s calm, clear sky had been only temporary. Even though it was early morning now, dark, roiling clouds filled the sky. What was that all about? She’d not seen this many ugly days in a row in a long time. They’d hit a couple weeks of dismal weather now. At least, she’d assumed it was weather. With Matt’s questions in that area, she had to wonder. Then, if that was so, what was this weather all about? Her sisters were all fine. Neither had mentioned bad weather in relations to their reconciliation with their men. So why her?

  It wasn’t like her affinity for animals made a difference. Did it?

  She turned to look at the spirit animals. There seemed to be even more inside the cottage now, and Celeste didn’t remember this many being inside all the time. Of course, this ugly weather was a new thing, so maybe they were staying in because of it.

  Was their being inside for an extended stay affecting the weather, too? Was this a cycle that was doing itself in the longer it went on? If so, how to stop it? She made quick work of the locks, opened the kitchen door, and walked outside. Instantly, the wind whipped her hair behind her and buffeted her body. She stared at the storm building on the outside of the safety zone. Below was a black, low, ground-hugging fog. Could it be the same darkness they’d seen before? The energy wasn’t angry or aggressive.

  It shifted restlessly back and forth on the outside, waiting, watching. Maybe it couldn’t do anything else in daylight. There were people whose abilities were especially fine-tuned for the night. And then there were others who needed the daylight to function at the highest level. She studied the energy and called out, “Why are you here?” The energy shimmered in place. “What do you want?”

  No answer. Then, what had she expected?

  Wondering how far to push, she took a chance, and said, “Matt is mine. Forever. You can’t have him.”

  Instantly, a surge of darkness washed over her protective dome. Making her realize just how defined this zone was. She didn’t remember ever seeing this.

  Overhead, came a mechanical sound. A hovercraft appro
ached. The darkness retreated to just on the edge of the dome. Interesting. Then, she understood. Whoever waited, assumed the energy shield would have to open to let the hovercraft in, and while it was open, it was going to make a move.

  “Not while I’m here,” she announced. “Not sure who or what you are, but I do know one thing…you can go to hell.”

  And she turned, walked back inside and slammed the door shut behind her. She reset the locks, and checked the protective layers outside. Everything was on. She didn’t understand how this energy knew she was here, but it did. And now it had no intention of leaving. Well, that was fine. Once her sisters arrived, they could get answers.

  Because this couldn’t go on.

  She wanted to stay here, but not as a prisoner.

  That meant she needed to go back to the Center with Matt where he could help protect her. Funny, yesterday she’d have bitten his head off over the idea, and yet now, she was all over it.

  There was something about that black darkness, though…

  She turned to the kitchen, and let out a light shriek. Matt stood in the middle of the small room, still rubbing the sleep out of his face. He croaked in hoarse voice, “Coffee. I brought coffee.”

  She grinned and walked to the baskets of food he’d brought with him. As she studied the contents, she realized he’d come prepared for a siege. Or, planned to leave her well-stocked for several days. Either way, she appreciated it. In a second basket, she found the coffee. It took just a few moments to set the boiling water on the stove and measure out grounds for the pot. “It will be ready in a few minutes,” she said. “Just in time for our company to arrive.”

  “Who is it, and can they get through?”

  “It’s my sisters, and yes. Minkel is talking to Remi right now. Telling them about the problem.”

  “What problem?” Matt said, suddenly wide awake, his voice hard.

  She waved out the window. “That problem.”

  “Good Lord,” he said, studying it. “It’s like it’s sitting and waiting, ready to pounce.”

  “That’s exactly what it’s doing.”

  “Can we leave?” He hesitated. “Although I don’t know if you’re ready to venture out of here yet.”

  “I’m not but I will be.” She motioned to the black energy. “We need a solution to this and fast.”

  He nodded. “Good. Then instead of your sisters staying, I suggest we all get back on and leave. Providing you think that it will let us?”

  “We’ll have to find out.” She gave him a tight smile. “At least with my sisters here we’ll have a lot of energy to help cloak the hovercraft. Once we do that, we should be able to escape.”

  *

  And escape they did. Connor piloted the hovercraft. When everyone understood the danger involved, the three sisters sat together in the back of the hovercraft, their hands joined, and working on an energy level to release them through the protective dome without opening it—something Matt didn’t understand. He sat in the front passenger seat and studied the dark fog as they passed over it. It didn’t appear to register that they were leaving. “Looks like it’s working,” he said to Connor.

  “Too early to tell,” Connor said, “but let’s hope so. What the hell is going on? We’ve had nothing but trouble these last few months.”

  “I think we’re coming to the end of it. Think about it. Each sister has had a trial to go through, now it’s Celeste’s turn. Maybe if we can get through this one, we’ll be good.”

  Connor looked at him. “Each is getting more complicated, too.”

  Matt nodded. “It started with Granny’s death, and was compounded by the inheritance she’d left behind. I can’t see anything else that would be a big enough motivation. We have to find who is running Grandfather’s show, now that Mason is gone.”

  “I vote his sister. She’s the witch that sold the girls in the first place.”

  “We definitely need to look into her,” Matt agreed. “She had the business sense to take over—and the lack of morals to handle his corrupt life.”

  “Right. I’ll check it out when we get back.”

  Just then, the hovercraft was hit by a strong blast. Connor struggled to handle the controls. “What the hell—?” he cried out, his hands busy on the controls.

  “I’m afraid…” Matt studied the air around them. “That our escape has just been noticed.” He twisted in his seat. “Ladies, we’ve been seen.”

  The low hum from the back of the plane immediately picked up in both noise and tempo. He studied the three women sitting with joined hands and closed eyes. He was about to turn back to the front of the plane, when he caught sight of the energy around them. It was more out of the corner of his eye, but a huge vibrational circle of blue glimmered around them. He frowned as the fast wave washed wider, and bigger, and strong. He could feel it moving toward him and Connor, but in a gentler motion. As he opened his mouth to say something, he was twisted and placed firmly back in his seat. It was done gently yet with no option for resistance and all done by gentle hands.

  “Hey,” Connor said. “What is going on?”

  “It’s the women. I can’t move, either,” Matt said, quietly fascinated. Did the sisters know what they were doing?

  “I’m trying to fly a plane here…” he snapped.

  When Connor’s hands were forcibly removed from the controls, and that wave of energy washed though the cockpit, Matt didn’t know what to think. When would they have to jump for the controls before they crashed?

  He glanced out the cockpit and froze.

  “Jesus.” Connor whispered.

  “I see it.” Matt stared out the window in shock. In that split second, they’d gone from flying over the forest in the Center’s direction…to suddenly appearing on the landing pad. At the Center.

  They were just…here.

  He spun around, realizing the shackles of energy that had held him down had been released. Connor unbuckled his seatbelt at the same time he did. But it was the stunned look on Connor’s face that made Matt feel better.

  “I’m not sure what just happened,” Connor said in low tones, “But I didn’t fly or land the hovercraft here.”

  “I think the operative word here is fly. I don’t think we ‘flew’ at all,” Matt responded quietly. “I think these ladies pulled a spirit pet trick and transported us here.”

  Connor shot him a horrified look. “They did what?”

  He spun around to stare at the three sisters.

  Matt snorted. Three bland faces stared back at them.

  Genesis said in a very low voice, “Connor, could you open the doors for us, please?”

  “Really? You can’t do that all on your own too?” he said, with an edge to his voice. Matt understood. What else could these women do they hadn’t told him about?

  “We can, but we might fall on our faces,” Tori said gently. “Not sure any of us can walk at all, actually.”

  Enlightenment struck Matt instantly. The sisters weren’t being demanding princesses, they were—

  At that moment, Celeste reached out a hand toward her sister. “Help…” she whispered.

  Then she collapsed to the floor of the hovercraft.

  Unconscious.

  Chapter 21

  Now where the hell was she? Celeste stared wide-eyed at the ceiling above her. After the year on the run, she’d never lost that instant awareness when she woke. And this moment of awareness said this wasn’t her room, Granny’s cottage, or any other place she recognized. She frowned and slowly rolled over. Matt worked on a small desk on the side of the room. She studied the surface she was laying on and realized it was a huge bed. There were floor-length windows on the side wall, offering glimpses of a garden on the other side. Light shone in long rays, barely hitting the bed, telling her it was late morning.

  She yawned and slowly sat up. She’d spent a lot of time at the Center with him before, but he’d had a small room back then—nothing like this.

  And at that mo
ment, she remembered.

  The blackness. The panicked flight away from the cottage. That energy reaching for them, and the rush to escape.

  Then euphoria struck. Look what they’d done!

  She hadn’t planned on transporting. It was as if in their hour of need, the energy had understood and shown them the way. It had to do with raising that vibrational effort to the point of connecting on a different plane. Something spirit animals did subconsciously.

  She didn’t think any of them could do it alone. As if the three of them had supplied the necessary energy to make this happen—and quite likely had needed that emergency situation to push it to this level.

  Regardless, she was ecstatic. What an accomplishment.

  “How are you feeling?” Matt asked striding over toward her. “You collapsed inside the hovercraft.”

  She wrinkled up her face. “Thanks for that reminder. Would have been nice to have made it off and then a graceful swoon instead.”

  “Nope, sorry. You face planted on the rubber mat.”

  “Great.” She stuck her tongue out at him, and tried to stand. Only her legs were wobbly. Matt’s arm shot out to hold her steady.

  “Easy. You’re obviously not back to normal, yet.”

  “My sisters?”

  “They managed to get off the hovercraft with help, then had to be carried inside. They were asleep before anyone made it through the door.”

  “Oh, good,” she said with feeling. “It wasn’t just me.”

  “No.” He grinned. “You were pretty cute, though.”

  She snorted. “Yeah, I’m all about class.”

  “Glad to hear that. I forgot to tell you that we have a big social happening at the hall tonight. There are going to be hundreds of guests here. And I’d like you to attend at my side.”

  “Is that safe? We could be asking for trouble doing that.”

  “And I figure it will be the opposite. We can flush out the asshole that is terrorizing us, right?”