Zoe touched Nan’s arm, whispered something in her ear, then walked slowly towards him. She licked her lips nervously as she approached.
“I’m sorry for not telling you,” she said, not meeting his gaze.
“Never leave me again, angel.” Jack reached out and brushed his thumb over her cheek.
Tears gathered in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. “I won’t. I promise.”
Relief flooded through him. He wrapped his arms around her delicate shoulders and pulled her against his chest. Damn, he'd missed her. He smiled when her eyes widened at his arousal.
He ached to take her back to the hotel, but there was still unfinished business. “I am expected to form alliances, and we need to dance with your clan to seal the deal.”
Zoe frowned and glanced around at the crowd who were now mostly gathered in the center of the auditorium, hopping and skipping to an unfamiliar Romanian folksong.
“I don’t dance.” She clung to him and his heart burst. Even if they never had children, she would be his water in the desert forever.
Jack let out a low chuckle and lifted a brow. “Not even heathen humping?”
She hit him lightly on the shoulder and smiled. “It’s called Zumba.”
He nuzzled her neck, and moved to the beat of the music. She relaxed and let him lead.
“I’m sorry I didn’t ask you to come.”
“And I’m sorry about everything, Zoe.” He gave her a little grin and held his breath. “Will you marry me?”
She glanced up at him and her eyes went huge, and he saw a spark of hope. Then just as suddenly, a shadow fell across her expression.
The music changed to a slow exotic beat and Jack used it to draw her even closer. Healing power pulsed into the room, like the aroma of an orchid, thick and overpowering.
“You have to now, you know.” He kissed her forehead and let his lips linger there, her skin warm and sweet. “Your old fashioned relatives will insist.”
With a low, breathy voice, she said, “You’re my mate, what do we need the license for?”
“I want it legal.” He threaded his fingers through her hair, enjoying the silkiness. “I want to be the baby’s father, and be your mate, in all ways, human and warrior.”
“I want that too.” Her eyes once again glimmered with hope. “I love you, Jack.”
She was so beautiful that the words he had memorized got stuck in his throat. He dropped his hands from her side and tried to get it right. Before he could voice what he was feeling, he saw hurt flash across her face and she ran.
“Wait, Zoe! Dammit, come back.”
Suddenly the florescent lights in the auditorium went dark.
Zoe stopped running and looked around in confusion. Without thinking, Jack summoned a vortex, stepped in, and dashed towards her. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to his chest.
“Give yourself up, Fialko, along with that half-breed witch or I start shooting.” The voice sounded way too close.
Zoe tensed and he drew her closer.
“No need. I am here. You’re the one hiding in the dark like a cockroach.”
There was some small rustling and then the lights came back on. The healers backed away to the sides of the auditorium, leaving two vortexes in the center. The Russian was barely visible, azure energy swirling around him like a gaseous planet, but Jack could see enough to know that the man wasn’t Zoe’s stalker.
Lord Gregor Uragan stood before them, his full lips drawn up in a scowl. “It’s too bad, but I have to kill you now, Fialko. The vortex, I cannot allow you to have it. You see how it is. Nothing personal, my friend.”
Jack calculated the odds of getting out alive, with no one getting hurt, and it wasn't good. At least twenty of Gregor’s men mingled among the grim-faced healers.
“Maybe we should take this outside,” Jack snarled, fury snapping through his body. “You're going to need your healers alive when I’m through with you.”
