"Let's go, Darke. We have a mate bond to seal."
I grinned as I finally rose to my feet and hauled her out of the cage. Everyone could see that neither of us was injured, and I was positive the fighting looked more sexual than it did brutal.
I'd work through having my mate's nearly-bare body plastered all over the news tomorrow.
There were better things to do tonight.
twelve
MERRILY
Grayson's shadowsshut and locked every door behind us as he carried me into a hallway, through the locker room, and to a long wall of showerheads with dividers to separate them. The room was completely empty, but the noise from the insane number of people in the building floated in lightly, preventing it from being eerily quiet.
Grayson started the water in one of the large stalls, and took my face in his hands while he waited for it to warm. "I don't want you to fight my battles."
"Then you shouldn't have abducted me, because there's not a fae on this planet who would sit back and let their mate fight someone else while there was something they could do about it. If you want to fight your actual friends for fun, fine, but never this."
I gestured in the direction of the cage. "Our city isn't a fucking democracy. If someone has a problem with the very few rules we enforce, they can send a fucking petition, and I'llconsiderit. If they have a problem with you, I can show them the door. We don't?—"
He kissed me again.
It was a soft, sweet kiss. Like the one he'd given me in the cage.
I gasped into his mouth when he dragged me beneath the hot water in the shower while his tongue stroked mine. Hot water stung my skin as he pulled away.
"I can't believe you walked out there in this." He hooked his fingers in the bottom hem of my sports bra, tugging lightly.
"I needed to look like a real fighter. It was way more dramatic this way.” I let out a soft breath. "People are going to know what my bargain marks are for. Exposing them was probably a bad call. They only whispered about it, before."
"Everyone is aware of the nature of the bargains you make, Love.”
I eyed him. "You're not going to try to stop me after we seal the bond, right?"
"No. I'll be going with you, though. Someone could attempt to use the situation to take advantage of you."
"My team researches every case before I make a move. I make it part of the bargain that I don't kill them until I have evidence. My spellcasters have created magic that gets the evidence easily and painlessly."
"I'll still be going with you. What would you do if your magic overwhelmed you?"
"Dare usually waits in the car while I handle it. If my magic gets rough, I text him, and he helps me get out."
"What does your magic feel like to you? Callum summarized, but I want to hear your explanation.”
"Everything is too loud, too overwhelming, too much. I don't know whether to shrink and disappear or yell and fight, and I can'tdoeither one. I can't think clearly. My emotions are uncontrollable. I survive on checklists and romance books and soft fabrics and quiet. I even have to avoid the people I care about a lot of the time."
"You should've come to me sooner." He cupped my face in his hand, tipping my head back.
I didn't open my eyes to meet his. I wasn't sure I could handle the eye contact. "Have you ever had your life drained away slowly while going down on someone? Because I could picture it. Vividly. You'd be between my thighs, trying to make me feel good, and I'd lose control of my magic because I always do. The closer I got to climaxing, the more life I'd drain from you, until I had to scramble away because you were unconscious in my lap. I knew you could take away my discomfort, but I didn't know you could survive my touch."
"I can admit that doesn't sound ideal."
"No, it doesn't. What does your magic feel like to you?” I asked.
"It feels like a part of me. As my mate, the shadows should feel similar to you. The lust magic should feel like instant, automatic need. You probably felt it when we fucked in reality."
"Hmm. Can I feel it now?"
His magic rolled over me slowly.
