He didn’t wait for a response but turned and marched, shoulders once more around his ears, in the direction of his suite. But he called back, “I’ve left the motion detectors off but don’t open any doors or windows, got it?”
“Got it,” Marcus called after him.
“Wow,” Havily murmured. “I think he’s got it bad.”
“No shit.”
He turned to Havily. She held her arms pinned around her chest, like she was barely holding herself together. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
She glanced at him. “Yeah. Just a little rattled still.”
He inclined his head toward her tightly folded arms then lifted a brow.
She laughed and uncrossed her arms. She showed him her shaking hands. “Adrenaline.”
He nodded. He understood completely. “Breathe.”
“Trying to.”
“You were fantastic,” he said. He took a step toward her and stroked the back of her arm.
She met his gaze, still looking a little wild-eyed. She tilted her head. “The thing is, Marcus, after tonight, I really think I can start making a difference in the war. I saved Thorne’s life.”
“Yes, you did and yes, you can. I think you already have. What you’ve done with Endelle’s administrative offices alone is a wonder. And that was a top-notch reception you put together tonight.”
“I was referring to the darkening.”
He slung an arm around her waist and guided her in the direction of the north wing. She allowed him to ease her into the adjoining receiving room. She was keyed up as hell and he needed to talk her down. He also had a plan, a serious plan that involved his hands, and other things, all over her body.
“Because of Parisa, I saw the death vamp just in time. I didn’t even think the thought, I just latched onto him with my mind and took him into the darkening. I still can’t believe I did that.”
“Amazing.”
“Yeah. It really was.”
He glanced at her and felt an inkling of unease. “You still need a lot of practice to figure this thing out, though.”
“Yes, yes, I know. Oh, Lord, I must sound like I’m so full of myself right now but I didn’t mean it that way. I just can’t believe that I helped, I really helped.”
He moved her through the dining room and into the kitchen. He led her past the island and farther down the hall.
Near the doors leading to the patio, he guided her to the left through an open archway.
“The music room,” Havily murmured. “What do you have in mind, Warrior?” He loved that she called him that. Her gaze fell to the couch with a connected chaise-longue. A little swirl of honeysuckle made him smile as he moved past her. Yeah, there were a lot of things he could do on that couch.
“Just wait,” he murmured.
He hunted through his CDs and found the one he wanted. Decades ago, he’d seen the artist perform live, one of the singular advantages of immortality. He’d seen a lot of artists through the ages perform live.
He enjoyed a cross section of music, and this choice was exactly what he wanted to play for Havily right now. The weight of it, he ignored. This was what he wanted no matter the consequences.
The sultry dark voice of the female artist and the driving rhythm moved through him.
Havily frowned then smiled. “Who is this?”
“Anita Baker. R and B.”
Havily narrowed her gaze at him. “And the name of this song?”
“‘Sweet Love.’”
“Oh. It’s really…” She closed her eyes and the beat caught her. She swayed. “Lovely.”
Oh. Yeah.
He drew close and cupped the back of her neck. She melted against him and he held her close, loving the additional height her heels gave her. And, yeah … her heels. A shudder went through him and he slid both arms a little tighter all the way around her back. She rested her arms on his shoulders as he burrowed into her neck. Now he could mess up her hair. He wanted to mess it up a lot.
He swayed her to the erotic rhythm. He released her just enough to allow one of his hands to creep onto her bare back. Yeah, he had plans, and this one began right here. He drifted his fingers lightly over her wing-locks.
A soft moan followed and a sweet wave of honeysuckle. “This is our time,” he said softly. “Yours and mine. Together. Now.”
“Yes.”
* * *
Havily felt herself falling. She was lost, caught up, entranced. His fennel scent washed over her in waves. Did he have her in thrall? The words of the music, all about love, should have sent her anxiety on a death spiral. Instead, Marcus was doing something to her, something that felt like seduction, sweet seduction.
He kissed the side of her neck and licked over her vein. “I want this tonight,” he murmured.
Desire flowed and something more, a powerful sensation that kept moving through her. What was that? What was he doing to her?
He kissed down her neck and put a hand on her breast. “I want this.”
“Yes.” Her voice sounded hoarse.
He kissed her on the mouth, his lips forceful. She parted her lips and he drove inside, very determined. He was possessing her. His body was tense, his muscled thighs pressing against her legs, his thick, heavy arms engulfing her. She felt like a delicate flower surrounded by the power of him, the force of him, the determination.
She pulled back and looked into his eyes, a slash of brows over light brown eyes.
“Marcus,” she said. “What’s going on? You feel different tonight.”
He whispered against her lips, “Be strong for me.”
What did he mean?
He kissed her again then his mind pressed against hers. He sent, Let me in, Havily, all the way.
There was nothing in her, not one thing, that rose to resist, so she relaxed her shields, just let them disappear. He rolled through her mind, another possession, another taking, another invasion. Mine, drifted through her head, a seductive pull that dragged at her ankles.
The falling continued, that sensation that the earth was opening up and she was tumbling inside. She fell down, down, down.
Marcus, she sent. What are you doing to me?
His kiss deepened and she whimpered against his mouth. He pressed his thigh between her legs and she was back at the palace the very first time he’d kissed her, as he pressed her with the strength of his powerful body, back, back, back until she hit the wall and he was all over her, pulling her dress up around her waist and her panties down.
She was there again, unable to resist him and falling, falling.