Cataclysm (28 page)

“I can certainly understand why he would be worried. You’re quite extraordinary, and a very beautiful woman, I might add.”

Kerrigan blushed.

“I’m happy to speak with him about the matter if you think it might help.”

She pushed her shoulders back and set her chin determinedly. “No, Drew. I don’t think that will be necessary. Dominic will just have to get over it. I’m not going to stop my training, no matter what he says or does. His jealousy is unwarranted, and I’m not going to cater to his childish behavior. I’m just sorry that you have to be the target of that jealousy.”

“Suffice it to say, I’m actually quite used to being the object of envy. Pity, it never quite works out in my favor. As you see, I’m still alone.”

“I’m still trying to wrap my head around that one.”

“Yes, well when you get it figured out, please do clue me in. Agreed?”

“Agreed.”

“Excellent. Shall we begin?” Drew’s smile made Kerrigan feel warm and fuzzy, despite her irritation with Dominic.

“Sure thing. Right after I grab a drink from the kitchen. Would you like something?”

“A glass of ice water would be refreshing, please.”

“One ice water, coming up.” She made her way out the door, closing it behind her before going to the kitchen.

She stopped at the counter and put her hand on her hip. “Show yourself, Dominic!”

When his ghostly form manifested right in front of her, she jumped, startled. Once she regained her composure, she narrowed her eyes at him. “What on God’s green earth do you think you’re doing?” she asked in a rushed whisper.

“Me? What are
you
doing? Besides intentionally pissing me off.”

“I’m teaching you a lesson. Giving you something to be jealous about seems like just the perfect medicine for your delusional musings.”

“Yeah well, if you go around stirring shit up, expect to get some stink on you.” He had that self-satisfied smirk and Kerrigan tried not to concentrate on how sexy it was.

She wagged a finger in his face. “He’s not trying to woo me, Dominic, so knock it off.”

“Are you treating me like a child again, Querida?”

“Why not? You’re sure acting like one.”

Dominic looked properly scolded. She was right, as usual. He was acting like a child. He stepped toward her, wanting nothing more than to wrap her in his arms and kiss the disappointment from her lips. “I don’t want to argue with you. I’m sorry. I just can’t help myself when he’s around you. I get all twisted up on the inside, and it makes me do and say things that I wouldn’t normally.”

Her expression softened, but the exasperation was still clear. “Apology accepted, but I’m not going to be able to concentrate if I know you’re in there being all judgmental, so I think it would be best if you sit this one out.”

“Oh, really? I thought I was the only one who could jump start your battery.”

“Dominic...”

He threw his hands up in defeat. “Okay, okay. I’ll leave you alone and go be all brooding and judgmental in our room until this is all over with. Just one more thing...”

She sighed. “What?”

“As soon as I’m back to my full form, I’m taking you...
hard
.”

Kerrigan’s eyes lit up, and she gave him a sexy smile. “Not if I take you first. After all, you have to be properly punished for your rude behavior today.”

“Oh, Querida, cuando hablas así, haces que mi lengua quiere hacerte cosas exótica. You say things like that to me, and it makes my tongue want to do exotic things.”

“Mmm, sounds delicious.”

“It is.”

“Well, all in good time, Dominic. For now, I have a Guardian of the Light in the dining room, and he has no idea about your current state. So unless you’d like for me to have to explain that to him so he doesn’t think I was being rude by leaving him in there all by himself for so long...”

“God forbid he should get lonely,” Dominic said facetiously.

“Dominic...”

“I know,” he said, conceding. “I’m out of here, and I promise I’ll leave you alone for now, but I will see you, all of you, in just a little while.” With that, he disappeared.

Kerrigan shivered all over. The man definitely had a way with words, and she knew from experience that he was just as talented with that bilingual tongue. Oh yeah, she was definitely looking forward to later.

Once she poured a glass of ice water for herself and Drew, she went back in to join him. His face lit up when she came in, and that deathly gorgeous smile was back on his face. She really was perplexed that he hadn’t been snatched up by some very lucky woman.

Drew stood and took the glasses, setting them on the table. “For the exercise we’re going to be trying today, we should probably be standing. I have to warn you, this is something I’ve only heard of being done, and not something I’ve actually accomplished myself, so it will be a learning experience for the both us.”

“And what is it we’re doing?”

He grinned and took her hand, that familiar feeling kicking in full force. “You’ll see.”

“Close your eyes.” His fingertips drifted over her eyelids until they closed. Then he took both of her hands again. “I want you to concentrate on our connection, the sensation that spreads through each of us. Let it cocoon you until, like a tree to a vine, you become its host.”

She imagined the vibration as a physical presence, the vine. Eventually she felt it push through her skin and melt into her veins to flourish with the life-sustaining fluid there and the Light energy that made her what she was.

“You feel it, too, don’t you?”

“Yes.” Her voice was filled with awe and reverence.

“Do you want more of that feeling?”

“Yes.” It was pure energy, warmth, and radiance in abundance. It was utter bliss—pure, unadulterated contentment.

The warmth that encased and flowed through her intensified when she felt him wrap his arms around her. Instinctively, she held on to him in turn. The heat of his body burned through the thin material of his shirt and pants, and she cuddled closer, grinning like a fool, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was the feeling that covered her in that very moment.

Flesh met flesh when Drew nuzzled her cheek to softly talk into her ear. “Follow me, Kerrigan Cruz.”

With those words, she opened her eyes. The honeyed amber of his irises glowed like liquid fire with his Light, and she felt the safety of his embrace. This is what Dominic saw when he looked at her, the reason he insisted she keep her eyes open when they made love. It was radiantly beautiful, otherworldly in its own right. And even though she carried the Light within her as well, she felt unworthy to be in its presence.

Without warning, Drew leaned in and pressed his forehead to hers. Everything around them exploded with bright, white light. Every cell inside her carried its very own essence, and they were in full glow. She squeezed her eyes shut to the overpowering brightness of the Light, but it didn’t matter. The Light was inside them, not in the room.

She felt like she was being thrust forward, but she hadn’t actually moved. Drew’s arms were tightly wrapped around her, and she registered the biting cut of her nails pressed into her palms even as she fisted his shirt. She maintained her grip, afraid that if she let go, she would fall into an abyss.

And then it stopped. What she heard next was not at all what she had expected: the quacking of ducks, splashes of water, and birds chirping in trees. Then there were the smells—the aroma of fresh-cut grass and flowers in bloom. In her mind’s eye she saw thriving green foliage, trees swaying in the breeze, and a water fountain in the center of a pond teeming with life. She was sitting at the edge of the pond upon lush grass that was soft to the touch. Mandarin ducks bathed among the fairy moss that floated atop the pond, and cattail reeds bobbed back and forth, caught by the wind. A formation of white swans glided along in the water with one splendid black male leading the way. A squawk from above her drew her attention to the geese flying overhead on their way to some unknown destination.

“What do you think?” Drew’s voice was quiet beside her, clearly not wanting to disturb the serene scene around them.

“It’s magnificent. Where are we?” she asked, still taking in all the sights. A pregnant squirrel scampered up beside her and picked something up between its tiny paws before standing upright.

“This is St. James’s Park, and just over there...” He pointed through an opening in the trees. “...is Buckingham Palace.”

“We’re in London?”

Drew chuckled. “No, Kerrigan, my dear. We’re not in London. This is my sanctuary. No one has ever been here before you, and I daresay, no one ever will again.”

Her interest was piqued. “We can do that? Pull someone into our sanctuary?”

A mother Mandarin waddled onto the bank with three ducklings following in her wake. The mother stopped and watched as her babies approached Kerrigan and squawked up at her for attention. Not sure if the mother would attack her, she reached a cautious hand out. One duckling stepped toward her and put the top of its head to the underside of her hand. It closed its eyes and rubbed the softest pelt she had ever felt against her palm. Fearing no danger, the other two ducklings joined their sibling, and Kerrigan giggled at the tickle of new down softness against her skin. The mother Mandarin quacked an order at her children and then turned to walk away. The ducklings fell in line behind her, leaving Kerrigan dumbfounded and amazed by what had just happened.

She took a deep breath and turned to Drew. “Wow... Does that happen to you often?”

He smiled. “No. As often as I’ve been coming to my sanctuary, which is since my early childhood, that has never happened to me.”

“Oh.” She wasn’t sure what to make of that. And then she remembered what they had been talking about. “So, back to my question.”

He nodded and looked out over the water. “Yes, you can. I had heard my parents speak of bringing others into their sanctuary before, but never found anyone worthy enough to try it with for myself... until now.” He gave her a meaningful look. When she glanced away, apparently uncomfortable by his admission, he grazed his long fingers along her jaw, encouraging her to turn her attention back to him. Eyes of glazed honey held her captive. “We’re of the same breed, you and me. So much about you amazes me. Even just a few moments ago when I saw the Light glowing in the majestic blue of your eyes... I just knew I was right about you.”

“How do you mean?” Her voice was meek, and her attention drifted down to her lap before returning to his eyes again. She didn’t know if she wanted to know the answer, but her curiosity demanded she ask the question.

He may never have another moment quite like this with her, and he would be a fool to let the opportunity pass him by without saying what was on his mind. “While it is true that other Guardians possess most of the same qualities, there is something extra special about you. I don’t know what it is, and believe me, I’ve tried to figure it out. There’s a pull that I feel toward you that I haven’t felt toward any other Guardian with whom I’ve come into contact. When I’m around you, all I want to do is give you everything you need. Even now as you sit here in my most sacred of places, you’re absorbing my energy. It’s the connection we share. Our sanctuaries are pure energy, the Light in its most undiluted form. You feel more rejuvenated, don’t you?”

Kerrigan nodded.

“I’m giving you all of me because from the moment I laid eyes on you, it is all I’ve felt driven to do.”

Silence fell between them. A slight blush colored her cheeks, and his heart warmed. He loved looking at the radiance of the sun illuminating the natural highlights of her hair. Beautiful seemed like a very inadequate word to describe the woman sitting next to him, but so were words like stunning, gorgeous, and ravishing. She was magnificently exquisite there in his space.

She belonged.

No longer content to hold her tongue, Kerrigan finally asked the question they were both waiting for her to ask. “And what do you think that means?”

Drew chuckled. “Well, it either means I’ve gone mad or, my best guess would be that we’re soul mates.”

Soul mates... those two words, insignificant when they stood separately, were enough to send her reeling. She closed her eyes to the dizzying feeling that took over her mind. Her concentration on the moment completely shattered, and she was sent free-falling back out of Drew’s sanctuary.

When she felt her mind still, she opened her eyes to see Drew standing before her in the dining room with his arms still wound tightly around her. God, those eyes... they probed her senses, looking for something he would never find.

She shook her head emphatically and pulled out of his hold. “That’s not possible, Drew. I’m sorry, but I’m not your soul mate.”

“Would it be so terrible?” He tried not to feel insulted. Her reaction was only normal, after all. She was already spoken for, and a Guardian is very loyal to the one to whom they have pledged their devotion. But perhaps she decided too early, made the wrong choice when there didn’t seem to be another option.

“I didn’t say it would be terrible. I said it’s not possible. In order for that to be true, we would both have to feel the same way, and I don’t feel that way about you. I feel that way about Dominic, but so much more than just wanting to give him what he needs. He’s the man I love, and the love he gives me in return sustains my soul. When we’re apart, it’s like a part of me is missing, and I don’t feel whole again until he’s back by my side. I believe
that
is the definition of a soul mate, wouldn’t you agree?”