Their Mating Illusion [Paranormal Protection Unit 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (8 page)

“I’ll let them sweat a little I think, but I’ll let Talon know later. There are much more important things to be done.” Kissing her again lightly, he moaned softly. Much more important things. Drawing back, he stared at her. “I think we should go now, before someone comes looking for me.” Someone he’d have to beat to death.

“I think that sounds very good. We need to go. Now.” Before she stripped him naked and did some very, very wicked things to him here in his office. “Unless your office is soundproof we better go.” Good lord, she wanted him, needed him. “It’s not but I will make sure I get that oversight fixed,” he assured her quietly. Dropping his hands to her bottom, he pulled her in closer to him. “We need to go now before I say to hell with it and take you now.” Kissing her again hard and fast, he stepped back and grabbed his backpack. “Let’s go.” He held out a hand to her.

Slipping her hand into his, she frowned. “I need to get my knapsack as well.” It was funny. They had weird tastes in the same things. “It has my gummies. I go nowhere without them,” she teased him with a grin. “So do you mind if we stop by that room so that I can grab it and then I will go wherever you want to take me.”

Nodding, he led her through the halls to the room she’d been staying in and to the little storage room next door. Popping the door open, he grabbed her bag and handed it to her. Once she had it on, he laced his fingers back in hers and headed for the nearest exit. He’d rather hoof it around to the lot where his bike was than go through the building and potentially get stopped. He didn’t have the patience right then.

She raced along at his side. She couldn’t stop the smile that was spread across her face, nor did she want to. This was what she wanted, what she had always wanted. “Where are we going, out of curiosity?” She pulled up closer to him and then added, “And you are way taller than me so you are eating up ground way faster than me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a slacker when it comes to exercise but seriously, you’re killing me here,” she teased.

“Sorry,” he muttered, easing his pace a little so she didn’t have to run. “We’re heading to my place,” he said quietly. “I hope that’s all right. It’s close, private, and very, very quiet. It’s also fully soundproofed,” he murmured as they walked along, his eyes moving all over to ensure no one dared to stop them. “I play the occasional game late into the night and have found that soundproofing means the neighbors bitch less at the volume.”

“I’m good with your place as long as no other woman has been there.” She knew how rude that sounded but dammit he was her bond-mate, only hers. “Because you are my one and only,” she told him. “I know that I’ve talked a big game but it’s just been talk. Quincy, you are going to be my only one.” Her only lover, for now and forever, and it was just as she wanted it.

“Just the cleaning lady that occasionally comes in to beat back the dust bunnies,” he told her honestly. “I’m a geek with unpredictable magic on the best of days.” Damned emotions seriously screwed him up. “No female even wanted to associate with me for the longest time, let alone get near me for a sexual encounter. Plus I just bought this place about two years ago. I’ve been remodeling it for the soundproofing mainly and between the job and that, I’ve barely had time to sleep, let alone contemplate finding a woman to put up with me for a couple hours.”

“So you and I are both virgins. This is going to be a great deal of fun,” she teased with a smile. “I think that together the two of us will figure it out though,” she assured him with a grin. “I don’t really have a home, per se. I move from one hotel suite to another. I’ve been in illusions since I left home. Bella Donna.” She smiled with a grin. “She’s so not me, but that’s all right because by donning that costume I’m able to do what I love and not have to worry about people following me and such. And now I can shed that persona because there is only one man that I want to share magic with.” She saw him look at her and smile. “Yep, it’s you, buddy. Good or bad, you got me for the rest of forever.”

He didn’t bother correcting her slight misconception about his ‘virginity.’ Some things she just didn’t need to know. Reaching his bike, he strapped his bag on the back and dug out the helmet for her to wear. “We’ll have to get you one that fits if you’re going to ride with me often,” he said as he fit the helmet to her as best he could. Winking, he got on the bike and started it before giving her a hand to climb up behind him.

“I think that I would love to ride with you often, so yeah, we should get me one,” she told him and climbed up on the back of the bike. Wrapping her arms around his middle, she shimmied in closer to him and smiled. “Take us home, Quincy,” she chortled happily. “So that we can figure out how we are going to work together,” she teased and felt free. Finally she felt free.

Rubbing her hands that were wrapped around his middle, he revved the engine up and slowly backed the bike out of the slot. Slipping on his shades, he gave it some power and headed for the exit. Getting on the street, he finally relaxed a little and sped them up. Racing for his place, he kept his speed down. He wasn’t going to risk her, not now that he finally had her as his.

When they pulled up outside of Quincy’s home, it wasn’t what she expected. It wasn’t that she was expecting a pigsty or anything like that, but when she saw the quaint little house sitting off on its own nestled in the wooded lot that it lay on, she smiled. “This is not where I had expected you to live,” she admitted to him and got off with his help. “Thank you,” she said as she rubbed at the insides of her thighs. “Never knew how much the vibration affected a person.”
Not in a bad way either.
“I definitely think we will have to ride together far more often than not,” Maya told him with a smile. “In fact I do believe I will insist upon it.”

Taking the helmet from her, he smiled faintly and collected his backpack. “Come on,” he told her, putting a hand at her back. Guiding her toward the little house, he unlocked the door and disarmed the extremely high-tech and complicated system. It kept all his stuff perfectly safe, always would.

Stepping in, he shrugged out of his duster and caught her look at the weapons strapped to his body. “I’ll go and put everything away if you want to wander around,” he said, putting the helmet up on a shelf. He might be a Warlock but he’d also learned that sometimes it was just better to shoot the bad guys rather than risk burning his abilities out. Abilities that could potentially save lives. “There’s juice, milk, water, and probably some beer and wine in the fridge from the last pizza party we had here.” It had been a while so Gods only knew if the alcohol was still all right or not.

Shutting the closet, Quincy moved closer to her. “The place is a little larger than it looks from the outside.” Major understatement of the year. Backing onto a wooded lot definitely had its advantages for hiding a bigger house. Kept people from figuring out just what he had there. Leaning in, he brushed a kiss to her cheek. “Don’t get lost,” he spoke with a small smile before he headed up the hall toward the master suite way, way in the back.

When Quincy left Maya began to look around the place, getting her bearings as he had instructed. It was surprisingly well kept for a man that lived alone. Brushing her hand over the couch, she thought about life, and the life that it seemed was working its way toward her. She wished that she knew what was going on in Quincy’s mind. Sad but true. She wished that she knew what was going on in his mind because he seemed to really not want her to be there.

Dropping onto the couch, she pulled her feet up and under herself after kicking off her shoes and leaned her head to the back of the couch, a soft sigh escaping her mouth as she did so. She thought to the very, very short time that she had spent with Quincy and realized that each time he had pulled from her. He might have said that he wanted the mating, but what if he really didn’t? What if it was all an illusion? After all, who would want her? She had a monster for a brother, a man that even she couldn’t stand, she could do things that no Magic User should be able to do, and she had gotten him in hot water with his boss. So why would he want her? She was nothing but trouble and she knew it. Add to it the fact that she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Michael would come gunning for her with every single thing that he had. She was more trouble than she was worth.

Moving and pressing her eyes against her knees, she fought the urge to cry. She had found something that everyone of the magical races craved, a bond-mate blessed by the Goddess, and yet she couldn’t fight the instincts that told her she wasn’t good enough for such a match. Yeah, she was so the one for him. Not. She was damaged goods and knew it.

Walking back out after disarming and changing into loose pants and a printed T, he frowned at seeing her pose. Padding closer on bare feet, he moved around the sofa and, after a moment’s hesitation, sat down next to her lightly. Reaching out a hand, Quincy stroked her hair lightly. “Maya,” he whispered quietly. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?” he asked gently. She sat like she was broken, like she had no reason to go on and that…Well, it shook him.

Maya looked at him and sighed. “Are you sure that you want this?” she asked quietly. “I’m going to be so much more trouble than I’m worth. You do realize that, right? I need you to be absolutely sure because it would utterly and completely destroy me if you decided that you no longer wanted me. I can’t blame you if you don’t want me. I really can’t because I understand. I get it. I’m not worth the effort and trouble. The only thing that I ask is that you make a choice and not hate me one day because of it?”

Staring at her damp cheeks, Quincy did the only thing he could and pulled her into his lap, wrapping his arms around her. “I’m not letting you go, Maya. I have no idea what I’m doing pretty much every moment of my life but I know I can’t continue without you. The thought of losing you shreds me inside.” When he’d thought he was giving her up he’d felt broken, his heart screaming, his soul weeping. “You are my bond-mate and I’m never letting you go.”

Wrapping her arms around him, she held him close and nodded. “Then I’m never letting you let me go,” Maya replied softly. “I want forever. I need forever.” She looked up at him and leaned in, her forehead to his. “I have no idea what I’m doing most days. Other than the pseudo image of Bella Donna I truly had nothing else in this life. Even that was a sham. I did all the magic fully, but had to always be certain that the rigging was in place that made it look like I was a con artist of a magician.” She shrugged. “I just want a life with someone that I can love. I just need to feel happy again.” And she did with him. She felt free, lighter, whole.

“I hope I can give you that, Maya,” he murmured, rubbing his hands up and down her back. Pressing a light kiss to her lips, he drew back to gently dry her cheeks. “Come on, let’s get something to eat and then I’ll give you a tour, and I think we could both do with some real calories for a little while, yeah?” Quincy smiled slightly.

“I think so, too.” Maya grinned and took in a deep breath. “If you just walk at my side, Quincy, that’s what I need,” she admitted to him and slipped her hand into his when he pulled her up and off the couch. “We also need to talk about what might happen when we seal our bonding, when we make love.” The nervous tension that Maya gave out was nearly palpable. “I have a feeling that is when…” She paused and stepped into the kitchen with him before continuing. “I have a feeling that’s when the power that my father sent to me upon his death will flow into you.” And when that happened he would be the most powerful Warlock, the one that Gaia herself had handpicked to remove the Griffon family from power and put him in power instead. It is as it should be, she thought to herself. There was no one kinder, stronger than her mate and he would rule with grace and with the knowledge of what happened to those who were hurt because he had lived it.

Making a face, he looked at her. “I have to admit that’s the only part I’m seriously not looking forward to. I am all down with making love to you and claiming you as my bond-mate but that power bit”—he shivered—“gives me the willies.” But it would keep her safe. He’d be the only one that could transfer it. Plus, with him having the power, that instantly made Michael a fraud and interloper in the Council Chambers, should he be there.

“I do look forward to the whole making love bit,” Maya admitted with a grin. “I just really, really hope that we are able to do it without making all kinds of mistakes.” Sure she had read about how to make love, and seen videos, but that had to be far different from the actuality of things. Actually having sex had to be far different from what one could learn from videos and books, right?

“I’m sure we’ll manage just fine,” he told her and again wondered if he should clear up her misconception. While he wasn’t a stud like some of the others on the Teams, he’d had a couple relationships, a couple one-night stands and a few…well, yeah, he wasn’t thinking about the other hour-or-less interludes. “For now, food. Any preferences, allergies, hates, loves?” he asked, moving to his double-wide fridge.

“No allergies but I really, really hate nuts,” she told him. “Don’t know what it is about them but I hate them. I think it all stems from the fact that I watched some DIY show one time and it showed someone using a walnut meat to erase scratches on a table.” She shuddered. “So yeah, ick. No nuts. Everything else though I’m totally game for.”

“Right, nuts.” He made a mental note about that. Digging out some thin-sliced roast beef, he held it up, “You okay with a sandwich and some leftover soup?” he asked. He needed to go shopping again. Great, something else he hated wasting time on. “It’s creamy potato and bacon,” he added in case she cared one way or another.

“That sounds good to me.” She licked her lips. “Now creamy potato and bacon is my favorite soup of all of them,” she admitted to him. “That and broccoli cheddar.” She made another mmm sound and rubbed her belly. “Between those two soups I could totally gorge myself for hours and hours on end.” Sad but very true.