Part 36 (1/2)

Gripping his biceps, she stroked her way up and down his c.o.c.k, and the inferno-hot pleasure singed him.

She tightened around him. Her cheeks grew pink, then flushed a darker rose. Her nipples swelled, her head tipped back, and she looked like the ultimate G.o.ddess of pleasure. Smart, brave, loving. His.

Caden's heart swelled with need, with love. His body did the same. Grimacing, he tried to stave off the o.r.g.a.s.m about to overwhelm. But Sydney's pace quickened. She dug her fingers deeper into him as she bounced on him, chanting his name. Caden curled his arms around her and fused his mouth to hers as her s.e.x clamped down on him. He swallowed her scream of pleasure and joined her over the abyss, in an ecstasy that not only suffused him with a warm satiation-but a jolt of power so intense, it nearly overpowered his system. And love. G.o.d, so much of it. That love gave him a new dimension of strength.

He was determined that, while that may have been their first time making love as mates, it d.a.m.n well wouldn't be their last.

Quietly, they dressed, pausing to kiss. He touched her, wrapped her in his embrace to rea.s.sure her, then sat on the bed to cuddle her in his lap.

”Caden?” she turned worried brown eyes on him.

He knew everything on her mind. It was on his too. But d.a.m.n it, he hadn't come this far, been born with the sort of magic that his mother, as a good seer, had praised, and found this amazing woman, only to have her ripped from him.

Time to fight.

”Shh. It's not over.”

”Your time alone is.” A man's voice intruded on their intimate coc.o.o.n. Shock. Then he opened the cell and motioned to Sydney. ”Come with me.”

CHAPTER TWENTY.

SYDNEY TREMBLED AS SHOCK HELD her by the elbow and dragged her toward the middle of the house. ”Where are you taking me?”

”Where Mathias asked me to.”

His complete lack of inflection, of guilt, incensed her. Rage bottled up inside her, then she wondered why she was keeping a cork on it. She was going to die, regardless. Why not tell Shock what toilet sc.u.m she thought he was?

”So you enjoy watching innocent people be tortured to death? Or you just don't care?” He glared down his shoulder at her, his expression unreadable. ”You're playing games you don't understand.”

”You're betraying people who count on you.”

”More than you know,” he muttered, then tugged on her elbow and dragged her behind him.

As she feared, Shock lugged her back to the cold sitting room of black, gla.s.s, and chrome in which she'd been earlier. There, Mathias sat, waiting, his expression cool but impatient. She had the distinct impression he was concealing the depth of his rage. And it scared the h.e.l.l out of her. The Doomsday Diary sat on the table in front of him. The half-dressed witch who'd taken the book from Sydney slept in a corner. At least she hoped the woman was asleep.

Shock shoved her into a chair across from Mathias.

”These meetings are too frequent, my dear,” he said.

”Rhea is unable to use the book. Everything she writes disappears. I cannot see the words at all. Care to explain?”

Sydney glanced at Shock. As long as the traitor was here, she stood no chance of keeping her thoughts to herself. ”I just wrote what I wanted in the book and . . . poof.”

”It came true immediately?”

”No. It took a few days.”

Mathias glanced at Shock.

”She's telling the truth as she knows it.” Shock supplied.

Mathias relaxed against the back of the sofa. ”It's possible that larger magic takes time to collect and organize.”

Shock nodded. ”She was looking only for a s.h.a.g. Hardly difficult magic, but she's not a witch . . .” A feral grin stretched across the evil wizard's mouth as he turned to her. ”If you need a man in your bed, I'm more than happy to oblige.”

Ementary to himself.

”You used the book twice with success. Rhea could not use it at all,” Mathias mused as if solving a puzzle aloud. ”Of course, you're a smart girl, and she's a stupid s.l.u.t. But she's magical and you're not. I know it works for witches, or Morganna le Fay would have never created it. There is something I'm missing. What?”

Sydney wasn't even certain herself, but Sabelle and Olivia's theory that the woman using the book had to be wis.h.i.+ng for her heart's desire made sense. She had when she'd wished for Caden. Who knows what Mathias's witch wh.o.r.e had wished for?

”She doesn't know.” Shock's tone was both annoyed and dismissive. ”She's human. She stumbled into magic and got lucky. That's all.”

Sydney frowned. If Shock could read her mind, why hadn't he regurgitated her every thought to Mathias?

”Any chance she's able to mask her thoughts from you?” Shock snorted in answer.

”Take her to my bed. I think I'll enjoy finding out how much energy this feisty human can give me before she dies.”

Zipping her gaze up to Shock's face, Sydney's heart beat triple time. Oh, dear G.o.d. The last thing in the world she wanted was to endure a moment of Mathias's touch. But to die in his bed . . . she s.h.i.+vered.

Now Shock was the only thing standing between her and death. His bland expression didn't give her much hope.

”In order to bed her, you'll have to break her mate bond. That will likely kill her. Let me spend a little time with her. I have ways of getting deeper into a woman's mind.” ”Unpleasant ones, I hope?” Mathias perked up.

”Absolutely.”

Mathias paused, then smiled. ”Take her, then. Don't bring her back unless you've extracted everything from her mind-or she's dead.”

As soon as Shock magically shoved him back in the cell and locked him in again, taking Sydney away with him, Caden broke out in a cold sweat. d.a.m.n it, now what? He doubted he could break Shock's magical seal on this cell. But he couldn't sit here while the traitor and mate thief took Sydney to his boss like a lamb to slaughter. Even the thought made him want to roar the entire house down.

He knew more than a little martial arts, but every attempt to kick at the walls or bars proved fruitless.

He'd looked around the cell for a trapdoor, back exit, ceiling vent . . . nothing.

He was going to have to get creative with magic. d.a.m.n it, he scarcely knew enough to be dangerous. He had the instincts to complete simple tasks, and had been so foolishly adamant about not learning more.

Swallowing hard, Caden forced his recriminations away and willed himself to think. He had to know something that would help her. Sitting trapped while his mate died at Mathias's hands was not an option.

But he'd never done big magic.