He rolled to his side, keeping hold of one of her wrists in case she decided to go all wildcat again.

“I’m okay now,” she said, a little breathless. “The storm has passed.”

It took him a couple of minutes to catch his breath. “For how long?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never gone through the need before with a man. It’s hard to say how I’ll be with you.”

“If it starts up again, I’m going to tie you up with my belt before you can draw blood.”

“I understand,” she said, sounding a little regretful. “Do what you think you need to do. I trust you.”

And she did. He could feel the truth of her words vibrating through their link.

He rolled onto his side to kiss her, thanking her for such a precious gift, and saw the luceria had changed. It was barely swirling with colors, almost a solid band of shimmering, iridescent amber.

He slid his finger over the warm band. “Soon you’ll be known as the Amber Lady,” he whispered, reverence in his tone.

She lifted his hand to look at his ring and saw what he did. The strangest look crossed her face. “Pretty soon there will be no getting away from me, or you’re a dead man.”

He smoothed her hair away from her damp forehead as he gently probed her thoughts. “That bothers you, doesn’t it?”

Her mental barriers slammed into place so hard and fast, he was practically caught in them.

“Stay out of my head,” she told him as she ripped a strip from the hem of his shirt and used it to clean away his semen.

“I thought you trusted me.”

“With my body, yes.”

It wasn’t enough. He wanted all of her. All of her trust. Anything less would never be enough.

“I’ll give you time,” he said, hoping he had the patience to follow up those words with actions. “But you need to learn to let me in before you’ll be fit for battle.”

“You think I don’t know how to fight?” she asked.

“You know how to fight like a Slayer.”

“We Slayers have kicked our fair share of Theronai ass over the years. Don’t go getting all superior on me.”

He was tired of her prickly side, tired of her showing him all those barbs when he knew what a sweet, kind woman was lurking beneath the surface.

Rather than let her go on with her tirade, he rolled her back beneath him, where she seemed to let go of some of her aggression. “Have I hurt you? Have I belittled you or your people in some way I don’t know about? Have I disrespected you?”

“Well, no, but—”

“No, I haven’t. Why the hell do you insist on casting me in the role of the bad guy?”

“Because I don’t want to be what you are. I want to be a Slayer. I want to be normal, like one of my own kind.”

“And I don’t want to sit behind a desk all the time, making life-or-death decisions for thousands of people who don’t even know I exist. We all have our burdens to bear.”

She stopped cold, blinking at him in shock. “You don’t like being leader of the Theronai?”

“I want to help, but, yeah, I’d much rather be doing it with a sword than a pen.”

“And now that we’re bonded? Will it be someone else sitting behind that desk, making those decisions while you and I go out and kick ass?”

“My term isn’t up yet.”

“What if someone else wanted the job?”

“Anyone who would want the job isn’t fit for it. That’s why we volunteer one another—whoever gets the most votes loses.”

She grinned at that. “How many votes did you get?”

He let out a weary sigh. “All of them. Except my own. It was a conspiracy.”

Lyka stroked his cheek. “They made the right decision.”

“How do you know?”

“I’ve played around inside your head, remember? I know the kind of man you are. Strong, smart, determined, selfless. They’re lucky to have you.”

He wanted her to feel that way about being tied to him, but he didn’t dare voice his desire and look like some kind of a loser. She’d made it clear that being with a Theronai had been her last choice. She would have much rather been with a Slayer—a man she saw as her own kind.

Rather than say something stupid, he settled with, “Thank you.”

She frowned at him. “You don’t believe me?”

“It’s not that. I’m just thinking ahead a little to how you’re going to feel once you’re grounded again.”

“Why would I be grounded?”

“Because I have to go home soon and do my job. Nicholas can only hold down the fort for so long before he’s going to want to get back out there and fight.”

“Are you forgetting your promise to me—that I can leave Dabyr whenever I want?”

“No. I just thought things would be different now that we’re bound. Theronai couples almost always stick together.”

She squirmed out from under him. “And you assumed that I would stay there with you.”

“Well, yeah.”

Lyka shook her head, making her wild, golden hair dance about her shoulders. “I keep telling you, I’m a Slayer at heart. I can’t live cooped up like that for the next ten years.”

In all the chaos of searching for Eric and the kids, Joseph hadn’t really stopped to think about what their life would look like after they found them. He knew she needed to feel free and that she wanted to fight, but until now those pieces hadn’t coalesced in his brain to form a solid conclusion: his mate was going to be miserable living his life with him.

“I understand,” he said. And he did. He was going to have to choose between his duty to his people and his duty to his mate. He couldn’t break his vows to any of them, which left him only one option. “I can’t break the bond you and I have, but when this job is done and Eric and the kids are safe, you’re free to go. I won’t hold you at Dabyr against your will.”

“What will you do?”

“What I always do,” he said. “My duty.”

Chapter 35

Ronan tried several times to compel Justice to do his bidding. Each time, she did exactly as she pleased.

He was a powerful creature, centuries old and with ancient and mysterious abilities. She was supposed to at least pretend to fight the magic he was working on her.