Passion Untamed (Feral Warriors #3)(72)

"I know. But we don't have a choice. Birik really might succeed in freeing Satanan tonight. Against that possibility, the risk to our lives means nothing."

He gathered her close to his heart and held her, burying his nose in the scent of violets. All he wanted to do was keep her safe. He didn't care about the risk to his own life.

Her hands slid over his back. "I'm stronger than I look, Paenther. No matter what happens, I'll be okay."

He couldn't deny her strength. It was he who was hesitating. Because he couldn't bear for anything to happen to her.

It dawned on him that he'd barely blinked at the prospect of intentionally letting a Mage witch enthrall and capture him. He trusted her. Completely. Implicitly.

Her safety was his only concern, and while it was huge, his little witch was right. There was no choice but to try.

And pray that fate was on their side tonight.

They were going to need all the help they could get.

Chapter Twenty-two

"This is as far as we go." Paenther stopped beside the very tree against which he'd first made love to Skye and pulled her into his arms. Night was falling fast, and the draden would be out soon. It was time to get into that cavern.

The thought of letting himself be enthralled again, of walking into the enemy's lair blind, deaf, witless, turned his blood to ice. But his men were depending on him. He was their only hope.

Skye locked her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek to his chest. He knew she was scared. Hell, he was terrified. A hundred things could go wrong. He was a man who survived on rigid control, yet he was relinquishing every ounce of it into another's hands. He was a man who trusted few and had hated the Mage for centuries.

Yet he willingly placed his life and the fate of the Feral Warriors, if not the entire world, into the hands of the Mage witch in his arms. Amazingly, he did so without a qualm. She would do everything she could to help him pull this off.

What terrified him was that it wouldn't be enough. That she wouldn't be able to free him, and he'd never get a chance to fight. Every warrior expected to die in the midst of a blazing battle. It was the only way to go. The thought of dying like a fly trapped on flypaper, unable to save his friends, let alone himself, made his muscles tense with fury. The thought of being unable to save the woman he loved from the monster who had hurt her so many times nearly claimed his soul.

But he was out of options.

He buried his face in Skye's fragrant hair and drew strength. "This is going to work," he murmured against her temple. "Whatever you have to do, Beauty, get me free."

She pulled back and looked up into his face. "I won't fail you. I promise."

Looking down into those blue-and-copper eyes, he saw his future. His world. And he knew that somehow, despite everything, he would find a way for them to stay together.

"I love you," he said softly, falling head over tail all over again.

"And I love you." Tears formed in her eyes. Doubts swam with the tears, but she didn't voice them out loud. Instead, she pulled one of his hands from her cheek and placed a kiss in his palm, the tears running free.

He knew what he had to do. There was only one way for her to enchant him and even if there wasn't, he needed to make love to her at that moment more than he needed to breathe. One hand cupping the back of her head, he kissed her, the taste of her tears on his tongue.

Skye kissed him back with a fervor and a tenderness that filled him with love and raked at his heart. He couldn't lose her. He wouldn't. He loved her. How could that single emotion make him feel so powerless, yet at the same time fill him with the strength of the gods?

The passion that erupted every time they touched one another rushed over them, turning the kiss hot and needy. Paenther slanted his mouth over hers, needing to reach farther into her mouth with his tongue, needing to be one with her in every way possible.

He unfastened her jeans and helped her out of them and her panties, then slid his hand beneath her thighs as she opened for him. Her flesh was warm and soft, the core of her damp and ready. As much as he wanted to make proper love to her, they were out of time. He freed his erection then pulled her against him, pressing his cheek to hers.

"Hold on to me, Beauty," he whispered against her ear, then lifted her. As she wrapped her bare legs around his waist, he pushed home, burying himself in her warmth, her love, in the only place he wanted to spend eternity. His gaze locked with hers. Love blazed between them.

"I love you, warrior," she said as he came. The veil of enchantment once more fell over his mind.

Skye straightened both their clothes, then led Paenther through the woods to the main entrance of the cavern. She could see no reason for subterfuge. Birik would know she was here soon enough. Her heart thudded until she thought she might be sick.

The smell of damp limestone and lightwick smoke greeted her, filling her with bitter memories as she led Paenther down the steep cavern stairs. If this failed, if after knowing freedom, she wound up trapped here again, her soul would shrivel and die. Then again, her heart would already be dead. Because the only way she'd be trapped here was if Paenther were no longer alive.

If he lived, he'd find a way to save her. She knew that.

A sentinel's shout echoed off the stone, relaying the news of her return with a prisoner. The sound would surely call Birik to her in a heartbeat. The knowledge made her hands damp with sweat.