Midnight Moonrising (Moonrising #2)(131)

"You need to get packed, Andra," Ace said, and then he walked away, defeated.

Throwing up the walls around my mind, so I couldn't feel Ace's pain or hear his thoughts, I threw my arms around Phoenix's neck and scolded him with my eyes. "Don't you ever break up with me again."

"I promise to never, ever do that again. Broken hearts really suck ass!"

I smiled. "You're mine."

"Until my last breath," he said.





v''''v





Phoenix





He held onto her as Ace's pride members loaded her luggage on the private jet. She trembled in his arms, and he knew her leaving without him was only part of why she was shaking; she had refused to let Ace touch her since the party, and it was nearly dawn now.

Phoenix kissed the top of her head and tried not to think of how hard it would be not to see her every day. "I'll be there next weekend. It's only six days. We've been through worse."

She nodded against his chest. "I miss you already."

"I miss you, too, Mena. Try to be happy. Kick his ass in training or something. He's going to keep trying to think of ways to break us apart if you stay sad, so be happy, for me, for us, for you. Promise me that you will."

"I will."

"Promise.

She nodded. "I promise."

"It's time to go, Andra," Ace said. "The luggage is loaded."

Phoenix pulled away enough to take her face in his hands, and then he kissed her like he was never going to see her again. He vowed to always kiss her like this from this day forward, because he never knew when or if that day would come.

"I love you," he whispered.

Ace took her hand and led her to the plane, but her eyes stayed fixed on Phoenix's until she was in the jet and the door was secured.

The shade on one of the windows lifted, and he smiled when she waved at him. He waved back, but it was getting damn hard to hold the smile in place. As the plane began to move, she just placed her palm against the glass and stared at him. The obstruction in his throat was getting difficult to swallow around.

His phone chimed from his pocket, but he refused to take his eyes off her until he could no longer see her anymore.

After a few minutes, the jet was just a faint spot in the sky.

Drawing in a shaky breath, he pulled the cell from his pocket and looked at the screen. The text was from her. Only three words.



See you soon.






Sneak Peek at Andromeda's Reign

Andromeda's Reign





Chapter 1



Ace





"Do it again," I demanded.

I could feel Andromeda trying to give up emotionally, as well as physically, but I pushed her harder. I knew what her body and mind were capable of, and we were nowhere near her breaking point. She was a lot stronger than she thought she was.

Our connection, as we both liked to refer to the bond, seemed to be growing stronger, rather than weaker like Andromeda had hoped it would. She wanted to find a way to reverse the ritual.

I didn't.

She could feel my every emotion and hear my every thought — unless I blocked the telepathy — but it worked both ways, so she could keep me out of her mind, too. But not her emotions. Never her emotions.

I felt them all. Each and every happy memory she'd had with Phoenix and each and every sad moment she'd had without him. It was literally driving me insane, this damn rollercoaster of feelings. I had never in all my life felt as much as I had in the last week, and I hated it. It pissed me off that she wouldn't stop thinking about him or missing him for even two seconds so she could see what we could have together. The only time she wasn't thinking about him was when we were training. So I planned to train. A lot.

Me… with one girl… forever… I rolled my eyes at the absurdity that my life had become in only the blink of an eye. I blocked her kick, grabbed her shoe and threw her to her back on the workout mat.

I grinned down at pissed-off, pale-green eyes and offered her my hand.

Andromeda huffed as she got to her feet on her own, looking down as she limped away from me.

I shook my head as my hands came up to rest on my hips. "Don't give me that shit. It might work on your wolf cubs or even your boyfriend, but you can't fake it with me, Andra. We're bonded. I know you're not hurt, so don't—"

"I'm tired, Ace—"

"What are you going to do when you're in battle with someone and you get tired? Are you going to limp away? What if I'm not there to kill the f*cker for you next time?"

"I never asked for this!" she screamed as she whirled around to glare at me, her beautiful eyes brightened by the tears shimmering in them.

"I didn't, either!" I roared back, and she flinched as our emotions mingled together. I knew she wasn't sad, because her fury washed over me like I had been doused with boiling water. The rush of it almost hurt. This part sucked — the anger, but I knew anger. I could deal with anger. Anger was my friend. It was the sadness and the heartbreak and the sappy-frilly-frilly I couldn't f*cking deal with.

With more effort than I really wanted to put forth with the mood I was in, I waded through her rage, then through my madness and forced calm over us both.