“Not our lives. Just some things. We will be lovers.”
“And what if I don’t want to play along with destiny?” he asked, even as he wondered why on earth he was objecting.
“You don’t have a choice. Not about this. Don’t you know? Haven’t you always known?”
His mind flashed back to the first time he’d seen her, standing before the ruins of her home in her pretty dress, and he thought he had known, even then, that they belonged together. Why else had he so instantly involved himself in her life? And why had he been so wary of her, if not because he had known immediately and instinctively what she could be to him—and he hadn’t been ready to face that?
He hadn’t been prepared to fall in love with the most complex woman he’d ever met in his life.
Tucker drew a breath. “I thought you were probably still grieving for David, but…I wanted you from the moment I set eyes on you.”
“David is dead,” Sarah said quietly. “Like Lydia. I couldn’t have saved him any more than you could have saved her.”
Tucker reached out to touch her cheek. “Maybe I couldn’t have saved Lydia, but I failed her. I don’t want to fail you, Sarah.”
She didn’t argue with him or reassure him, she just went into his arms and lifted her face with mute need.
“Sarah…”
“It’s destiny,” she whispered, just before his lips covered hers.
“Anything?” Varden asked.
Astrid frowned but didn’t open her eyes or remove the fingers pressed tightly to her temples. “If you’d stop asking me that, maybe I could make some progress.”
“It’s taking too much time.”
“You didn’t ask me how long it would take. You just asked me if I could do it.”
“And you said you could.”
She opened icy blue eyes and glared at him. “I can. But this isn’t easy, you know. No—you don’t know, do you? That’s sort of the point.” A mocking note entered her voice.
Coldly, Varden said, “Don’t forget the other point. You know only because we allow you to. Stop being helpful, and…”
He didn’t have to finish that sentence. Her boldness seeped away, and she closed her eyes once more. “All right, all right. Are you sure Duran okayed this? He must be getting desperate, if he did.”
“Don’t you know that he did?” Varden asked dryly.
“Of course not. Nobody can read Duran. Now shut up and let me concentrate…”
Sarah woke with a slight start, though she had no idea what had startled her. The bedroom was quiet, lamplit. Even as she began to relax, Tucker pushed himself up on an elbow beside her and smiled down at her.
“That was a short nap,” he noted.
She couldn’t see the clock, but an inner sense told her it was still before midnight. “I slept most of the day, remember?” And it was difficult, now, for her to sleep more than an hour or two without waking, uneasy and anxious.
Even, it seemed, in Tucker’s bed.
“Mmm.” He leaned down and kissed her, briefly but not lightly.
She reached up to push a heavy lock of fair hair off his forehead, then let her fingers glide through more of the silky stuff until her hand finally wound up at his nape. How long did they have? A few hours? This night? What would happen when tomorrow came?
Time was passing so relentlessly, pushing them inexorably toward the future. Her future.
That yawning grave.
“Sarah? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She pushed the whispering little fears out of her mind, determined not to spoil tonight.
It might well be all she ever had of him.
“Are you sure?”
She nodded. “It’s just…I’m surprised, that’s all.”
“Why?”
Sarah felt her cheeks warm, which was, she told herself, ridiculous. “I’ve never— That is…”
“Haven’t you?” His hand slid to her inner thigh and stroked her sensitive flesh lightly.
The warmth was spreading through her rapidly, but Sarah tried to concentrate. “No. I mean…like I said, it surprised me. To feel like that. I didn’t expect it.”
“What did you expect?” He leaned down, nuzzling the sheet aside as his lips trailed over her upper breast.
“Pleasure. But not like that.” Her fingers tangled in his hair and she shifted a bit to better feel the hard length of his body against hers. “Not like this.”
“I’m glad I could surprise you.” His eyes gleamed at her in a fleeting glance. “It’s obviously something I won’t be able to do very often.”
She wanted to tell him he was more right than he knew but had a hunch that this was not the best time to explain that the passion between them had sparked yet another aspect of her peculiar abilities.
I’m not alone anymore. You’re with me.