Spellbinder (Moonshadow #2)

She lost herself in total sensuality, drifting with the play of their bodies, until he grasped hold of her firmly and picked her up. Without withdrawing, he turned to lay her out on the bed, coming down with her and settling between her legs.

It was the simplest position of all, entirely pleasurable and comforting at once. She reveled in his weight, in his penetration, stroking his back and murmuring wordlessly as he kissed her. He picked up the rhythm and the strength of his thrusts, and she rose with it, until he drove at her, hard and steadily, and when he stopped to grind against her, he hit it just right, and she climaxed again.

He rocked with the waves of pleasure, then thrust hard, and hard again. Bowing his shoulders around her, he shuddered with his own completion. She stroked his shoulders as she watched him.

She didn’t think it was possible to love him any more, to feel any more, but then in the middle of his own climax, while she could still feel him pulsing inside, he looked deep into her eyes.

“I’m yours,” he whispered. “Don’t ever doubt it. Don’t doubt me.”

That moment.

Tears slipped out the corners of her eyes as she took it in.

“No,” she promised. “I never will.”


They spent the next few months at the farmhouse, taking their time to get to know each other and exploring the moors. When they’d had enough time together so she could unclench a bit, she remembered she needed to warn him about their yearly obligation in Azrael’s Wild Hunt.

He took it better than she had expected. “If that’s the price it took for me to come back to be with you, it will be entirely worth it,” he told her. His features filled with the curiosity she was coming to associate with any time he became acquainted with something magical and new. “Besides, it should be interesting.”

She snorted. “I guess you could say that.”

On more mundane matters, they were both terrible cooks, but Morgan was more patient at trying to figure out recipes. Sid couldn’t be bothered.

“I don’t like to cook, and I don’t like to clean toilets,” she said. “And I’m more than happy to pay someone else to do those things.”

Morgan had little to no interest in television shows other than the news, but he was a voracious reader. Sid dabbled at both.

Morgan insisted she swear a pact to avoid any news about Isabeau or Oberon. “I’m done,” he said as they sprawled on the bed one lazy afternoon. “I’m out. I was done so many years ago. It was never my conflict to begin with, and I don’t want to know anything more about it.”

“Of course,” she agreed, resting against his chest. “Part of me feels like I should have been more bloodthirsty about going after Isabeau, but you know something? When it came down to it, most of me didn’t want to give her any more of my time.”

“I understand.” He hooked one arm behind his head. After a moment, he added, “But I had to kill Modred. He’s the one who killed my king, from the time I was human. I couldn’t… not kill him.”

Lifting her head, she stared at him. He was watching the ceiling, his face pensive.

“Did it help?” she asked gently.

He sighed. “You know, it did. I worried it wouldn’t, and I would always be looking back at a past I could no longer reach. It was worse when I was at Isabeau’s court, because I could never get away from it. Being forced to interact with her and Modred was like rubbing salt into a wound that never healed. Now everything feels different. Cleaner.” With a shrug, he added, “I don’t know how to put it any better than that.”

She pressed a kiss to his pectoral muscle. “I’m just glad you feel like you can move on.”

He grinned. “I’m starting to have thoughts like, What am I going to do with my life now? And how do you start a new career when you’re past middle age?”

That caused her to burst out laughing. “You can literally do anything you want. Thirty-seven is not middle-aged!”

He cocked an eyebrow at her. “When you’ve been thirty-seven for… Oh, never mind. I’m not going to share that number with you.”

“You could always pick up your old instruments and start playing again.”

“No,” he said, after a reflective moment. “That belongs in the past too. Besides, I would far rather listen to you.”

“Well, don’t try to force anything,” she murmured. “You have all the time in the world, and something will occur to you.”

“I’ll tell you one thing right now.” He rapped a knuckle gently against her head. “Whenever you’re ready to go on tour, you’re not going to use Vince’s security company again.”

“Oh, no?” She hid a smile. She had a feeling she knew what was going to come next.

“No,” he replied in a firm voice. “I’ll take care of your security. Me, along with some of the other Hounds.”

Even though Morgan had disbanded the thirty-two surviving Hounds, several had already asked to come back to him. Unable to settle into their former lives, they missed the structure and community of the pack. Morgan had been noncommittal up until this point, but now she knew he meant to take in everyone that asked.

“They need you,” she said.

“Well, I need you,” he told her. “So they can help me guard you and make sure you’re safe.”

“Lately, I’ve been daydreaming about starting a small, independent music label,” she confessed. “But I’ll be honest, the whole idea of the business side of things is overwhelming. That’s what I pay Rikki to handle. I just want to write songs and play the violin.”

He was silent for so long, she lifted her head to check on him. He was still watching the ceiling, but now his eyes were narrowed and his expression had come alive with interest.

He said slowly, “How would you feel if I looked into doing it? It sounds like the kind of challenge I might enjoy, and I like the idea of supporting independent musicians. Some of the Hounds would be good at management. Others could focus on security.”

Rolling onto her back, she went into a full body stretch. “I think you can do anything you want to, even that.”

When October came, Sid felt it was time to tackle going home to New York. “We don’t have to stay, if you don’t want,” she told Morgan. “But I’ve got an apartment I’m paying a fortune for, and right now it’s just gathering dust. I’ve got to figure out what I’m going to do with it.”

“Let’s go,” he said immediately. “I’d like to spend some time in New York. Besides, there’s someone there I would like to see.”

“Okay!” she said. “I’m game if you are.”

Within a couple of days, the travel arrangements were set, and they had packed up all their personal belongings. They flew into the Newark airport and took a car service to Sid’s apartment.

She stared out at the early evening during the drive. The trees had begun to change, and the fall colors were brilliant. The smells were complex and exciting, and everything felt both familiar and strange at once.