Point of No Return (12 page)

I didn’t want to do this. The danger sense
I’d always had was telling me not to, that dreaming again with him
was just going to bring me more grief. There had to be another
choice besides leaving Theo sleeping forever while I wiled away the
hours with Devlin and Danial, or forgetting everything I’d promised
them in favor of my “true love.” I had to find a way to dream with
Theo and remember who I was, no matter how the spell affected me. I
pondered the problem for a while, then reluctantly took the only
precaution I could.

Taking some paper and a pen, I wrote out five
sheets of paper, detailing the day’s events, my fears of forgetting
my Oath, my blissful (and fearful) memories of Devlin this past
weekend, and Danial’s devotion and despair at possibly losing me
again. I tucked them into my magical box with Devlin’s poetry, and
replaced it in my drawer, putting Danial’s choker inside, also. It
quickly winked out of sight.

Resigned, I went into the bedroom, and lay
down near Theo. Sleep didn’t come even though I was exhausted. Near
ten, I finally took a sleeping pill, praying it would ward off any
dreams.

Chapter Seven

I expected the same scene from my previous
dream of our encounter on New Year’s Eve long ago. Instead, I
dreamed again of Theo being hit by a car, of screaming as he died
in my arms. But this time I awoke within the dream, Theo holding
me. Our eyes met, and then he was kissing me, tears running freely
from his eyes. “I’m here,” he said, his voice breaking. “I’m here,
Sar. I’m so sorry for everything—”

I cried out wordlessly, and pulled him down
on top of me. He was kissing me, we were both crying, and I was
trying to get his clothes off. He was trying to help me, but we
were both too upset, and it took much longer than it should’ve.
Finally, he was naked, his body against mine, and I cried out in
pleasure just feeling him touch me.

“Sar,” he said raggedly, yearning. “Sar,
please, Sar, please let me—”

I spread my legs and he thrust inside
eagerly, both of us letting out a cry. There was nothing but him,
being with him in this moment, a moment I’d thought would never
come again. We came together, screaming out utter release of
finally being together once more.

He pulled back from me. “Forgive me, please,”
he asked, tears in his eyes. “The things I said to you, the things
I did, the way I acted—”

“I forgive you it all,” I said, kissing his
cheeks, his eyes. “You were under Tasha’s spell. You had no
choice—”

“I couldn’t stop myself,” he said bitterly.
“I never loved her, never, Sar. After we slept together that first
night, she told me she loved me. Told me I was her first, though by
then I’d guessed that. I told her I was sorry, that I hadn’t meant
to hurt her, but I couldn’t stay with her, that I had to get back
to Elle and you. She cried for a long time, and I felt terrible,
even as I made preparations to leave the next evening.”

“Tasha came to me that afternoon, told me she
wanted one last time before I left. I should’ve known something was
off. Women never switch from tears to horniness that fast—”

“Hey,” I said, irritated. “Sometimes a woman
has to take what she can get when she can get it.”

My words didn’t stop the onslaught of his
confession. “That afternoon we drank a bottle of wine together. By
the next morning, I was head over heels for her. God, I was so
fucking stupid—!”

“What about Aspen?”

“When she showed up that night at my door, I
thought she was Tasha. I couldn’t stay away from her, not that I
tried.” He took my hand. “You were right about what you said all
those times: I used her for sex. I’m ashamed of how I treated her,
and you.”

“There wasn’t anything you could’ve done,” I
said, hugging him. “But I appreciate the apology.”

“Did you really Oath to Devlin?” Theo asked.
“You’re still wearing his choker. It was a farce somehow, wasn’t
it?”

“No,” I said regretfully. “It wasn’t. Devlin
included you, Theo.”

“Not what I expected,” Theo said after a
moment. “He’s never liked me.”

“He still doesn’t. He just didn’t want the
Oath broken under any circumstances. He still wants his child, no
matter what.”

Theo gaped at me, floored. “Are you
pregnant?”

“I don’t know,” I said, shrugging. “I could
be. He’s on the potion.”

“I thought he felt warm when he was holding
me,” Theo sighed, rubbing his eyes. “I’d hoped I’d imagined it.” He
looked over at me. “How did you and he get together, anyway? I
thought you were scared of him. Was it when you were in the hotel
together, after he saved you from Al?”

I nodded. “He was the man I described to
Carol. He saved me for himself, Theo. I was afraid to tell you, and
have you kill him.”

He said nothing for some moments. “Tell me
everything, Sar,” he said finally. “Start from when you were
abducted. Don’t leave anything out.”

I told him everything, starting with what had
really happened that day in the hotel to when Devlin had left me
last night, after making me repeat my promise. The longer I went
on, the angrier Theo became. When I finished, Theo pulled me into
his arms, and hugged me.

“I’m going to kill that fucking bastard if
it’s the last thing I do.”

I swallowed hard. “I’m sorry, Theo.”

“It wasn’t your fault, none of it,” Theo
growled softly, his arms tight around me. “Just because you find
someone sexy and fantasize doesn’t make it okay for them to take
away your choices. He came to you under the guise of a friend, then
betrayed you. Then he used the Vampire Gathering to put him in a
position to get what he’s wanted all along.”

I eased out of his arms, irked. “Without his
help a few days ago, I wouldn’t be with you now. I’d be somewhere
with Perseus or perhaps Samuel, waiting to be their... um, brood
mare. And you’d be dead. That could still happen, if Dev broke our
Oathing.”

Theo swore and closed his eyes. “There has to
be a way out. We just have to find it.”

“There isn’t.”

“Tell me something,” he said hoarsely. “Did
you go to him again, after that day in the hotel? Did you continue
seeing him during the Fall?”

“He was in Rio—”

“And Titus can teleport him anywhere in a
second. Answer me.”

“No,” I admitted. “I told him that I loved
you, that he should forget me.”

“But he didn’t give up,” Theo said hatefully.
“The bastard.”

“He’ll never give up,” I said tiredly. “I’m
his.”

“You aren’t, you’re mine.”

“I’ve got his marks on my throat, his choker
on my neck, and his symbol under my skin—”

“Where?” Theo roared, throwing back the
covers.

I cringed back, tears escaping my eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “But I didn’t
see any tattoos. Is it on your back?”

“No.” I rolled over, and showed him the bear
on my hip.

He looked at it, then shut his eyes as if in
pain.

I sat up and took his hand. “I’m sorry.”

Theo hugged me. “I’m not angry at you, I’m
pissed at him. You just did what you had to, Sar. God, I am going
to beat Devlin into a pulp at the first opportunity.”

“You’ll do nothing of the kind,” I said
sharply. “He’s looking for an excuse to kill you. He wanted to kill
you last night. So does Lash.”

“What do you expect me to do?” Theo said,
exasperated. “I’m a man. I’m angry, and I’ve got to hit something.
I’d prefer it was Devlin.”

I didn’t reply, my thoughts centered on my
emotions. I’d expected to dream with Theo, and wake up entranced
with love. Instead, I felt like my normal self, my desire for
Devlin emerging the instant I heard his name spoken. How could that
be?

“They can take your blood, and give you
theirs, when you need it,” Theo said grudgingly. “But that’s all of
you I’m sharing with them, Sar.”

Try to be calm and rational. “I made a vow,
Theo. I have to honor it.”

“Your vow was to me,” Theo said flatly.
“You’re my wife.”

“We’re separated,” I shot back. “I’m not your
wife anymore. What I am is Devlin’s and Danial’s Oathed One. You
can either be a part of that, or not.”

Theo didn’t reply.

“I’m sorry to be so harsh,” I said quietly.
“But those are the facts. I can’t promise to be your one and only,
Theo. You were always honest with me. I’m being honest with
you.”

“I’ll work something out with Devlin,” Theo
said finally. “There has to be something else he wants more than
you. He’s a playboy, Sar, women are objects to him. Now that he’s
bedded you a few times already, he’ll lose interest, if I can make
the deal sweet enough—”

“He won’t,” I interrupted. “He wants—”

“Danial, I can talk to,” Theo continued,
talking over me. “He’ll understand about the love spell’s effects.
And as for being separated, we’ll call the lawyers and cancel it.”
He began kissing me.

“He won’t, either—”

Theo silenced me with a kiss. “Shh,” he said
tenderly. “I have something to tell you that’s way overdue.” He
paused, then said:

“The strength of the oak makes the tempest a
mock,

The anchor holds firm in the hurricane’s
shock,

Our love is the anchor, the oak, and the
rock.

I love you.”

I stared at him, touched but also unnerved.
His poem was so out of character for him that it brought thoughts
of Devlin. “What?”

“It’s from a poem, called Husband and Wife,”
Theo said a little shyly. “I’d planned to say that when I got down
on my knees to propose, years ago. With me being taken and all that
happened, I never said it.” He clasped my hand in his and kissed
it. “It means more saying it to you now after all we’ve gone
through.”

I fell apart and began weeping. “I love you
so much—”

“Then it’s probably a good idea if we stay
married,” he said, smiling down at me. “Now come here. We’ve wasted
enough of this dream talking.”

I kissed him hard, reaching down to grasp his
stiff penis in my hand. He arched his back, groaning as he thrust
up, then quickly sat my hips on his, pushing up into me.

Theo rocked me on him, groaning rhythmically,
his hands sliding up my skin. Suddenly, he pulled me down on him,
kissing my breasts, licking my taut nipples before taking them in
his mouth to suckle eagerly. I moaned louder and louder, clasping
his head in my hands, my climax building steadily.

Theo pushed back slightly without missing a
beat. “Open your eyes,” he grunted. “Look at me, Wife. Look down at
me.”

The need built, then burst. With a shout, my
eyes opened, taking in Theo, his eyes midnight blue with desire. He
roared, our bodies meshing in slippery sweat as we came
together.

I lay grasping him, gasping. He was
everything, all I wanted, all that there was.

He groaned, then kissed me again. With deft
hands, he rolled over on me, our bodies still attached, and began
again.

We made love over and over, almost
frantically, coating ourselves in sweat and secretions. When my
endurance gave out hours later, he laid me back on the bed and just
kissed me. “I don’t want to stop touching you, Sar.”

I let out satisfied sigh. “Please don’t,
then.”

A dark shadow fell over us suddenly. Theo
stopped, his arms tightening around me. “It’s nightfall,” he said
urgently. “The dream’s ending. Quick, where are you? I’ll get to
you faster if I know.”

I touched his cheek gently. “You are sleeping
by my side, Theo, in our bed.”

“God, that’s a relief,” he said happily,
letting out a breath. “It drove me crazy those other times, waking
up alone.”

“Hold me tight,” I said fearfully, “It’s
about to end.”

As the dream faded, his arms around me did
not. In the dim light, we gazed at each other in happiness. Then
our eyes widened.

“What the hell?”

The room reeked of sexual excitement, as
expected. But this time, it also reeked of sex. Theo and I were
covered in sweat, my hair damp, his wet, the bed spotted with
secretions from the both of us.

“We did in real life what we did together in
the dream,” Theo said, bewildered.

Apprehensive, I reached down between my legs,
and felt the sticky wetness of semen.

We hadn’t used any protection. I was off the
pill. Oh, shit.

I ran to the bathroom, shut the door, and sat
on the toilet.

“Sar?” Theo said, worried. “Sar!”

“I’m okay,” I called back tearfully. “Just
give me a minute.”

What should I do?
The easiest would be
to call Camlyn for a morning-after pill. But if Devlin had gotten
me pregnant by some incredible odds, that would abort the baby. I
couldn’t do that, not if there was any chance...

“What’s the matter?” Theo said, more worried.
The door began to open.

“Stay out there!” I screamed at him.

Theo came in the bathroom, then crossed to
me. “Why are you upset?”

“Because we didn’t use anything,” I said
tearfully. “Devlin’s going to hit the roof if you’ve gotten me
pregnant.”

Theo hugged me, but didn’t speak.

“I didn’t know we’d actually have sex,” I
said, crying. “This never happened before.”

“We were always separate before,” Theo said
softly. “Maybe this is what was always meant to happen.”

I didn’t answer, still crying.

Theo pulled off the top and bottom bed
sheets, threw them into the bathroom hamper, and laid down some
towels. “Come here, Sar. Crying isn’t going to help what
happened.”

I wiped my eyes angrily. “Neither is getting
back into bed with you again.” I washed up, then left the room,
shutting the door behind me. After letting the dogs out, I brought
them into the basement with me, knowing they’d wake me if Theo
tried to enter.

* * * *

The phone rang. Groggily, I looked at the
clock.
Seven in the morning...