I threaded my hands through his hair, moans still falling from my lips. I felt him swell even more inside. He leaned his head forward and our lips met in another scorching kiss. Tasting him was like tasting home. His pace increased and then I watched as he lost all control. When Braxton came, everything stilled, as if time actually halted. We were cocooned in a bubble. I remembered his groaning cry. I remembered him leaning into me, his large frame strong but with the slightest tremble. Then everything went dark.
Chapter 11
The first thing I registered were swirls of light dancing behind my eyelids. I swallowed. My throat felt rough and scratchy, but my insides were warm and content. I rubbed at my face before finally I felt ready to open my eyes. The first few rapid blinks told me that it was much too bright and I went slow, allowing my eyes to adjust. I stared up into a sky of blue, there was not a single cloud marring the perfection.
Questions barraged through my head, and with a gasp I sat up. The last thing I remembered was Braxton, in my bedroom, the best sex of my life. So what the hell happened between then and now? I pulled myself to my feet. I was still naked, as if I’d been transported straight to this place.
I was getting a tad sick of magical assfucks scooting me around the universe like their own personal puppet.
I tried to determine where I was, but I was surrounded by mists or clouds or something. And yet … there were no clouds in the sky, it was warm and sunny.
“You’ve arrived at an in-between place, and you have a choice to make.”
The orchestra of voices echoed all around me. I didn’t bother to turn and look because I could sense that whatever was speaking was everywhere.
“What choice?”
I didn’t yell, I didn’t think there was a need. I’d be heard even if I whispered.
Swirls of wind preluded speech this time. “You have been chosen, Jessa, to take a burden and to save a race. Chosen often equals sacrifice. What are you willing to sacrifice to save the supernatural people? Would you sacrifice a mate bond with your one true?”
I dropped my gaze to try to gather my thoughts. “Yes, I am pretty sure I would sacrifice my mate bond for the entire supernatural race.”
Even I wasn’t selfish enough to place myself above hundreds of thousands of lives.
“Would you form a mate bond with someone not of your choosing, if it meant saving the supernatural race?”
I sighed. This was some bullshit magic mumbo jumbo. But just in case I was in the presence of a god or something, I’d try not curse them out. “If you put that kind of magical gun to my head and tell me I have to get freaky with some stranger for eternity or we all die, then the answer is ‘yes, I would.’”
“The choice will be soon.”
I growled. “Wait, tell me more of what you speak.”
The voice faded out, and the mists swirled around me. The howling winds forced my eyes to shut. I raised both hands and held them over my face to stop my hair from whipping me. Thankfully, the wind finally died out, and I was able to remove my hands to see what was about to ambush me next.
I was standing at the base of two beds. Back in my room. I scented Braxton and I all over the space, not to mention the visible signs – torn covers and askew beds. Had Braxton and I destroyed the room during sex? Seems I might have missed some of our last few moments.
Movement caught my eye and I realized I wasn’t alone. Braxton was there. He stood near the door to the bathroom. He had his shorts back on, but was still bare-chested.
“Jess.” He took three huge steps across the room and hauled me into his arms.
I wrenched my head back to see his face. “What the hell just happened?” I was clutching at muscles, trying to sort myself out. I didn’t know what to think. Had I dreamed the entire misty place?
“You lost consciousness, and then this energy burst from your body. I couldn’t get to you.” His blue eyes were hard, narrowed, as he ran his gaze across my features. “Do you remember anything?”
He never even flinched as I dug my nails into his arms. I couldn’t seem to stop from clinging to him. “I blacked out and then when I came to I was in this weird misty place. There was a presence there…” I tried to catalogue my thoughts. “Almost as if there was a narrator talking to me. It asked if I would sacrifice my mate bond to save all the supernaturals, or if I would mate someone I did not want to.”
Braxton dropped his head down, letting it rest against mine, and we stayed like that for a moment. “Shit, that’s not good,” he eventually said. “A mate bond partially formed between us, Jessa, but … it’s not complete.”