M&L03 - SS Read Online Free Page A

thing to do.
    Standing here now, listening
to the woman upstairs sing Madonna’s Like a Virgin - Renee’s all-time
favorite song - I had to wonder if I should just walk away. I wouldn’t do it
for the reasons Rachel gave earlier, but because Renee might not want to be my
mate. Could I sacrifice my own happiness for hers?
    I shook my head. No, I’d made
a lot of sacrifices in my life, but this wasn’t one I could make. I put my hand
on the handle without pushing down. I’d been here every night for the past
three weeks, sometimes multiple times in the same night, and every time I tried
to open this door, I woke up alone in my bed.
    After a prayer to whatever
higher power might be listening, I closed my eyes, held my breath and pressed
down on the handle. Click. My breath rushed out. I was still here. Lifting my
eyelids, I eased the door open and stepped inside. So far so good.
    Once I was inside, I reached
up and tried to remove the amulet from the painting above the door. My hand
went right through it as if it had no substance at all. I’d been afraid that
would happen. The amulet in this dream world was nothing more than an echo of
the real one that was most likely somewhere on my mate - maybe a piece of
jewelry or something along those lines.
    Forgetting about the amulet
for the moment, I cut through the kitchen and took the stairs two at a time.
Once I was upstairs, I made a beeline for the bedroom door and hurried through
it into the dimly lit bedroom beyond. The instant I came into the room the
singing stopped and a petite female figure froze with her back to me.
    A violent shudder rolled
through my body and I knew I would have woken up if not for my drunken stupor
in reality.
    Taking a deep breath, I
stepped towards the woman who still hadn’t moved. Her straight black hair was
short, barely covering any of her delicate neck, but that wasn’t enough to rule
Renee out just yet. I’d made her a ring years ago that projects whatever color
and hairstyle she wants to have from one moment to the next. Letting my eyes
drift lower, I saw that a shimmering black T-shirt barely covered her slender
body. The sexy garment was so thin that I could see the silhouette of her
subtle curves beneath it. She wasn’t wearing a bra but I could clearly see a
tiny black thong disappearing between the round cheeks of her firm ass.
    This time I shuddered for a
completely different reason and moved forward slowly until I was pressed
against her backside. She shivered as I skimmed my hands down her arms and
inhaled deeply taking in her scent. She smelled like black raspberries and
vanilla, but underneath that, she smelled like Renee, warm and seductive.
    “I’ve missed you so much,” I
whispered in her ear, wrapping my arms around her. It felt unbelievably good to
hold her in my arms even if it was only a dream.
    She sagged against me and
sighed. “I’ve missed you too, but you shouldn’t be here.”
    I spun her around to face me,
keeping her close, holding her tight. “Why shouldn’t I be here Renee?”
    A single tear slid down her
cheek and she said, “Because he promised me the spell would keep you from
finding me.”
    Before I could ask what the
hell she meant by that she was gone and I was left alone in her bedroom unable
to wake up. I raged for a while throwing things and shattering windows but
eventually I calmed down and tried to think rationally. Lying in her bed, I
inhaled her scent and tried to understand why she would want to keep me away.
    Had she somehow discovered we
were mates? If she really didn’t want to be my mate, then it would make sense
that she wanted to stay away from me, but why wouldn’t she have talked to me
about it on the phone. And for that matter, why in the hell would she ask
another sorcerer to put a spell on her? Hadn’t I told her often enough how
dangerous magic could be?
    No matter how hard I tried, I
couldn’t wrap my mind around any of it - not why she left me, why she didn’t
want