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  When he burst out of the portal in the tower, he immediately left the building and looked for traces of Mel. He did not have to look hard.

  The scent of fear and battle were easy to find and follow. She was fighting something and fighting it hard. He needed to catch her before it led her to the water.

  He ran after her trail as it led to the freshwater side of the Isthmus. She was knee-deep in water and sleepwalking into the rippling expanse.

  When he caught up with her, the bizarre thing was that she was staring straight ahead and holding the box of food as carefully as if it was made of glass.

  “Melwiss?”

  She turned toward him, and her eyes were blind. “Yes?”

  “You need to get home.”

  “I need to be in the water.”

  “Oh, did you want a quick dip?”

  A flicker of her normal self came into her gaze. “I can’t swim.”

  He glanced out at the open expanse of water. “Then, this is not a good place for you.”

  She smiled slightly, her eyes glazed over again. “But it is where I need to be.”

  “Then, I will stay with you, but you don’t need the food.”

  Mel’s consciousness surfaced again. “I do.”

  He blinked. “Right. Then, we are headed for a cute part of our second date, but you can’t go any further in until you finish your meal.”

  “Right.” She echoed him. “I need to eat.”

  He couldn’t take the box from her. She wouldn’t let it go, so he reached in and took a slab of something and held it to her lips. She ate obediently and opened her mouth like a baby bird for the next bite.

  He fed her for a few minutes before his curiosity got the better of him. Every new piece of deep fried crisp was tasted before he held it to Mel’s mouth, and to his surprise, it was a selection of dense fish and vegetables.

  Her glazed eyes flickered, and she slumped as whatever gripped her let her go. He caught her and helped her walk back to the shore, steering her through the Isthmus and back to her home.

  He wished he could just carry her, but the first time he had tried, he had been treated to a stun blast that had knocked him back twenty feet. If she didn’t want to be lifted, she wouldn’t be.

  He helped her up her stairs and got one of her sleep shirts for her. He had done this half a dozen times, and if she weren’t in her sleepwear, she wouldn’t stay in bed.

  He set the empty box to one side, and then, he asked her, “Did you want to get ready for bed?”

  She mechanically removed all her clothing down to her panties. He handed her the sleep shirt, and she put it on without comment.

  The sheets were crisp when he pulled them back, and he helped her into bed as he had before. When she looked into his face and smiled tiredly, things changed.

  “Thanks, Andy.” She knelt on the bed and pulled him down to her.

  To his surprise, she kissed him, her arms wrapped around his neck and held him close. What could he do but cooperate?

  Her breasts pressed against his chest, and he closed his eyes as self-control tried to run. He pulled back and settled her into her bed. “Good night, Melwiss.”

  She nodded. “Good night, Andy.”

  She lay down and pulled the sheet up to her chest.

  He waited until her breathing evened out, and then, he left her bedroom.

  Andy didn’t want to rush home, so he checked the structure of her deck and was mentally making a few calculations for alterations when a pale figure emerged from the house and walked toward the water.

  It was going to be a long night.

  Chapter Six

  Melwiss woke and sighed in relief. She was fairly sure that she had gone for a walk the night before, but the room around her was her own.

  “If you are awake, I would like my arm back.” The low, husky whisper from behind her made her jump.

  She tamped down the reflexive charge the moment that she turned to see a very rumpled and sleepy Andy in her bed.

  He slid his arm back, and Mel guessed that she had been sleeping on it.

  “Um, excuse me for not remembering...”

  He smiled softly as he sat up. “You went for a walk, so Lucy came to get me. Whatever you bound last night was a bit more than you could manage.”

  Mel pulled her legs up and propped her elbows on her knees, running her fingers through her hair. “She was over a thousand and looked like she was nineteen. All that time was a little too much to handle.”

  “What do you mean, time?”

  She chuckled. “When a fey mixes with a shifter, I have to pull the temporal magic that keeps them functionally immortal. Then, after that is done, I can blend the basic magic that they both have, including the beast. The next step is to send the magic back to them, and the final bit is to bind it in place.”

  “What happens to the temporal magic?”

  “I send back what I can, but there is always a bit left over, and the older the fey is, the more leftover there will be.”

  “And what happened last night?”

  “Temporal magic is a wild magic bound to nature. It tries to haul me back to where it is most comfortable.”

  “What is the end game for the magic?” Andy touched her shoulder.

  She leaned into the contact. “It wants to return to the earth, and I have managed to do that once or twice, but most of the time, I just discharge it into the Crossroads, and it seems perfectly happy.”

  “Does Dira know about that?”

  “Sure. She was the one who showed me how to manage it.” Mel could feel the warmth through their point of contact and wanted nothing more than to roll into Andy’s arms.

  Andy gave her shoulder a light squeeze and rolled out of his side of the bed. “Well, this has been an interesting evening, but I have some more work to do. If you need anything else, you know where to find me.”

  He was out of her bedroom before she could say anything.

  Mel looked at the pillow next to hers, and when she heard the door close downstairs, she leaned into the spot he had vacated and inhaled deeply.

  His scent was male, wood, and the tang of green grass next to water. She caught a hint of cinnamon in the mix and burrowed deeper.

  When her body demanded food, she got out of her Andy-scented nest, got dressed, and headed downstairs to make some soup for breakfast and do her paperwork for the balance she had done the night before.

  It had confused Teal and Tony when she said that she did the paperwork after the binding, but having tasted the magic, she knew more about them after that than their names would have ever given her.

  She was able to write their names, their beasts or affiliations, and their power lineage. The script flowed easily, and she reckoned that it must have been the good night’s sleep. Normally, her sleep after a balance was fitful, but Andy’s presence had helped her get through in much better shape than she was used to.

  Once the balancing document was filed, she paused before writing her status report. With a sigh, she closed her eyes and replayed the events of the evening that her eyes had seen, but her conscious mind had not been engaged in.

  She straightened her shoulders and wrote about Andy and his intervention at the request of Lucy. Leaving no detail out, she went through everything that her gaze had recorded.

  Mel folded up the document when every embarrassing detail was down and she had dried the ink. A quick seal and then she tucked it in her outgoing mail. The balance document was already gone, so she sent the journal page along after it.

  With a smile, she pulled out another piece of parchment, and she began to write. Hot tub, swimming lessons, second level on the deck, rooftop deck, wooden bicycle, canoe, rope swing out over the water...

  Grinning, she rolled the page up and went to make some soup.

  The document with the ribbon around it sat as she mixed up the broth and added some tofu and miso to the blend. She picked up h
er phone and played a few online games while she ate.

  When her meal was done, she washed the dishes and got her scroll to go for a walk.

  There were few folk up and about. The shops weren’t open yet, and there was no food to be had. Dawn had only recently charged over the horizon, and most sensible folks were engaged in post-coital snuggles.

  Mel hummed and hiked over the path to the Crossroads. There was one place she could always find Andy, and she passed a number of early rising shifters on her way to the General Store.

  The door didn’t ring, but Andy turned from working on a pallet of new products when she walked through the shop. “Melwiss.”

  She waved shyly at him. “Uh, hi. Sorry to disturb, but you did say that if I had anything else I wanted you to do around the house, I should just let you know.”

  He had showered and changed his clothing since she saw him last. The navy-blue t-shirt clung to him just as snugly as the black one had, and the jeans were nearly as faithful.

  His smile was slow. “Did you have something that you wanted?”

  She shuffled toward him and extended the scroll with her right hand. “I have just jotted down a few things for you to work on when you have time.”

  He looked at the bright bow on it and raised his brows. “Gift wrapped?”

  She shrugged. “I thought it would soften the blow.”

  “You have my curiosity up.”

  She blushed and watched him slide the ribbon from the rolled-up paper.

  He held the top of the page, and his jaw dropped when the other end of the list hit the floor and rolled for a few feet. “What...”

  She shrugged again. “You did say whatever I wanted. I know you have other obligations, but I figure that this should occupy you for a few years of spare time if you meant what you said.”

  He frowned. “I did, but you are right. This will take years.”

  She swayed from side to side with her hands behind her back. “Oh, dear. Whatever will we do with the intervening time?”

  He lowered her wish list and walked over to face her. She stared at his collarbone and slowly looked up. It was her attempt to blink innocently that cracked her composure. She started giggling nervously, and that was when he kissed her.

  The giggles gave way, and she went up on her toes, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing against him.

  The connection of lips began as chaste and rapidly moved into something far more heated. Mel tasted him, and he returned the favour with a low groan. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her.

  She felt the firm surface of the counter under her butt, and Andy leaned in, pressing her back at an angle.

  Their ravenous kiss went on as he held her with one arm and his other hand stroked the outside of her thigh, moved over and began to move up her inner thigh.

  She shifted her grip from his neck to his shoulders as he stroked the skin next to her panties.

  Her frantic pulse shifted intensity, focusing on the throbbing between her thighs as he trailed his fingers lightly over the silky fabric.

  Mel tried to pull back as the dainty and teasing touch sent a fight or flight response before she lost control, but the tension snapped, and she squeaked when her senses ran riot.

  She pulled back and stared into his eyes as the rainbow of magical fire wrapped around them both. She whispered, “Sorry.”

  He pressed his fingers against her clit again, and her good intentions to spare him went out the window. The magic wrapped around him, and she pulled his shifter magic from him, mixed it with hers, and filled him up with it.

  He gasped and magic cascaded through him, streaming in a supernatural rainbow from his eyes, mouth and even fingertips.

  She held him close and wrestled with the new beast that had been born inside her.

  When the light faded, Andy leaned his head against her shoulder, and he breathed heavily. “What was that?”

  She stroked her hand through his hair. “My first orgasm and a reflex balancing.”

  He lifted his head. “What?”

  “No more need for a courtship; we are stuck.”

  He waved that away. “No, your first?”

  She shrugged. “I have issues with personal control, so I haven’t ever tried to lose it.”

  He blinked several times.

  She stroked his chest. “You don’t seem too upset about the balancing.”

  Andy smiled. “I am fairly sure that we were both heading in that direction. Now I don’t need to worry about a sudden hero putting himself in your path.”

  “You can put a shelf together with dovetailing. You are a catch.” She smiled and then paused. “You aren’t upset?”

  He took her hands and placed a kiss in each palm. “I am not upset. I am honestly not upset. I may upset Teal and Tony when I request a few days off for a version of a honeymoon, but that will come after you meet the rest of my family.”

  She smiled. “So, you actually want to marry me then?”

  He laughed, “After we get to know each other and understand what we want out of this situation.”

  “Should I make a list?” Mel grinned.

  “It might be a good idea.”

  He sighed, kissed her, and pulled her to her feet. “I have restocking to do here, and then, I have to look into getting a replacement for me. As soon as I am done with that, I will come and find you.”

  She twisted her lips. “Yeah, you will. The magic will pull us together for the next forty-eight hours. If we don’t have sex on our own, it will do it for us.”

  “How would that work?” He smiled and touched her arm, stroking it gently.

  “Do you really want to find out for my first time?” She raised her brows in challenge.

  “Ah. Right. Good point. I will be over after I get things squared away here and we can go over the details.”

  She nodded. “It wasn’t what I came here for, but I will take it.”

  He bent and lifted the piece of paper. “I will consider this part of the bride price.”

  She blinked. “The shifters don’t do that.”

  “It seemed like the kind of thing that a new mate should offer to do, and I needed a phrase for it. I will think of a better way to describe it while I work. See you soon.”

  Mel took the dismissal and wandered over to the Meditation Centre; Teal would want to know.

  Chapter Seven

  Teal sat down heavily and stared. “You what?”

  “I balanced me and Andy.” Melwiss stood near Teal and watched Tony try to get his emotions under control.

  Teal stammered a little and then asked, “Aren’t you gay?”

  Mel cocked her head, and then, she said, “Nope.”

  “The collective council said you didn’t have any intimate male associates.” Tony clarified.

  “That’s correct. I didn’t. I didn’t have any female ones either if you wondered, which you didn’t. I didn’t get out much.”

  Mel waited while they got their astonishment under control.

  Teal blinked. “Did you want to have a wedding?”

  “Not unless he wants one. The balancing wasn’t intentional. It was a side effect of a lifetime of celibacy.”

  Tony caught on faster than his mate. “So you...”

  “Went off. Yes. As he was next to me at the time, the magic grabbed hold of him and hung on. The rest was reflex.” She smiled tightly. “I just thought you should know, and we will probably have to get those silver bands or something.”

  Teal straightened and got back to her feet. “Congratulations.” The hug was serious and intense.

  “Thank you. Since the guild authorized me to find a mate, there was no reason to wait. Andy somehow knew it before I did, so he had no inclination to wait either.”

  When Teal released her, Tony hugged her tight. “Congratulations, Mel. Do you want us to let Dira know?”

  “Well, if she missed the magical discharge
, she is blind and deaf, so please let her know. Andy and I still have to negotiate for what we want out of the situation, and I don’t know how long that will take.”

  Tony chuckled, “Negotiate after the binding? That is a bit brave.”

  “I wanted him, he wanted me, now we just have to decide what that means.”

  Teal smiled. “Keep us posted.”

  Mel turned to leave when Tony asked, “So, Mel, are you going to stay at the Crossroads?”

  She turned back and chuckled. “No, I will stay at the Isthmus. That is where I am comfortable, and I consider it home.”

  The sight of the two stunned guardians made her grin, and the smile remained when she went to the café to request a picnic basket for two.

  If she was going to meet with her new mate, she was going to make sure they had everything they needed to carry on a conversation in the privacy of her home.

  She was sitting on the deck in her robe, staring out at the water when he arrived. The moment that he left the Crossroads, she had felt him getting closer.

  “This is definitely a delightful way to arrive at your home.”

  She turned her head and smiled, getting to her feet and walking over to him. “Glad you could make it.”

  Andy was standing on the steps, and he hugged her when she moved into his embrace.

  She sighed at the feeling of completion that the small act gave her. She had hugged Teal, Tony, Lucy, Spike, and Al before she had come home, and not one of them had made her heart speed up the moment that they made contact.

  Andy’s hands moved slowly over her back, and she shivered at the warmth that seeped into her soul at the contact.

  Her nearly naked belly pressed against the front of his jeans, and the heat she was absorbing from his body was taking on a very specific form.

  “I wish I was dressed like you. My damned jeans have been restrictive for a few days.”

  “I have a robe inside for you.”

  He gave her a light squeeze. “You are serious?”