Dare to Believe

“Don’t know what makes you think you can make it in college. It’s not like you have a brain in your head.” Cousin Trina’s voice made her cringe; her brain had been her only asset all through school.

“Course, with hooters like yours, who needs brains?”

It’s not real, it’s not real, it’s not real. She chanted the mantra in her head, not that it did much good.

This Malmayne-induced nightmare continued on and on until Ruby thought she’d begin screaming for real.

And then she saw it, the light at the end of the high school corridor. A figure stood there, vaguely familiar, strong and confident. He held out one hand to her, beckoning her to him. All she had to do was have the courage to go to him. But how could she walk that gauntlet with all of those eyes staring at her?

Besides, he was a young god, so good looking it made her heart hurt just to look at him. He couldn’t possibly be there for her.

But somehow she knew he was. Glowing peridot eyes pulled at her. His black hair hung to his shoulders, longer than she thought it was supposed to be, but she still couldn’t remember why he looked so familiar to her. He wore black leather pants that hugged his legs in a way that should be outlawed. His black T-shirt clung lovingly to every muscle, looking almost painted on. He wore a gold ring on the hand he held out to her, with some sort of dark stone in the center.

That stone sent a flash of memory through her. She knew the initials RH were carved in the face of the stone. Her initials.

He was hers.

Without thinking about it, she reached up to feel the collar that should encircle her own neck. With a satisfied smile she felt it, the relief that it was there, branding her, almost overwhelming. The mocking, sometimes painfully loving, voices of everyone else faded away until she could only hear his voice.

“Come to me, kitten.” When she hesitated, he growled, “You know you’re meant to ride off with me.

You belong to me.”

Ruby looked down, not surprised to see the leather halter top and leather pants. She smiled, feeling warm and sexy, no longer aware of anything but him. Leo. She worked her way down the corridor, showing off her own leathers to the best of her ability, but it wasn’t for those who had once caused her so much pain.

It was all for him.

Then she slipped her hand into his and stepped into the sunshine. She blinked dazedly as she realized she was back on the Dunne farm.

She gasped as her hand was yanked viciously out of Leo’s, her body tugged away from him. “I don’t think so, human.” Cullen Malmayne pulled her behind him, away from Leo, totally ignoring her struggles.

Apparently Sidhe lords are really friggin’ strong, she thought, tugging harder on her hand. No matter how hard she pulled she didn’t even slow Cullen down. He barely even moved, just barreled forward, her struggles barely registering to him.

She heard a strange roaring sound behind her. The ground beneath her feet began to tremble. Turning in Cullen’s suddenly lax grasp, she saw Leo in his full, furious glory.

Multicolored strands of light whipped around his body in a strangely erotic, lethal dance. Ruby suspected that if anyone attempted to touch Leo in that moment they would die a grisly death. He glared at Cullen Malmayne, his human seeming gone. His eyes glowed even brighter in his fury, his hair blowing about in a nonexistent breeze. Leo looked furious at the sight of her in Malmayne’s hands.

“Ruby is my mate and no one will take her from me!”

Ruby gasped at the power in Leo’s voice. The earth bucked up between her and Cullen, forcing Cullen to release her arm as they fought for balance.

Leo began stalking towards her, his light reaching out to encircle her, pushing Cullen and the others away from her in a possessive, protective display that dazzled her. She backed up, her eyes wide as he kept pace with her, his glowing gaze never leaving her face.

“I vow that from this day forward you shall not walk alone.”

“NO, Leo!” Cullen’s voice cut across the wind, surprisingly clear. “Kaitlynn—”

“My strength is your protection, my heart is your shelter, and my arms are your home.” Leo ignored the Malmayne patriarch, his eyes only for his mate, the hint of Irish brogue telling her exactly how upset he was. “I shall serve you in all of those ways that you require. I pledge to you my living and my dying, each equally in your care.” Ruby could feel his power wrapping around her, leaving her breathless. The warm caress of it was like sunlight on a summer’s day. He reached out with one hand to cup her cheek, his power wrapping around her like a familiar, comforting blanket. That was when she realized it wouldn’t hurt her.

“Yours is the name I whisper at the close of each day and the eyes into which I stare each morning.”

“Stop it, Leo!” Ruby looked to see who had yelled and saw Kaitlynn, her big gray eyes swimming with tears. “You are promised to me!”

Leo ignored the other woman, his gaze never leaving Ruby’s face. “I give you all that is mine to give.

My heart and my soul I pledge to you.” He lifted his other hand to cradle her face between them. “You are my Chosen One.” Kaitlynn cried out, the sound full of despair. “You are my Mate, and you are bound to me for eternity.”

The bands of light surrounding Leo reared back, then speared into Ruby’s body in a rush so dizzying she felt faint. She could feel the joining of their souls as Leo’s magic filled every cell in her body. The rush of power tingled along every part of her, pushing her into one of the most intense orgasms of her life. She shuddered in his arms, too breathless to scream. When he kissed her it merely added another dimension to the already painful pleasure coursing through her. Darkness washed over her in a rippling tide, pulling her under. The magic gradually left her body, and with it, consciousness.

Leo caught her before she fell very far, scooping her limp form up into his arms with a worried frown.

“Mom!”

“Give her to me, son.” Sean held his arms out and Leo handed his truebond over, knowing his father would die himself before allowing his daughter-in-law to come to harm. He watched his father carry Ruby into the house, ignoring the Malmaynes until the door shut behind them.

With the remnants of the Bonding power still whipping around him he turned to face the Malmaynes.

His slow smile of satisfaction was cold as he and Cullen faced one another. “The ritual is complete, and it’s True. Not even Oberon himself could set it aside.”

He watched Cullen take a deep, shaken breath. Such a powerful bonding was impossible for the other Sidhe lord to deny. “So it would seem.” Cullen turned to Kaitlynn, who hadn’t moved since her aborted attempt to halt Leo’s bonding. “My dear, perhaps you should reconsider Shane.”

Her damp blue eyes turned to her father. “I want Leo.”

Cullen sighed. “Kaitlynn, I’m afraid that’s no longer possible.”

“But I want Leo.”

Leo frowned at the quiet desperation in her voice. Though he didn’t know Kaitlynn well, he did know her. Did she harbor feelings for him he was unaware of? If so, he pitied her. His body, heart, and soul were currently in his parents’ house being tended to by his father.

“Leo is unavailable, obviously.” Cullen ran his hand down her arm, trying to soothe his daughter.

“Shane is not unattractive.”

She yanked her arm away from him. “Shane is a freak. I don’t want Shane. I want Leo.”

Leo bristled at hearing his brother labeled a freak. “Then perhaps you’d be so kind as to return him to us?” He could still hear the brogue in his voice and deliberately coarsened it, thickened it until it rivaled his father’s.

Kaitlynn looked at him, her expression turning to sly calculation. “There are situations in which a truebond and an alliance marriage have been co-arranged. Perhaps we should consider that.”

“No.”

Kaitlynn flinched at the hard finality of his tone. “Why not? It would solve the problem of the marriage contract and give us both what we want.”