Chapter Ten
Sarah stood in their bedroom at her grandmother’s castle. She had been amazed at how many castles she had seen while she was there, but most of those castles were in ruins. She wondered how different would her life have been if her parents had survived their accident and she grew up here. Of course, if that had happened, she might not have had the relationship she now had with Conor. He had been her rock through all of this.
She studied herself in the mirror. The gown was beautiful. A simple emerald green silk shift covered by black lace. The lace had strands of iridescent thread woven throughout it so when she moved the gown glittered as the light hit it.
She hadn’t seen Conor all day, but Nana said he would be at the party. He had to follow tradition and arrive with his family. Sarah wished he was with her, telling her the things she needed to know so she didn’t make a fool of herself.
A knock on the door brought her out of her thoughts. She opened it to find her grandmother on the other side.
“Oh, my.” She placed her hand on her chest. “You look beautiful. Conor is going to be beside himself until he can join you.”
“Then he will join us?”
“Yes.” She signaled for Sarah to walk with her. “Tonight, you will be introduced to the packs here. I invited the alpha and his family of all the packs and just about all of them said they would be here. Those that couldn’t make it asked permission to send a representative.”
“All the packs? How many are there?”
“Let’s not worry about that right now.” She patted her hand. “I will guide you, so you’ll feel comfortable and at the right time, I’ll signal Conor to come up to you so he can join you. From that point on he will be at your side so everyone will know that he’s your companion for the evening.”
“Thank you.”
“I know this is all so new for you, but I know you’re going to do great.” She stopped in front of the ballroom doors. “Take a deep breath. Slap a bright smile on your face and understand that you are a happy addition to our world. These people are here to welcome you, not judge you.”
Sarah nodded.
“Ready?”
“No, but that’s not going to stop anything.”
***
Conor stood with his parents while he waited for Sarah’s appearance. A hush fell over the crowd when Max and his entourage arrived. Max shook hands, nodded, and smiled as he worked his way over to where Conor and his family stood.
“Max.” Conor bowed.
His family bowed as well before his mother grabbed Max in a hug. She went after Alicia next, then Patrick and his mate before she hugged Catherine. When she came to Jacques, she studied him and he studied her back. She looked at Catherine. “So, this is the one?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Catherine slipped an arm around his waist.
“Uh, huh.” She stared at him. “I’ve known this girl since she was a pup. She’s family to me. You hurt her and I’ll come after you.”
“Catherine is my world. I would never hurt her. I have also received the same threat from every person in her family so I will make you the same promise I made to them. I love her too much to make her unhappy, but if that were to ever happen, I will grovel at her feet until she forgives me, then I will grovel at your feet for the same forgiveness.”
Conor’s mother smiled. “Good. He makes you happy, Catty?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Then it’s all good.”
The large French doors at the top of the stairs opened and Nana stepped out. Another hush fell over the crowd.
“Thank you so much for coming tonight. Everyone here knows how my heart broke when I lost my daughter and her mate. Tonight, I’m happy to introduce you to my granddaughter.”
Conor felt his heart stop when Sarah joined her grandmother. She was stunning. Her hair had been done with small crystals woven throughout it. Like her gown, her hair sparkled as the light bounced off it. Her gown floated around her.
He didn’t hear much of what was said. He just stared at the beauty who had stolen his heart. People started to introduce themselves to Sarah and he found he was jealous. Nana looked at him and gave the slightest nod.
“You did good, Mum.” He gave her a quick kiss before he went up to Sarah. He waited until she had finished speaking to a few of her Nana’s friends.
“Conor.” She gave him a smile that showed how happy she was to see him.
“You look beautiful.” He pressed a chaste kiss against her cheek. “I’m going to have to fight all these young men off. You have caught a lot of the male population’s attention.”
“You’re making me blush.” She touched her cheeks as they heated up.
“Which makes you even more alluring.” He took one of her hands in his.
One of the young men he'd warned her about came up to them. His smile was genuine, but his focus was only for Sarah. Two people stood with him.
“You look just like your mother.” The woman took her hands and squeezed them. “I couldn’t believe it when Mr. Santos contacted us to let us know you were found.”
“Max contacted you?” Sarah looked in Max’s direction for a moment. “May I ask why?”
“I’m your grandmother.”
“Excuse me?” She looked over at Nana.
“I’m your father’s mother.”
“Oh.” Sarah paused while what the woman said penetrated. “Oh!”
Max and Alicia had joined them. Conor knew it was to keep everything calm. Nana came over as well when she recognized the woman.
“Moira. Good to see you.” Nana kissed her on the cheek. “I’m glad you were able to make it.”
“Wouldn’t have missed meeting my granddaughter for the first time.” The tone of her voice held a hint of displeasure.
“I didn’t mean to hog all of Sarah’s time, but she hasn’t been here that long. I had to show her the factory.”
“Ladies.” Max stepped up to them. “Elizabeth was the first to respond and she came to the states to meet Sarah. With Sarah just learning what she was as well as finding her real family for the first time I didn’t think it would be right to overpower her with too much.”
“Of course, Max.” Moira bowed her head. “I meant no disrespect.”
“And none was taken.” Max gave them his megawatt smile. “I was thinking about Sarah. She will spend time with both of you, but don’t you agree that one at a time is better for her?”
They nodded.
Max noticed the young man with Moira and her husband.
“Oh, I forgot my manners. Michael Mulligan, this is Maximillian Santos. Max this is Michael.” She looked at Sarah and Conor. “He was the one promised to Sarah when they were little.”
“Promised?” asked Sarah.
“It means you two would have been mates if you had lived with your pack your whole life.” Alicia pitched her voice so only Sarah could hear her. “Do you know if you have a strange birthmark or maybe a discoloration in your skin?”
“Um, discoloration?” Sarah pitched her voice and frowned. “I don’t remember anything like that.”
“Was the bond complete?” asked Max.
“No.” Moira shook her head. “Michael and Sarah never completed the ceremony. They were too young and then Sarah was thought dead.”
Conor let go of a pent-up breath. He never noticed a mark on her either and he had seen her body plenty of times.
A bell sounded.
“Perhaps we could finish this conversation after dinner,” said Nana. She gestured for everyone to head to another ballroom that had been converted to the dining hall.
About fifteen minutes later dinner was served. Conor led Sarah to the head table where they were joined by Max and his entourage, plus Conor’s family. Nana sat at the head of the table, with Max at the other end. The table was extended to include Sarah’s other side of the family.
Conor sat in the seat he would have if he was Sarah's mate. Nana still made sure everyone knew he was a person of importance to her. He did his best to relax her. He’d wink at her. Gave her several of his bone-melting smiles. Anything to relax her. It worked.
Having her friends around her allowed her to forget all the craziness for the moment and let her laugh with her friends. People around them saw how friendly she was with Max and his friends, and they knew that being related to Nana wasn’t her only source of power.
Once they were finished with dinner the floor was cleared so everyone could mingle and dance. Conor wasn’t about to the let the other men get close to Sarah so he gave her a slight bow and then asked her to dance. She was a little hesitant as she curtsied and allowed him to lead her to the floor.
“You okay?” asked Conor.
“Yeah, this is a lot to handle. Did you know about the intended part?”
“I know packs have used them in the past. I never noticed any type of mark on you. They’re normally in a visible spot and look like a tattoo.”
“What would you have done if you had seen it?”
“Tell Max. He would know what to do. The fact that you two never went through the ceremony makes it null and void. You don’t have to fulfill the promise your parents made.”
“I’m assuming I can find information on this?”
“Of course.” He wasn’t happy that she wanted to learn more about how being intended work. Her world was changing all around them and he was afraid it would change her. “Catherine is our historian. She would know everything you should need.”
Sarah nodded.
“You dance beautifully.”
“Thanks. Right now, I’m grateful I took ballroom dancing.” She gave him a bright smile. “Thank goodness I had a lot of electives in college.”
“Ballroom dancing?”
“Yep. I also took martial arts, drawing, and theatre.”
“How long have you been in college?”
“I’m a grad student. It feels like forever, but over the last twenty years I’ve been in college most of them. I did take a year or two off here and there but there were summers where I took classes to make up for my time off.”
“You never told me what you were studying.”
“You’re going to laugh.” She paused for a moment. “Mythology ancient and modern.”
“You knew.” He gave her a toothy smile. “Somehow deep down inside, you knew.”
They stepped off the floor and took a glass of champagne offered to them by a passing waiter.
Jacques came up to them and asked permission to dance with Sarah. They danced one song then he brought her back to Conor. Next was Patrick who did the same thing. The last was Max.
“I’m assuming you are trying to send some sort of message?” Sarah asked Max as he twirled her around the dance floor.
“Catherine said you’d figure it out quickly.” Max smiled at her. “We are showing everyone here that you are not only powerful because of your grandmother, but because you have my support. Especially with the new curveball that showed up tonight.
“Just like with humans we have those who allow the darker side of their personalities to control them.” He continued to move her about the floor. “They will see you as someone to prey on. I want to make sure they know that you are surrounded by the most powerful people in our society. If they try anything they will have to face me.”
“You know that won’t deter all of them.”
“I know, but I’m hoping it will make them pause.”
“I’m pretty sure Nana and Conor will keep a close eye on me. Michael might be a new wrinkle but the only person I worry about is my cousin.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because he’s a jerk. He hates the fact that I showed up and Nana wants to hand everything to me on a platter.” The song finished and she allowed Max to walk her back to Conor’s side. “When we were touring the factory Nana told me he has never worked any of the jobs there. He doesn’t care about how everything works.”
“He only cares about the money, I know.” He nodded to Conor. “Here’s your lady, Conor. Thank you for the dance.”
Max lifted her hand and kissed the back of it before he went back to his mate.
Conor handed her a champagne flute.
“Thanks.” She took a sip.
“I know tonight has already been a little upsetting, but your cousin is here.”
“What?” She looked around to see if she could spot him. “I thought he wasn’t coming.”
“Well, he’s heading right toward us.”
“Then let’s dance. I don’t want to have a confrontation with him.”
Conor placed their glasses on a passing tray and swept her into his arms. He growled when he felt a tap on his shoulder.
“May I cut in?” James stood there with a condescending smile.
“No.” Conor started to move them away.
“It’s okay, Conor,” said Sarah. She gave him a sweet smile. “I need to speak to my cousin for a moment.” She turned to face him. “I’m surprised to see you, Jimmy.”
“It’s James.” He tightened his lip, but that was the only sign that what she called him upset him.
“Yeah, right. You didn’t answer my question, Jimmy.” Her voice raised just a bit. She knew how well everyone could hear, but she wanted to be sure she had everyone’s attention. “Why are you here?”
“I wanted to support you.” He smiled, trying to act like nothing bothered him.
“Really?” She looked at Conor. “Didn’t we hear him say he wasn’t coming?”
Conor smiled and nodded.
“In fact,” she turned back to James and stared him down, “I believe your exact quote was this party was beneath you.”
“What makes you think I said that?” He stepped back.
“Oh, I heard you.” She looked at Conor again. “We heard him, right?”
“Sure did. Nana had him on speaker phone when she told him about this party.” Conor slipped his arm around her. “I wasn’t upset when I heard he wasn’t coming. I knew we would enjoy our time more without him anyway.”
“Well, I changed my mind. You are family after all.” He offered her his hand. “Shall we dance?”
She looked at the offered hand and shook her head. “Let me ask you a question.”
“Sure.” He had a confused look.
“Who is this party for?”
“You.” He narrowed his eyes at her.
“That’s what I thought.” She placed her hand on Conor’s arm. “So, I should have last say, right?”
“I guess.”
“Good. We agree. It is my party and I want to dance with Conor, who has been here to support me the whole time. Not you, who showed up because you were afraid of how people would talk about you because you weren’t here. Or did you hear about Michael and wanted to make sure we didn’t go running off with each other?”
He just stared at her.
“That’s what I thought.” She faced Conor and straightened her stance.
Conor took a step and swept her away from James. “You sure that was smart?”
“Nope, but it sure felt good.” She gave him a bright smile. “He only cares about himself, and I don’t think that is right.”
“It’s not, but he’s going to fight this tooth and nail.” They moved about the floor with ease. “And you need to be ready for that.”
“I know. We can’t trust him. I know if I push too much, he’ll try something else to get what he wants, but I couldn’t help myself.” She saw Max and slowed their pace. “I’d like to say hi to Alicia and Catherine.”
They did one more turn around the room so they could stop by Max. She went up to Catherine and hugged her. “What is Patrick’s mate's name?”
“Stacey.”
She went to Stacey and hugged her as well. Then she went to Alicia.
“You learned from Max,” said Alicia as she hugged her back.
“You and Catherine are real friends to me, and I wanted to thank you for coming. I just knew I couldn’t leave Stacey out of the hugs without raising eyebrows.”
“I think you did great.” Alicia stepped back so Conor could join her.
“Your grandmother is looking this way,” said Conor.
She looked at Nana and saw her slight head nod. They walked back to her side.
“Your cousin has retired, and I think I should as well. I put Michael off a day or two, but you will have to meet with him and discuss this bond your parents had supposedly done.”
“Supposedly?”
“Your mother would have said something if you had been promised to someone and she didn’t say a word. I was as surprised as you were when Michael showed up and plan on doing some research on this whole thing. Enjoy the rest of the evening. Most of these people will remain until Max leaves. You will also find they will wait for you to retire to show you respect.” She kissed Sarah on the cheek and then headed through the French doors they had come through earlier.
“So how do I know when to leave?” she asked Conor quietly.
“Max will come to us and say good night. Once he does, we will thank our guests and take our leave.”
“Thank you for holding my hand in this. I’m so clueless.”
“No, you’re not. You’re beautiful, brilliant, and elegant.” He wrapped his arms around her. “And I can’t wait until I have you all to myself.”
***
She released a sigh when they made it back to their room and closed the door.
“I made it through all of that.”
“Did you think you wouldn’t?” He pulled his tuxedo jacket off. “I knew you would make it with the grace I know you have.”
“I was afraid I would do something stupid. There were so many opportunities for me to knock something over, trip, or spill something.”
His smile caught her off guard. Did he think the same thing?
“But you didn’t.” Conor looked at her. “You were with people who are just like you. I think for the first time you were comfortable in your own skin.”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s because you didn’t see you the way everyone else did.” He pulled her into his arms. “All the men were jealous because I was the one you were with. Then when you chose me over your cousin, that just made you more desirable. Everyone knows what a jerk he is, and you put him in his place.”
He slipped his fingers under her chin and lifted her face so she could look him in the eyes. “And this dress is beautiful. Even more beautiful because you’re wearing it.”
“Your mother outdid herself.” Sarah touched the black part of her dress. “And this. I don’t know how she made it in such a short time.”
“My mother calls it intuition, but she’ll see a particular material and will create magic with it, even though she wasn’t commissioned to make it then she hangs onto it until the right person shows up. It’s one of the reasons she is the most sought-after designer out there.”
“Why does your mom call herself a seamstress then?”
“She doesn’t like the word designer. She thinks of the famous designers who are on television. That’s not what she wants. She likes her life the way it is, so she calls herself a seamstress to deflect anyone from trying to make her more than that.”
“Well, I don’t want to damage this beautiful cover. Can you help me take it off?”
He helped ease it off her and draped it on a chair nearby. Conor noticed her rubbing her arms. “You cold?”
“I guess I’m not used to the weather here.”
“You just need to shift more. You’ll find you aren’t as cold once you do it regularly.” He picked up a throw placed at the end of their bed and wrapped it around her. “Let me build the fire then we can climb in bed.”
Sarah waited as long as she could before she slipped the green silk down her body, and jumped into the bed. A few expletives filled the air when she felt the cold sheets against her body.
Conor laughed as he shed his clothes and joined her. He pulled her into his embrace and heard her sigh as his body heat warmed her. “Better?”
“Much.” She snuggled against him. “I have missed you today.”
“I missed you too.” He shifted them so he could look down at her while propping himself up on an elbow. “My parents kept me busy all day, but I know they caught me just staring in this direction a couple of times wondering what you were doing.”
“I don’t understand why Nana made you stay away today.”
“It’s part of our culture. If I had been at your side from the beginning people would have assumed I was there to protect you.” He watched her face as he explained. “Having me arrive with my family showed I was there as a guest and my joining you after you were introduced showed that we have a relationship beyond friends.”
“But I thought…”
“I know. I didn’t want any ties. I won’t ask you to give up everything so you can follow me all over the world.” He brushed his knuckles along her jaw. “That’s not fair to you and I know you can’t right now. Your mom needs you.”
“And what if I followed you anyway? Would you turn me away?”
“God, no.” He captured her lips with his, deepening the kiss when she opened her mouth for him. Conor sighed when he broke it. “I’m very attracted to you, Sarah. More than I have been with any other woman.”
“I feel the same way about you.” She brushed a few blond locks of hair out of his face. “I promised myself that I would keep my emotions out of our relationship, but you had to go and be a nice guy. I promise I’m not asking for anything more than what we have because I’m very happy with what we have.”
“And if I were to ask for more?” He couldn’t believe he was about to ask her what his body was begging for. “Would you mate with me?”
“Is that what you want?” She looked up at him. “You know we can’t go back once it’s done.”
“I know, and I’m not trying to force you into something you’re not ready for.”
“I love you, Conor O’Malley and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, whenever you’re ready.”
He captured her lips again. His hands caressed her body, touching all the places he knew would heighten her arousal. Tonight, was for her. He hadn’t used the words, but he loved her too. Knowing she wanted to be his mate filled him with a joy he didn’t know he could feel.
The desire to say the words filled him, but he wanted to wait. When they mated had to be perfect. He pressed kisses all along her collarbone before moving down to a nipple. The blankets had them warm for the moment, but he planned on setting Sarah on fire.
He felt her hands glide across his back, her fingers caressing and following the muscles he had. Conor loved the way they traced the contours of his back, soft touches that made him want her more. Trying to ignore the feeling he had for her, he continued to arouse her. A touch here a kiss there, all to bring her to the breaking point. Knowing what she liked he continued to arouse her. When he felt her legs moving against him he knew she was ready.
“Please, Conor.” Her plea was soft, but he was as ready as she was.
He drove into her and heard her suck in her breath. That sound was something he lived for, it let him know he was fulfilling her fantasies. They moved together as one. Each time she accepted him into her body it felt perfect.
Words were softly spoken by him and Sarah repeated them back. He felt the beginning of his orgasm just as she started to soar through hers.
He pressed soft kisses all along her brow, knowing he didn’t want to share her with anyone.