The rest of the evening passed by at a snail’s pace while Rose waited for her parents to retire. She had truthfully claimed a headache and paced her room wondering what she was going to do about Bret’s claim to bring The Seeker to justice. Everyone else wound up playing cards, so it was after midnight before she heard her parents climb the stairs to their suite of rooms.  In a few more hours she could go to the guest room and let Bret fuck her mindless so she could stop thinking and just feel.  She blew out a long sigh.

She could stop being The Seeker.

Shaking her head, Rose sighed.  No, she couldn’t in good conscience stop helping mages who were being persecuted.

She could run away for good this time.

Sure, she would miss her family and Bret. But if she ran long enough and far enough and kept hidden until her trail went cold, she could start another life and become another outlaw under a different name.

But Bret would eventually find her.  He didn’t give up.

She could tell him the truth.

That startled a laugh out of her. 

Even though they shared a bed and she knew he was fond of her, Rose didn’t think he would keep her secret.  He hunted mages for a living.  He wouldn’t condone her behavior, no matter how well she pleasured him.  He could very well turn her in to Divintry, and she would be hung at dawn or burned at the stake.  Rose wasn’t sure what the popular execution was in Divintry.  In Demerest, it was beheading.

Touching her throat, Rose peeked out of her window.  Her two coven guards were still there across the street. The door to her room opened and she bit back a startled gasp.

“How’s your head?” Bret asked, locking the door behind him.

“I told you I would come to you.  My parents aren’t asleep yet,” she whispered the last part, even though she had the entire floor to herself.

“I wanted to see your bedroom.”  Bret walked around the wide, airy space.

“Why?” She had a moment of panic wondering if she had left any clues about her being The Seeker around.  When her brother was at sea, she kept them under her bed. But now that he was back, all of her equipment was in the caves below Robert's house.  Letting out the breath she had been holding, Rose eyed Bret warily as he picked up her childhood treasures.

“Because you never tell me anything about yourself.”  He trailed his fingers over the books in her bookshelf.  If he was looking for hints of her personality, he wouldn’t find it there.  All those books were gifts from her parents.  She kept her heretical tomes in The Seeker’s cave.

“As you can see, there’s not much to tell.  I’m the black sheep of the family.  Imagine, a mage coming from a respected old family like this one.” Rose clasped her hands in front of her and watched him like a hawk.

He smirked. “And yet instead of being a dutiful daughter, you rebel.”

Rose bit back a snort.

“I can see why you hate being shut up in the coven.” Bret picked up a figurine of a horse. 

It was black, like Atalanta.  Did he suspect her after all? Was that why he was stalking around her room? 

“Couldn’t you persuade the matron to give you bigger accommodations?”

“I’m not that powerful of a mage to warrant it.”  Rose would never wield deadly powers.  She never wanted to.  It was bad enough her skill with a rapier and dagger took men’s lives.  She didn’t want her magic to do it either.

“You’re rich enough.”  Bret fingered the necklaces that hung up on her dresser.

Could that be the way to get him to leave her alone?  Could Bret be bribed?

“My parents have the money.  I’m not even allowed to have a job.”

He smiled.  “You have everything you need and if you want something, you can barter your magic to get it.”

“Not everything,” she said.  She couldn’t barter her freedom.  “What would it take for you to stop retrieving me?  Could I pay you more than my family does?”

He shook his head and unbuttoned his shirt.  “My reputation would be ruined if I allowed that. No one would trust me with a bounty again if it was known I could be bought.”

“Is there magic I could perform to barter for you to look the other way the next time I leave the coven?”

“You promised me you wouldn’t leave the coven.  I’ll make you regret it if you do,” he warned, kicking off his boots.

She didn’t promise him anything, but she wasn’t going to remind him of that fact.

“I’m not allowed visitors in the coven. So, you’re all right with never seeing me again?”  Rose didn’t want to think too hard on how important his answer was to her.

“We have tonight.” He unbuckled his pants.

“So, this is good-bye?” Blinking back tears she refused to let him see, she forced a smile on her face.

Bret shook his head.  “You’re not getting away from me that easy.”

Crossing her arms over her chest, she glared at him while he stepped out of his pants and shrugged off his shirt.  She was so mad she wouldn’t even look at the thin scrap of fabric he wore over his private parts.  “If I’m not leaving the coven and you can’t visit me, how is this not good-bye?”

He uncrossed her arms and pulled her to him.  “I’m not an idiot, Rose.  You’ll run.  It’s in your nature.  When it’s safe, and the elementalist has been caught, you’ll escape. And when you do, I’ll be there.”

Slightly mollified, she looked up at him.  “Why?  Am I just a job for you?”  Ugh, why did she say that? 

“I don’t sleep with my other bounties.”

That eased a tightness inside her that she hadn’t realized she had.  He untied the belt of her robe and eased it down over her shoulders.  Rose smiled at his intake of breath.  She was naked.

He swallowed hard. “I keep forgetting how beautiful you are.”

She didn’t want his words.  She fell more and more in love with him when he talked.  It was easier if they just fucked.  Rose dipped her hand inside his underclothes, but he clamped his hand over her wrist.

“No.”

“No?” Rose arched an eyebrow.

“We’re not rushing tonight.  Tonight, I’m going to kiss every inch of you and fuck you slow and long.  I’m going to take you in your very own bed so you won’t be able to lie here anymore without thinking of me.” He eased his final layer of clothing off.

He made her mouth water, he was so perfect. From his powerful leg muscles, all the way up to his chiseled abs, he had a body that she dreamed about.  Damn him.

“Oh, shut up and fuck me already, Bret.”  Rose pressed her mouth to his.  She couldn’t hear any more honeyed words.  She was already trembling with need. Any anger or worry, had been burned away by the heat of his words.

He kissed her as if to devour her, backing her towards the bed.  Instead of the narrow little cot the coven provided, this bed was wide and soft, more than big enough for the two of them as they wrestled each other to be on top.

She won because he let her. Straddling him, she eased his cock inside her. Rose paused for a moment enjoying the feeling of him filling her up completely with his girth.  All the jagged and frayed pieces of her nerves fit back together and smoothed out.

Bret laid his big hands on her thighs.  “You going to move or do I have to do all the work?” His voice was tight and gruff.

Smiling down at him, she trailed her fingers from her collarbone, over her breasts to her stomach.  Bret’s gaze followed the journey. Laying her palms flat on his muscled chest she began to slowly raise up off his long cock. “I thought you wanted it slow,” she purred, unable to resist an arch of pleasure as she sunk back down on him.

“There’s slow and there’s you’re killing me, sweetheart.”

If she could kill him, it would make her life easier. But if she wanted an easy life, she wouldn’t have become The Seeker.

“We’re doomed, you know,” she said, moving a little faster.

“If doomed feels like this, I’m all right with that.”  Bret gripped her hips and arched into her.

Letting her head fall back, she enjoyed the ride he gave her and when he tired of thrusting up into her, Rose took over the pace. By this time, she was near frenzied with need.  The chants of the coven were fading and all that remained was the feel of his thickness stretching her and the pounding rhythm of their dance. Grinding her hips, she rocked against him, feeling the hard brush of him over her sensitive folds, she cried out.

“Quiet, you’ll wake the house,” he growled, giving her a playful swat on her backside.

As she bounced on him, Bret captured her nipples and tugged, sending a pulse of pure desire right into her core.  Her pussy clamped down tight on him as the first wave of pleasure hit.  She was still shaking with reaction, when he rolled her over on her back and took over the pace.

It was best when they both lost control like this.  Rose’s legs wrapped around his waist and his thrusts were wild and all over the place.  Bret used the headboard for leverage, driving fully inside her only to withdraw to the tip before doing it again.  Her legs were like jelly when he pinned them above her head.

“Just like this,” he grunted, pistoning in and out of her.

Her head tossed from side to side as she was unable to move because of the weight of his body slamming into her. She moaned his name over and over again as each shockwave sensation overrode the one before.  Rose came twice, once from his body and then right after by the look in his eyes just before he came.

“Mine,” he snarled and that was all it took for her to shake apart once more.  He groaned in his own release and let her legs fall down as he slowed his claiming of her body to just a few languid thrusts.

Bret rolled over to his side and kissed her until she melted against him.  He was right again, damn him.  Any time she would sleep in this bed, she’d remember this moment.

“Bret?” she asked, just as they were falling asleep.

“Give me a few hours to recover,” he chuckled.

She smiled against his chest.  “Is it always going to be like this for us?”

“Gods, I hope so,” he said reverently.

Thumping his arm, Rose lifted her head. “I mean is it always going to be stolen moments. Or are we going to let everyone know how we feel?”

“Darling, if I make you my woman, you become a target.  The bad guys with grudges or their families will go after you to get to me.”

“Not if I’m in the coven.”

He snorted.  “You’d stay in the coven?”

“Maybe,” she lied.

Bret pushed her on her back and kissed down to her breasts.  He lovingly sucked one nipple into his mouth. Rose bit down on a gasp and clutched the sheets.  “Trying to distract me?”

“Mmmm,” he went to the other nipple.  “Can’t resist.”

Her legs opened on their own as he drew the tight bud into his mouth. It was only natural when he dipped his fingers inside of her.

She hissed at the intrusion.

“Sore?” he asked, and at her nod rubbed his knuckle over her clit instead.

“Oh,” she sighed, watching him pleasure her as he went back to licking and nibbling on her breasts.  When she was panting again, and writhing against his knuckle, Bret propped himself up on his elbow and looked down at her.

“I don’t have enough money to buy your contract out from the coven. Not with your father’s money backing your position to stay there.”

“I’d run away with you,” she said, moaning as he rubbed her slow and gentle.  Rose clutched at his arms.  She didn’t want gentle.  She didn’t care that she was sore.  She wanted him inside her again.  “We’re smart enough to avoid getting caught.”

Bret went back to her breasts, not gentle this time.  His rough sucking and tugging had her on the verge of coming. He held her there on that plateau, her legs shaking, struggling for her next breath.

“I cannot be an outlaw,” he said and covered her mouth with his, when he pushed her over the edge, catching her scream of pleasure as the jangling sensation crashed into her and she jolted against him in release.

He rolled on his back, dragging her on top of him. 

“Why not?” Rose gasped when she had her breath back.

“Mmm?” he asked sleepily.

“Why can’t you become an outlaw?”

He rubbed her back for a few minutes and Rose had given up on getting an answer out of him.  Just as she was starting to drift off he said, “My father was a bank robber and a horse thief. When I was a kid, my Mom would send me to find him and get money so we could afford rent and eat. I swore I would never stoop so low.”

Rose bit her lip.  “We wouldn’t steal.”

He gave a humorless laugh.  “If you came with me, I would be stealing you.”

She scowled.  “I’m not a horse to be traded and bartered with.”

“Without your parents’ money and without me collecting bounties, how do you think we’d survive?”

She was getting really sick of him treating her like a spoiled little rich girl.  But then again, that was all she ever let him see.  “I’m not an idiot either, Bret.  Neither one of us are. We could find our way.  Maybe in Solace.”

His laughter was a little more genuine this time. “Like the free mages of Solace would welcome a mage hunter in their midst.” He kissed her hard. “Go to sleep and stop tempting me.  If we’re lucky, we’ll have some time in the morning before your parents wake up.”

Her body was boneless and content, but Rose’s mind whirled.  They had no future.  They had only this.  She was too wrung out to be disappointed and she slipped into an exhausted sleep.