Page 64 of Sinful Mates

Alaric jumped on his bike, shoving his helmet on, making a show of throttling his bike really loudly to warm it up. I slid my helmet on then threw my leg over the back of his seat, snuggling up to him. We rode southeast for over an hour, pulling into Jenolan Caves, Australia’s largest cave system, according to the signs. My mate waited for me to alight and did the same himself, then caught my hand, linking our fingers, squeezing, locking me to him.

A frown knitted his dark brows. Cold fear burned the bond, the burden great, and I swiped my thumb over his hand, waiting for him to get it off his chest. He led me into the caves, down limestone tunnels lit by soft amber and white lamps highlighting the crystal’s natural beauty.

Alaric came to stand behind me, wrapping me in his arms, leaning his head on the top of mine, letting me stop to admire the calcite crystals hanging from the ceilings. “These are the world’s oldest cave systems.”

Aww. My man was a history buff.

“Let me guess.” I squeezed his hands. “You’ve memorized every passage?” That was part of his gift. Why Castor bought me the historic map to give to Alaric as a gift.

“You guessed right, angel.” My mate rubbed my belly back and forth. “It’s full of history like my maps. Over three hundred million years old. Every rock, fossil, and crystal carrying the story of the cave’s formation.”

I slid my and up my body to cup his face. “Do you come here often?”

“When things get bad,” he murmured into my ear. “It reminds me that light is found in the darkest of places.”

Wow. Men didn’t make speeches like that unless they blamed themselves for something and believed their world came to an end.

I cupped his jaw. “Is the darkness closing in on you?”

“Yes.” Fuck. What I suspected.

Before I got the chance to dig deeper, he dragged me into the depths, turning off down a dark tunnel, forcing my shifter sight to engage. Smooth rock forms eroded by water surrounded us in every direction, some sharp stalactites jutting from the ceilings. Alaric cast off his cut, then his shirt, handing them to me. His wings sprung out with a snap that echoed down the caverns.

“Hold on, angel.” He crushed me in his arms, lunging off the ground, wings beating to keep us afloat.

We sailed like that, me focusing on the tight set of his jaw, the lines pulling at his forehead, the tension in his shoulders. Time dissolved for me as I buried my nose into his smooth chest, breathing him in, his natural scent mixing with the saltiness of the cave.

We emerged out of the cave into the bush and he carried me another mile to a blue lake, setting me down beside it. “This side of the lake is restricted from visitors.”

My mate set me atop a rock overlooking the lake, folding his wings back in, and they dissolved into his back. I set down his shirt and cut. He parted my legs and stood between them, stroking the outsides of my thighs, staring into my eyes. Tightness around his eyes set me on edge. The pressure on the bond felt like gas too close to a flame,ready to explode.

I didn’t want to beat around the bush any longer. “What’s wrong, my hawk?”

He smiled, head down. “Can’t hide anything from you.”

My heart ached to know what burdened his mind, to give him comfort, strength, be a light to his darkness.

His gaze trailed the banks of the lake. “Nature is my balm, angel. The stars my light and path in the dark. The sun my compass. The wind my companion. My little bird’s home.”

Oh, poetic and so romantic. Little quotes my amorous mate said to me trickled back into memory.

You’re a goddess more beautiful than the sky.

One day I’d like to show you the stars, Aaliyah. The stars in your eyes. The stars in your heart. The stars in my love.

The turmoil on the bond said this was definitely not a romantic notion. Fear locked around my chest as it did his. Something threatened his freedom, his ability to be one with the sky and nature.

Goddess.

His drug possession charges. The prosecution adjourned his hearing in October on the grounds of new evidence but Barry, the club’s lawyer, said they didn’t have a strong case and it was likely to be overturned. Castor agreed and worked hard in the background to gather evidence to support Alaric’s case.

I weaved my arms behind Alaric’s neck, drawing him down to me, pressing my forehead to his. “Has something happened with your case?”

“They want all of us behind bars and they won’t stop until it’s done.”

Negative thinking that must stop. “That won’t happen.”

“I’m preparing for the worst, angel.” He removed something from the interior breast pocket of his cut. “I’m transferring everything into yours and Mia’s name just in case.”

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