Now it all made perfect sense.
Why he didn't want a wandering Katagari female for a mate…
Why he tolerated his brothers even when they drove him insane…
Why he had freed her sister and the other women to travel with her…
And why he had given her Donatello's ring.
Closing her eyes, Pandora conjured up an image of Dante.
Dante was watching the acid metal band on a TV monitor. But his mind wasn't really on the act or the handouts and CDs on the table in front of him.
It was on the fact that he should never have let Pandora go.
You can't keep her…
He should have at least tried.
But at least she wasn't out there alone. He'd made sure that she would have her sister with her.
A warm hand touched his arm.
Grinding his teeth, Dante turned, ready to rebuff yet another woman coming on to him. He was really getting tired of telling them he wasn't interested.
But as he opened his mouth and his eyes focused on the beautiful face of his latest admirer, all thoughts scattered.
It couldn't be.
Not this soon.
"Pandora?"
"Hi," she said with a smile that made him feel sucker-punched. "I missed you."
This had to be a dream. His pantheress couldn't be back.
He wanted to tell her that he'd missed her too, but the words wouldn't come. All he could do was react.
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her fiercely, letting her feel that every part of him wanted her never to leave him again.
Pandora laughed at his heated welcome. "I think you missed me too."
Dante left her lips to take a deep whiff of her hair so that he could memorize and savor it. "You have no idea."
Actually, she did. She hadn't doubted the twins before, but this thoroughly confirmed their story.
She nuzzled his neck, inhaling the warm spicy scent of his masculine skin. "Want to get naked?"
He laughed. "Yeah, but not here."
Pulling back from her, he took her hand and led her to a secluded corner so that he could flash them into his room.
They were both naked and in his bed three blinks later.
Dante couldn't breathe as he felt the impossible softness of Pandora lying beneath him.
Nothing felt better than her caresses. The fact that she was warm and welcoming. He slid himself inside her, and groaned at just how good she felt.
Pandora savored his hardness inside her and now more than ever she was glad she was human and not a real panther. Her Katagaria cousins only sought sex when they were in heat.
She could seek it anytime she wanted and she wanted Dante right now. Needed to feel his strong, powerful thrusts.
But the human in her wanted even more.
It wanted him with her forever.
"Will you bond with me, Dante?"
Dante froze as her whispered words went through him. "What?"
She held her marked palm up. "I don't ever want to leave you and I don't want to live without you. Not for one minute. Bond with me, Dante, so that neither one of us is ever abandoned again."
He took her hand into his and kissed her as love for her overwhelmed him.
He thrust against her hard and furiously as she repeated her vows to him and he returned them to her.
This time when his teeth grew, he pulled back to stare down at her an instant before he sank his fangs into her neck.
Pandora arched her back as the pain of his bite quickly turned to pleasure. Her head spinning, she sank her own teeth into his shoulder.
For that one instant in time, every thought and emotion Dante felt coursed through her.
Any doubt she'd ever had about him fled as she felt his love for her, and it ignited her own.
This was what was meant to be.
He was hers and she was his.
She cried out as she came in a fierce wave of pleasure. Dante's own growl of pleasure filled her ears.
Joined together, they drifted through the ribbons of ecstasy until they were fully drained and spent.
Dante collapsed on top of her and she cuddled him in her arms. "I love you, Dante," she breathed. "And I promise I'll never again leave you."
He smiled languidly as he stared at her. "I love you, too, Pandora, and anytime you want to leave, I'll gladly go with you."
EPILOGUE
In the Marriott's lobby, Dante stood off to the side with Acheron while everyone at the hotel was packing up to leave. All the Klingons, Storm Troopers, fairies, and so on were now in normal dress with only scattered parts of their costumes evident as, one by one, they returned to real life.
Dragon*Con was over.
Just like Ash had promised him a year ago when he told him to come to Atlanta, it had been a remarkable weekend that would stay with him forever.
"You knew Pandora would be here when you told me to come, didn't you?" he asked the Atlantean.
Ash shrugged. "There's always room for error, but yeah. I did."
"You're a scary SOB."
Ash laughed.
Dante felt Pandora's presence behind him.
Turning, he saw her and Simi coming over to them.