CHAPTER FOUR

AMbrOSE

The realization that my soul mate, the person destiny has handpicked for me, is a human, is devastating.

I feel a fool for having wasted so much of my life and time searching and longing for her when she hadn’t even been born yet!

Reincarnation is very real, so she must have been out there. Though why I had been unable to find her is a mystery. Either our paths never crossed at the right time, or she perished before she came of age, or…

Well, it doesn’t matter.

She’s here now and despite her lowly status, I’m not letting her go.

Perchance, the spirit of a powerful witch lurks within her, merely waiting for me.

Yes. I straighten up with determination. I am up for the task.

“Come, let us leave this place so I may learn more about you, my lovely Natalie.”

“How do you know my name?” Her blue eyes squint at me as she inches further into the tent, holding the flowers up in front of her like a shield. “I never told you when you asked.”

“Asking you was merely a formality. All I had to do was touch you and I knew you. As you should know me.” It’s hard to keep the bitterness from my voice.

As soul mates, we should feel an undeniable tug toward each other. The longer we’re together, the more our bodies will become attuned until our very hearts beat in perfect sync. All it took was a glance, and I knew my soul mate. That she doesn’t feel the same is like a rusty dagger to my heart.

To wait so long for her and to have finally found her. When my eyes first alighted upon her, everything in me stilled. Even my magic failed me in that instant because everything that I am cried out in the joy of recognition of the other half of my being.

The world itself could have stopped turning, and I wouldn’t have noticed or cared. All my thoughts centered on the blonde-haired woman that was coming toward me. Her very hair caught the beams of sunshine, a magical glow radiating from her head like a beacon telling me that yes, it was her.

Not that I needed that to know. The hard tug in my chest propelling me to her told me quite plainly that she was the one I had been so impatiently waiting for.

And at a glance, she was everything I’d been dreaming of. Shapely with strong legs and a full bust pushing out the front of her top very nicely. My eyes were helplessly drawn to her face, a perfect oval with wide blue eyes, a nose with a delicate slope and lips that begged for my kiss.

My body reacted so strongly it’s a miracle I was able to hold myself back from striding over, tossing her over my shoulder like my ancestors had claimed their mates in the past, and teleporting us to my home where we would take our heart vows and begin our glorious life together.

It was only the closer I got that I realized something was wrong. Her magic should have been coming out to weave with my own, yet I sensed nothing. She had no magic. Which surely could not have been true.

I was Ambrose Linwood, the only son of Maggie Linwood, the most powerful witch to have ever walked this land, even to this day. My sisters and I had but a fraction of her magic and that still made us forces to be reckoned with. It stood to reason that our mates would be powerful warlocks and witches. Patience’s husband was only slightly less skilled than I was.

And during their marriage, he had grown in power.

And so shall my Natalie.

I will unlock whatever is holding her back and together we will soar.

Besides, magicless or not, loving her will be easy.

Once I held her small hand in mine, my heart grew warm as emotions surged through me. I grew downright sappy, composing a sonnet and wishing fervently that I had a better singing voice so that I might serenade my love. I could make a potion to improve my voice. That was an easy enough task, and one I will do when we get to our home.

“I should know you?” her voice breaks me out of my thoughts, and I see her frowning up at me.

“No matter,” I mutter, giving her a gentle smile. “We shall learn all about each other, together.”

She crosses her arms, the bags swinging from them crinkling as she does. “I still don’t know your name, even though you know mine.”

Pain lances through me. Her name is imprinted on my heart, as mine should be upon hers. Gritting my teeth, I do my best not to let it show how much this hurts me. “Ambrose, my name is Ambrose.”

“Fitting.” Natalie smiles, a hint of pink blooming on her cheeks. “You wanted to take me on a date?”

Her smile muddles my brain, and all I can do is stare at her while thanking the universe for finally giving me my mate. Though human, she is still divine. The wait, though painful, was worth it. “A date,” I repeat after her, while bobbing my head up and down.

“Let me give you my number,” she says, digging in her pocket. “Where’s your phone?”

“Phone?” My brow crinkles down. “I don’t have one.” The very idea of using one is laughable.

Which she does. A low and husky laugh that makes my balls draw up tight and my mouth feels parched.

“No phone? You use doves to carry your messages instead of pigeons, right? Or magic.”

Indignation flares through me and I fight to keep my tone level. “Of course, I use magic.”

“You’re cute.” Natalie rummages around in her purse and produces a pen. Before I’m aware of what she’s doing, my hand is cradled in hers.

I’m transfixed by her touch. This is the first time she’s willingly touched me. Her fingers are soft against my skin. Pinpricks of energy flare at each point of contact, and it’s glorious.

She writes a series of numbers on the back of my hand. When she releases it, I nearly whimper at missing her touch.

“Call me and we’ll set something up,” she says, tossing the pen back in her purse.

I’m unable to bear the idea of being parted from her. “Tonight,” I rasp in a voice filled with need.

Her nose scrunches up adorably, and I can’t believe I’ve gone over four hundred years without having that sight in my life.

“Sure, why not? We’ll work out the details later.”

Natalie gives me a parting smile and then she’s gone.