“Oh, really.” Parisa’s eyes darkened.
His heart gave a little cry of joy. “Jealous?” he asked. He slid his arms around her back and pulled her close, even though he was still dust-laden and she was wet. She’d end up muddy but he didn’t care.
“You just stay away from Havily Morgan, vampire.” She kissed him again, only this one involved a lot of tongue and hard probing until his lips parted and she could force her way into his mouth. He groaned to see his woman intent on staking her claim.
She put her hand on his shoulder. He felt the vibration of a clothing-fold, but her powers in this area were still clearly lacking. His shirt was now plastered over his face. He was laughing as he sent, Try it again.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry.” The vibration began and yes, his shirt was off but now his cargoes were caught around his ankles. He fell backward, pulling her with him.
She was a laughing, muddy mess as she saw what she’d done. He didn’t care. She was in exactly the position he wanted her as he said, “Complete the breh-hedden with me, Parisa, here and now.”
Her brows rose and her body stilled on top of his. He thought the thought and got rid of his pants and steel-toed boots, even his socks.
“I want to,” she said. “But there’s something I need to know.”
“And what’s that?” he asked softly. He didn’t want to spook her.
She smiled, a very soft smile, and put her hand on his cheek. He turned into her hand and put a kiss in the center of her palm. She wiggled her hips against his in response. He groaned.
“Wait,” she said, breathless. “The sex is always great with you. But something has troubled me for days now, since I learned we had the same kind of wings, royle wings. I know that something extraordinary happens when the final link of a breh-hedden settles into place but, Antony I have this feeling”—she leaned sideways slightly to put her fist between her br**sts—“right here. I’m worried.”
He sat up and drew her onto his lap. They were naked and a mess, but whatever this was it had to be settled first. “You’re worried about our wings?”
She nodded. “But I don’t know why.”
“I have the same heavy sensation as well. This could be an extension of the breh-hedden, I just don’t know. What I do know is that I don’t care. I want this with you more than anything in the world. I want the added responsibility, and I want the increase in powers. I want you in my life now and forever, no matter what comes, no matter what difficulties emerge, no matter what powers come to us as a couple. I want this because I want you.”
Tears shimmered in her eyes. “I was so proud of my independence.” She shook her head. “But not until I collided with your warrior world did I start to understand that I’d built walls, just like yours, to hold the pain of the world at bay.
“I never got close to anyone because it hurt too much to leave people behind and to go through the pain of starting over. Now here I am and when you were asleep in that strange place, I awoke trapped but I found my way out by realizing that if I was going to have any hope of living and of getting us both out of there, I would have to find some way of reaching out for help.
“That’s when it dawned on me that I might be able to reach Endelle with my voyeur’s window because she has a window as well. When it worked, when I contacted her, I was so not surprised. Our waging an effective war will only work if we join forces.
“After we brought Fiona and the rest of the blood slaves home, I’d been so puffed up in my new abilities that I’d missed the whole point—we’d brought them home as a unit.” She kissed him. “Do you see? My independence had become an excuse not to get close to anyone. That was why I fell for Rith’s deception—it never occurred to me to question what I was looking at, or to seek counsel from anyone else, or to even contact you mind-to-mind. It was just me, acting alone.”
She relaxed against him. “Now I’m here. With you. And there’s nowhere else I want to be.”
He put his hand on the back of her neck. “You still want to be a Militia Warrior?”
She shook her head. “Truth? I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s the right path for me or not.” Then she smiled. “I think I need to seek counsel on that one, you know, not make the decision all by myself.”
He laughed. He kissed her. “So you think you love me?” The question had just slipped out and his chest seized. What if she didn’t or wasn’t sure? Shit, he should have kept his trap shut.
But she stroked his cheek. “Oh, God. I’m sooo in love with you. I’m bewitched. If you weren’t a good vampire, I’d say you had enthralled me. I think about you all the time, I crave your body, and when I see you my heart aches. How is that even possible? Antony, I love you.”
Relief was another dam breaking and spilling. But he pressed on: “Will you complete the breh-hedden with me?”
She nodded. “Yes. Right here, right now.” She glanced down at her naked br**sts and grimaced. “Is that mud?”
“Yes.” He laughed. “We made mud.”
“Why don’t we fire up the shower again and take care of business.”
Shivers rained down his body and his c**k responded, hardening, twitching, seeking.
“Sage,” she murmured. She groaned and fell on him, kissing him as she once more forced her tongue into his mouth.
Her hips were connected low, just in the right place. If he shifted just a little, moved her up then down, he could impale her on him. If the tangerine scent flooding the room meant what it always had before, she’d be ready for him.
But like hell he was going to do this on the floor covered with mud.
He surrounded her with his arms, holding her against him, then with a good old-fashioned piece of levitation he rose up. With her feet dangling off the floor and her arms around his neck, he smiled down into her beautiful face and carried her into the shower.
He hit the lever and got all eight heads to blasting on them both. She took soap and worked over his body. He turned his back to her and had the pleasure of her hands soaping him from head to foot. It felt cleansing, even healing.
But when he turned to face her and she started lathering her own chest, he grabbed the bar of soap and growled, “My turn.”
She giggled but the resulting wave of tangerine told him exactly how happy she was about his possession of the soap.