by Nina Bangs
Sparkle smiled. “See, he’s learning. Once in a while he asks people what they want.”
“Yes.” Kim never took her gaze from Brynn. “I want to share his life, every single century of it.”
Ganymede nodded. “It’s done.” He glanced away. “I can’t help you guys have kids. When I gave you the compulsion, Brynn, I figured you didn’t need thousands of kiddies calling you Daddy down through the centuries. So I made sure it wouldn’t happen. But who knows. I never thought the compulsion would go away by itself, so anything’s possible.”
Sparkle picked Ganymede up and headed for the door. “I’ll see you guys soon. And absolutely do not let Asima help you plan the wedding. It’ll be a disaster.”
When Sparkle opened the door, Deimos was on the other side. He edged past Sparkle to hand Gabriel to Brynn. “You forgot this little guy back in that house. He was pretty brave to fight back against the archdemon. I didn’t think he deserved to be left behind.” He backed out the door. “Talk to you later.”
Brynn met those big red eyes. “Sorry, buddy. I wasn’t thinking straight back there. I didn’t mean to forget you.”
“I didn’t forget him.” Fo peered out from Kim’s pocket. “I was going to remind you as soon as you got finished talking about your stuff.”
Brynn put Gabriel into his pocket, stood, and then pulled Kim into his embrace. “I’ll have to get rid of all my Wicked Red Blow Pops.”
“Now why would you do that?” She looked at him with all the wonder of their love in her eyes.
He ran his fingers through the shining strands of her flame hair. “Because I have the only Wicked Red I’ll ever need.” And then he covered her mouth with his.
Fo sighed wistfully. “I wish we could touch like that, Gabriel.”
Red eyes locked with purple eyes. “I’ll find a way.” Gabriel’s voice held a promise.
Epilogue
Married. Kim still got a rush just thinking the word. And best of all, they’d said their vows in the castle’s new chapel she’d designed. “Wow, I just realized I have almost forever to hone my nagging-wife skills.” Kim lay beside Brynn on their new bed. She wore the sinful silk thingee Sparkle had insisted would drive Brynn to uncontrolled lust. Brynn wore nothing. She liked his outfit better.
Brynn ran his finger along the swell of her breast. “You can nag me through eternity if you wear things like this to bed.”
The sound of laughter in the next room caught her attention. “I forgot. I promised Fo and Gabriel we’d stop over before the end of the night to see something Gabriel’s been working on.” She swung her feet to the floor and slipped into her robe.
Resignedly, Brynn pulled on his robe as well. “This better be worth me letting you out of bed.”
Kim patted his supremely fine butt. “I’m glad Fo’s so happy. They have their own room, and they’re in love. What if Sergei had only made one of them? It would’ve been so sad.” She knocked on the connecting door and then entered.
Fo and Gabriel were propped up in front of a large monitor. Gabriel had a lot more advanced programming than anyone had suspected. And Kim widened her eyes as she realized how he was using his impressive brainpower.
An eye-popping graphic of a naked couple in bed filled the screen. The woman’s eyes were purple, and the man’s were red. They were, um, doing things. Okay, didn’t need to see any more. Kim fixed her unblinking stare on Gabriel.
“Interesting.” Brynn sounded fascinated.
“We can experience physical sensations through the computer.” Gabriel was eager to explain. “I’ve been able to duplicate the five senses, so in our own way we can have a sexual relationship. I’ll keep upgrading it as I learn more.”
“That’s amazing.” Kim thought Gabriel’s intelligence was so far off the chart he’d find a way to get whatever he wanted.
Fo looked at Kim. “We might not have human forms, Kimmie, but I think Gabriel and I are part of humanity. It doesn’t matter what name people give you, it’s what’s in your heart that makes you human.” She shifted her gaze to Gabriel, and her purple eyes glowed with her love for him.
“You’re right, Fo. We’ll leave you guys alone now.” Kim felt tears welling as she followed Brynn from the room.
Once back in bed and wrapped in Brynn’s arms, Kim voiced her thoughts. “You know, Fo’s right. I think our love for each other gave you back your humanity. All those centuries, you only felt hatred and bitterness. The compulsion ruled you, and you let it. But once you reached outside yourself to love, the compulsion couldn’t hold you. No one knows the real power of the human will, and I think you willed it away because you finally found something worth fighting for.” Jeez, she sounded like the happily-ever-after last line of a romance novel.
Gabriel didn’t say anything for a long time, and then he laughed softly. “I think you’ve nailed it.” He deftly slipped the silk thingee off her. “Let’s celebrate the power of the human will.”
For Curt Groff
This will probably embarrass the heck out of Curt, but yes, Virginia, real-life heroes do exist. Curt is married to one of my best friends, and when he realized I’d have to evacuate for Hurricane Rita, he rode to my rescue in his trusty SUV. He fought traffic to get to my condo before taking control of the chaos surrounding me. He waited in line for an hour to buy plywood, carried the wood up three flights of stairs because the sheets were too tall to fit in the elevator, and then boarded up my sliding glass door. He helped tape my windows, took photos of all my rooms, and risked his life to catch my panicked cat who’d made her last stand under my toilet and was threatening to rip apart anyone who tried to cram her into a carrier. Then I followed him all the way to his home—a drive that should’ve taken less than four hours took twelve instead.
Curt also contributed all the fishing information for this book. Is there no end to the talents of this man?
He wouldn’t let me give him any kind of thank-you gift, so I decided to dedicate this book to him instead.
This one’s for you, Curt.
Berkley Sensation books by Nina Bangs
WICKED NIGHTS
WICKED PLEASURE