“Lindy and Valen will be back,” Briar said, checking her watch. “Sylvain went hunting—‘just in case.’” She shook her head, and her light brown hair flew around her face. “I’d like to get there soon.”
“I’ll go with you,” Marcus said, just as Horus yawned hugely. “Then I’ll run back.”
Seti was asleep, and according to Hudson, probably wouldn’t wake up until morning. He was on a special cocktail of pain medicine and antibiotics, but needed to be monitored. Because he wasn’t fully human yet, his body tended to burn through the medicine quickly.
Rose wanted to stay, too, but Hudson frowned so deeply at her suggestion that she backed off. “I don’t need any help,” he said, “and you’ll just get in the way.”
Straightening her shoulders, she prepared herself to go toe-to-toe with him, but Ra stopped her by taking her hand. “He’s right,” he said. “He’s had to work around the three of us for the past thirty-six hours, and he’s testy. I can’t fight him if he’s rude to you.”
“I don’t want you to fight anyone,” she argued, “but what if Seti wakes up?”
“He won’t.” Hudson’s voice was decisive. “Go home with my wife. Please. She’s anxious to see our daughter, and I’m anxious to be left alone.”
Sighing, Rose acquiesced. “You’ll tell him I’ll be back in the morning.” She channeled some of Ra’s commanding as she stared at Hudson. “And you’ll call if anything changes. Or he needs me.”
The icy-eyed vampire smiled and bowed his head slightly. “Of course.”
After one last kiss on Seti’s cool brow, she took Ra and Horus’s hands and left.
Briar drove again. This time much faster, and she didn’t say much. Rose could sense her desire to be home, so she swallowed down any comments she wanted to make about the other woman’s driving.
“You’re wearing your seatbelts, right?”
Horus was in the front seat, and she couldn’t be sure. “Yes,” he replied, while Ra’s answer was to take her hand and bring it over his chest to touch the belt.
Briar turned off the street into the driveway and shut off the car. Moving at vampire speed, she was out and into the house before Rose blinked.
“It’s hard to be away from family,” Horus said.
“I know,” she said, thinking of Seti’s sleeping form. At a much slower pace, the three of them got out of the car and climbed the steps to the house. Ra held her hand tight in his, seemingly unwilling to stop touching her.
Rose wasn’t complaining at all. This affectionate side of Ra was exactly what she needed. She didn’t want to let either of them out of her sight after what they’d gone through. Horus put his hand on the doorknob, but she stopped him before he could open it.
“I love you both,” she whispered. “I don’t want to go another second without saying it again.”
Horus leaned his back against the door, smiling down at her. His hair was a little longer than it was when she’d first met him, but his smile was just as warm and his eyes just as kind. He leaned over, closing the distance between them to kiss her gently. “I love you, beautiful girl.”
Ra pulled her away before lifting her in his arms. He held her so tight, burying his face against her neck. “I love you. Never doubt it.”
She didn’t. These men had given up everything for her.
Light spilled from the open door as Horus opened it and stepped inside, leaving her and Ra on the steps. She took a step, but he stopped her. Glancing over her shoulder at him, she froze in the intensity of his stare. “What is it?” When he didn’t answer right away, she wrapped her arms around his waist. “Ra?”
He stared down at her. “Do you want me?”
This man had saved her life more times than she could count. He was harsh and demanding and held himself to unattainable standards. Did she want him? “More than anything.”
That seemed to be all the answer he needed.
Dragging her through the open door, he shut it hard and called out, “We’re going to bed!”
Her face flushed, but one glance at Ra made all embarrassment melt away. This beautiful man wanted her. Her. After surviving the unsurvivable.
She did her best to keep up with him as he pulled her upstairs and down the hallway into a guest room. “I don’t relish the fact that I don’t have my own home to bring you to, or at least an empty one, but I find I don’t care.” His accent was thick as he shut and locked the door behind them.
Rose panted, trying to catch her breath both from exertion and from the excitement building in her stomach.
He stared at her hard before he spoke again. “Strip.”
His voice sent shivers along her spine. It took her brain a second to catch up, but once it did, she burst into action. She tore her t-shirt over her head, ripped her bra off, and shimmied out of her pants.
Ra was his own flurry of motion but had frozen the second her fingers touched the button on her jeans. They hadn’t fallen to the floor before he had her wrapped in his arms.
32
Ra
“Rose.” Her name passed through his mind over and over. Ra couldn’t speak, could barely breathe, from having her in his arms. Finally.
Being almost-human was difficult. It was harder to share his thoughts with her like he could once. He could sense those strong emotions coming off of her in waves, but the words floated up to him like bubbles from beneath the water. One day, those bubbles would pop and be lost forever, but he couldn’t find it in himself to regret his choice.
What he’d asked Rose to do.
Her skin was pebbled with goosebumps, so he lifted her in his arms—at least he could still do that—and placed her beneath the covers on the bed.
She turned to him immediately, opening her arms wide to welcome him.
Sliding in beside her, he held her, just for a moment. Utterly content with merely having her skin against his.
Love. He loved this woman with all his being. She was the only thing in this world who had touched his heart, and made him actually live.
How ironic that it had taken a human to finally bring him to life.
Rose’s leg slid along his, opening her up to him. Her warm, wet heat pressed along his thigh and suddenly all thoughts of holding her disappeared.
He needed more.
Rolling them, he propped himself above her. She opened her legs wider, knees parting and lifting to grip his hips.
His body acted without thought. Her heat drew him in, and he slid his cock along her slick folds.
“Rose.” He moaned her name. How in the world had he earned this? He’d done nothing very special, nothing very good, and yet somehow, this wild, fierce survivor of a girl chose him.
“Ra.” She kissed along his neck, dragged her teeth along the cord of his neck, and blew warm air over his wet flesh. “I love you.”
Love. Meeting her had given a whole new meaning to the word. He had loved his parents—and burned the world down in anger after their deaths. He loved his brothers. They were an extension of him.
But Rose. Rose was his past, present, and future all wrapped up in one package. He would never know what exactly had drawn him to that dying girl a decade ago, but he thanked whatever forces in the universe had nudged him.
He dropped his head until their lips touched. Her breath was sweet and minty from the candy she’d been sucking on. Ra tasted it on her lips and on her tongue as he slid into her mouth.
Rose whimpered. She tucked her arms beneath his, reaching around his back to pull him closer to her.
He needed the same thing. To be so close there was no space between them. No end to her and no beginning to him.
Her hips undulated, as he brought his knees between them and sat back. The blanket fell from his shoulders as he stared down at the woman he loved.
Her skin was glistening, legs spread wide, and face flushed. She stared at him so trustingly, he couldn’t take it. He flattened one hand against the mattress as he leaned in.
; She caught him before their lips touched, her hands cupping his face. He kissed her once before sliding down her body. He kissed her neck, sucking her salty skin into his mouth and slid down farther.
He pressed his mouth between her breasts. She was warmer here, like the heat that had drawn them together was outside her body as well.
Turning his head, he captured one of her nipples with his mouth. He sucked on it lightly, and then, when she curled her fingers around the back of his head, scraping at his skin, he pulled harder.
His erection was nestled between them, and she rocked against him.
He was fast losing control. He wanted to stay gentle, but the sensations were too much. His body was on fire, his cock rock hard and throbbing.
As if she could read his mind, Rose wrapped her hand around him, aiming him toward her core and wiggled. “In me, Ra. Please.”
But he wasn’t ready for that. He’d been waiting and waiting for this moment, determined that when they joined, it would be perfect and that Rose would know she was his forever.
Sliding even further, he lifted her legs so her knees were bent and spread. She gave a little squeak of embarrassment that turned into a moan as he licked his way from her entrance to her clit.
He sucked hard on that bundle of nerves, tapping it with his tongue before he licked back to her entrance. He pushed a finger inside her, and she clamped down on him.
“I have to feel.” He didn’t even know what he was saying anymore. Her muscles had fluttered around him, and he wanted to feel more.
He inserted another finger inside her while he went back to her clit, and then another, fucking her slowly, stretching her so she’d be ready for him.
Wetness dripped down his fingers and knuckles, and he smiled against her, humming gently in satisfaction.
“Ra.” Her voice held a warning. “I want to feel you in me.”
He wanted that, too, but the taste of her…
Easing back, he gripped his erection, lining it up with her core.
She put her leg around his waist, her heel digging into his lower back to urge him forward. He fell forward, descending on her mouth like the air in her lungs was what he needed to survive.
He pinned her down as he pushed inside her, gasping at the tight clasp of her.
This was right. This was where he was supposed to be. Every moment, every second of his life had been leading to this.
Drawing away, he stared down into Rose’s dark eyes. She bit her lip, body undulating anxiously as she tried to make him move.
It was hard for him not to rear back and then slam inside her. His body was aching to do that, but when he dragged out slowly and Rose gasped, he knew he was doing the right thing.
Slow. Steady. Thrust.
Rose curled around him, her arms tight over his muscles, fingers digging in as he sped up.
She kissed his shoulder and along his neck before she seemed to lose herself. She cried out, body clamping down tight, as she fluttered around him.
And bit.
That bite was Ra’s undoing. He pushed his hand between them, rubbing her clit, and she tightened even further. He came, wave after wave of release rushing out of him and into her.
He held himself there, so deep, as the world fell back into place.
His Rose. His life.
“You’re mine forever,” he whispered. His shoulder ached, but he relished it. She’d marked him as hers, and he loved it. “For however long that is.”
She let out a breath and wrapped her arms around his neck. “For your entire life,” she whispered back, and he smiled.
“For my entire life.”
33
Five Years Later
Horus
The tractor rumbled beneath him as he finished cutting the hay field. It stretched in front of him, lines of green that would lighten to gold as they sat in the summer sun. He wiped his face and glanced back toward the house where his wife and brothers were.
He was anxious to return, but the phone in his pocket hadn’t vibrated, so he knew they were well. It would have been nice if they’d retained the ability to speak with their minds, but with humanity came some losses—immortality, quick healing, and silent communication.
But what it brought was so much better than that.
Horus squinted as the final pass through the field put the midday sun directly in his eyes. Sweat dripped off his face. It was time to return home and hold his wife in his arms.
34
Ra
Ra walked outside the barn, breathing in the grassy scent of hay and the sweet stench of horse shit.
And he smiled.
Because he was home.
Somehow, he’d managed to talk his city girl into country living. “I’m not going to be any good at it,” she’d said.
He honestly wasn’t sure he’d be good at it either, but as time had passed and he’d become more human, the need for space became more and more important. He yearned for open fields and the sounds of animals. He wanted to do something with his hands, make or grow something. He didn’t want to return to Egypt—he wouldn’t take Rose so far away from everything she knew—but there was one place he thought of that had given him and his brothers comfort for years.
The countryside would be safe. Here, he could protect his family and figure out what it meant to be what they now were. He no longer had the ability to command others to bend to his will. Nor could he speak to Rose or his brothers from miles away.
When those abilities had disappeared, he’d lived in dread that the most important power he and his brothers had would disappear, too. But whatever magical, spiritual connection they had to Rose still kept her pain at bay. That was the only thing that mattered as far as he was concerned.
That and his brothers’ health, and so far, they hadn’t caught a cold. He wasn’t sure what they would be called now—human-ish, vampire-ish, something in between—but it didn’t matter, because the most important names he had weren’t dependent on his immortality. Brother. Husband.
Father.
35
Seti
Yawning, Seti finished hanging the laundry across the line in the backyard. Around him, birds chirped and cicadas hummed. His leg ached a little where his knee was strapped into his prosthesis, reminding him to take a break and take in the world around him.
Horus was in the field and Ra tinkering in the barn.
And Rose…
In the distance came the slow creak of the porch swing as Rose pushed herself back and forth. He’d hung that thing himself. Balanced his wobbly ass on the ladder to screw the bolts into place and then accepted the glass of lemonade from Rose like he’d just cured cancer.
His leg throbbed again. Take in the world around you. He would go to her, right now, and do just that.
36
Rose
Rose never imagined when she looked up at the snowy Boston sky at twelve years old that she’d know what forever looked like.
She never imagined that it was falling in love with three immortals, and taking that immortality away.
But there it was.
Rose pushed her foot on the ground, sending the porch swing into motion. The tiny person in her arms squirmed, and she lifted the bundle to her face. Their baby, a little boy named Henry, smelled so good.
“I could eat you up,” she whispered against his downy skin.
Behind her, the old farmhouse door creaked as it opened. The uneven gait across the porch gave away who it was, even though she couldn’t see him. “How’s the little sleep stealer?” Seti asked as he sat carefully on the swing. He crossed his good leg over his prosthetic one and put his arm over her shoulders. Using one finger, he moved aside the blanket to see his son. “Oh. Now you sleep. Middle of the day. You couldn’t give your mama a couple hours last night?”
All Henry did was yawn, but it made Rose yawn. She dropped her head on Seti’s shoulder, but she didn’t look away. When Henry opened his eyes, they would be bright blue, just like his
.
“Miracle baby,” she said. “I can’t even be mad about it.”
“I know,” he replied. He pushed the swing until it rocked gently. They stared out across the lawn toward the barn. It was a beautiful summer day in northern Quebec, so beautiful it could trick someone who didn’t know any better into moving this far north.
Like her.
But this farm was Horus, Ra, and Seti’s home, and they loved it. Boston wasn’t for them. That became clear in the months after the Second Nightmare. As mortals, every little thing seemed a threat, and their biggest fear was that they wouldn’t be able to protect her.
They’d come up here in the fall when the weather was still warm enough that Rose had been lulled into the sense that, yes, I can do this.
Four winters out though, and she’d come to love it. Those longer winter nights were good for something. The baby in her arms was proof of that.
From her porch, Rose could see the barn, garden, and fields. She could make out the tractor Horus was driving back from the hay field, and see Ra as he stood, one foot propped on the fence as he spoke quietly to their horses.
As if he could feel his eyes on her, he turned around and waved. The horse, a moody bastard named Scratch, nibbled his shoulder jealously, and Ra spun around.
Rose laughed, and the baby startled, blinking his daddy’s eyes at her.
“Could you ever have imagined this?” Seti asked, shifting so he could hold his arms out for his son.
“No,” she answered honestly. Once the baby was settled in his arms, Rose reached for the camera she kept at her side. She slid over, making room so she could snap a picture of her family.
Echoes of Blood and Glory Page 16