by P. C. Cast
It was mesmerizing, watching the way the glow spread out from his eyes, spilling beneath his skin, until his body was burning like a glittering, incandescent source of light. And just as Alia had told him, her body began to change with his, her skin turning the same mystifying shade of gold. As his skin burned against hers, and inside her body, his massive shaft grew impossibly hotter, thicker, intensifying the pleasure. She writhed beneath him, the sensations surging through her like a devastating wave of pain-edged ecstasy, the ache somehow blending with the screamingly intense pulses of pleasure until she was crying and moaning his name, clawing at him, wanting more…and more. The deep, rhythmic tremors of her building orgasm grew steadily stronger, his powerful body driving into her harder… deeper, and then she exploded, the ecstasy consuming her in a shocking, dizzying explosion of heat and white, blinding light. Her neck arched as she screamed from the brutal, evocative waves crashing through her, each one somehow sweeter and more perfect than the last.
As if consumed by the same violent need that burned through her, Rhys drove himself into her body so hard that the entire bed frame slammed against the wall, the wood cracking sharply just as his own release tore through him, the primal roar that broke from his chest the most delicious sound she’d ever heard. And as he spilled into her, the scorching, shocking blast of heat from his seed pulled a deep, sensual moan from her throat.
Oh, Christ, are you okay? he growled just seconds later, panting for air, and she wondered if he even realized that he’d spoken the words within her mind.
I’m melting with pleasure, she silently whispered, already swept up in another devastating climax that seemed even more powerful than the others. She would have laughed at the breathtaking look of wonder that bloomed over his face, but the intensity of the orgasm swept through her, and she passed out, everything going dark and black and silent. When she finally came back, Rhys’s body was plastered against hers, his breath warm against her ear. They stayed like that for a long, endless moment, then finally pulled themselves from the bed so that they could bathe together before the room’s crackling fire, in a copper tub of water that steamed from the lingering heat in their bodies. Then they returned to the bed, making love twice more before he wrapped her in his strong arms and pulled her against his chest. They lay on their sides, facing each other, sharing the same pillow…the same air as they breathed, lost in each other’s eyes.
“Do you think there’s anyone at the Consortium we should tell about the Markers?” she asked, tangling her legs with his.
He shook his head, pulling her closer, as if he wanted nothing more than to absorb her into his body. “Not after what happened with Barrett. There’s no one we can trust.”
“The danger is still out there,” she whispered, “and we still don’t know who wants the crosses, or why. But I have an idea that might work for keeping them safe.”
“What is it?” he asked, and she had to force herself to concentrate as he shifted back a little to trail his fingertips over her collarbone, before traveling lower, down the center of her chest.
“I was thinking that they should be separated, making them more difficult to find. So we could bury them individually, scattering the locations over as many different countries as we can,” she explained, struggling to focus as his fingertips softly circled her navel. “Then we can find some corner of the world that we love more than all the others, and we’ll build a home there. One that’s filled with laughter and love and as many children as we can fit.”
He made a thick sound of excitement in his throat, then kissed her deeply…hungrily, as if he couldn’t get enough of her taste. “You know what that means then, don’t you?”
“What’s that?” she asked breathlessly, still buzzing from his devastating kiss.
“If we’re going to have that many babies, then we’re going to need lots of practice,” he murmured with a wicked smile, rolling her beneath his hard, beautiful body. And moments later, they began to burn.
EPILOGUE
Six months later…
Standing at the top of a colorful, flower-covered hill, Rhys stared out over the breathtaking landscape of the Tuscany valley below them. Twilight touched its soft fingers to the majestic beauty of the land, painting it with dappled shades of purple and pink, and yet it was still incomparable to that of the woman at his side, a gentle smile curving her lips as she stared out over the valley with him. Her slender fingers were twined with his, her delicate form pressed close along the left side of his body, as if she couldn’t stand to have any space between them. The thought made his pulse quicken, but then it was still a powerful shock to his system, the fact that Alia loved him as desperately as he loved her.
Though they’d learned so much since that harrowing night at the Wookey Hole Caves, there were still so many questions that remained unanswered. Who had Barrett been working for all those months ago? Why did they want the Markers so badly? What unknown purposes did the crosses possess? And while he and Alia didn’t have the answers, they knew, without any doubt, that they were doing the right thing. Especially now that they’d heard fragments of a Gypsy legend that foretold of the return of the Casus—a return that would one day awaken the dormant Merrick bloodlines. Alia was adamant that if that time ever came, their descendants would need a way of finding the ancient crosses, and so they’d decided to leave maps behind that would lead to the Markers’ locations.
Now, after months of planning, they’d finally come to the picturesque hillside to bury the first cross. Years from now, after they’d finished hiding the others, they would return to this place and bury the maps alongside the Dark Marker that her father had once taken to study. Alia assured him this cross would be the first to be found, and she planned to spell the maps they would eventually bury here to ensure their preservation. The maps would also be encrypted with a special code that Alia’s mother had used for her most powerful spells, making it nearly impossible to break.
“You do realize how difficult we’ll have made this for them, don’t you?” he’d asked as they’d made their journey to Italy, thinking of the Buchanans who might one day need to find the crosses.
Alia had given him a secret smile as she’d said, “Our bloodline is going to be incredibly powerful. And I’ll leave them gifts. Special ones that will help them when the time comes.”
Though it seemed an impossible feat, Rhys had no doubt that she would be able to do just that. As her powers grew, it truly awed him, the things she was capable of. But nothing awed him more than the way she’d transformed his life.
Turning his head to gaze down at the precious woman who was now his beloved wife, he murmured, “So you really think they’ll be able to find this place?”
She smiled that secret, bewitching smile of hers as they both turned to face each other, her hands settling on his shoulders, while he looped his arms around her waist. “I know they will,” she told him, leaning up on her toes to press a tender kiss against his lips. “Just as I know that you’re going to make a wonderful father some day, Rhys.”
Her words hit him low in his body, then spread outward in a warm wave of emotion, melting his heart. “How do you know?” he asked, his words soft with reverence.
“Because I know your heart,” she murmured, her blue eyes shining with happiness. “I’ve seen the light inside of you, and it’s beautiful.”
Rhys’s breath caught as he took in her expression. When she looked at him like that, he could almost believe that she truly did see beauty within him.
I love you, he told her, lifting his right hand to cup the side of her face as he stroked his thumb against her soft skin.
Her face tilted a little to the side, into the palm of his hand, and she silently said, I love you, too. So much, Rhys.
Thank you, he added, the simple words rough with emotion.
She blinked, and the corner of her mouth lifted with a questioning smile. “For what?”
“For everything,” he said in a low voice, pulling
her tight against the front of his body. “For coming into my life. For loving me. For showing me what it’s like to be happy.” His left hand moved between them, covering her belly, where their children would someday grow. “For the family we’re going to have one day. For giving me you, Alia.”
Tears slipped onto her cheeks as he kissed his way into her mouth, and he embraced the familiar spill of fire that seared through his veins. He no longer shunned the heat. How could he, when Alia was his bright, shining light? When he’d first met her, she had been the endless, sunlit sky to his lonely darkness. Then she’d made him a part of her world, and brought the warmth of the sun to his cold existence. She had brought him laughter and love and smiles, as well as a sweet, joyful hope for the future.
She had brought him pure, breathtaking happiness, and in return, Rhys loved her more than any man had ever loved a woman.
He always would.
Forever.
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