Afterwards, Benton lay against her, heavy and lax and perfect. Inside of her, his erection began to soften. Already, Ellis missed him.
“I was really scared for you,” murmured Benton hoarsely into the comfortable silence that had settled between them, and Ellis’ heart lurched in her chest.
“I was pretty scared for me too,” confessed Ellis, her arms tightening around Benton.
“I might never let you out of my sight ever again.” He nuzzled against the side of her head. “Guess I’ll just have to marry you.”
Ellis squeaked, her entire body jolting against his.
“Do you mean that?” asked Ellis, her heart pounding in her chest. It wasn’t from their lovemaking.
Groaning, Benton levered himself up enough to look Ellis in the eye.
“Yes, of course,” he said. His expression was very serious, the look in his eyes intent. “Dr. Ellis Hale, you’re my soul mate, and I love you. Will you marry me?”
“I wouldn’t have anyone else!”
Ellis just had time to see Benton’s expression soften, then she was leaning up to kiss him senseless.
Between all their celebrating, they didn’t get much sleep that night.
Chapter 16 – Benton
Benton abandoned Marc on the island.
He might have felt bad about that, but Ellis had left Emilio behind as well. Apparently, sometime between being foisted on each other as unexpected roommates and the firebirds’ chicks being fledged, Marc and Emilio had become best friends. They had also worked out a business plan, one that they had stayed behind to present to the village elders in Luel.
It sounded exciting, and Benton wished them well with that, but he couldn’t help but notice that Marissa hadn’t stayed behind with them. She was sitting alone, at as great a distance from everyone else as was possible on a ship as small as Captain Renau’s. Marissa looked almost as unhappy as Cameron.
Cameron had already apologized to everyone for what had happened, but he still seemed to be wrestling with the part that he had played in the chain of events that had nearly ended in the murder of his twin, his cousin, and Ellis.
For herself, Ellis had already more or less recovered from the whole experience. She was happily chatting with the captain and his little first mate about her beloved firebirds.
At least she had finally admitted that he was her favorite fiery bird.
Remembering how that had happened, Benton smirked.
Cocking his head to the side, Benton listened as Ellis asked, “Someone said something very interesting while I was on the island this time. Can you really see what we all are?”
Benton stiffened.
“Yes, of course,” chirped the little girl. From the corner of his eye, Benton saw her smile at Ellis, a dimple appearing in one of her cheeks. “Your other form is very pretty.”
“Why didn’t you ever say anything?”
“It seemed unkind to speak of something that you obviously thought secret,” said the girl’s father. “And you are often very kind to us. You use our boats to move your groups and your supplies. You do not call up great storms to sink our boats. And you bring gentle showers to cool us and replenish our water supplies during the hottest, driest months of the year.”
“And sometimes you bring us luck!” added the little girl brightly.
Her father smiled down at her. “And sometimes, you even bring us luck.”
“Oh,” said Ellis faintly. “And you aren’t… afraid to let a storm dragon ride on your family’s boat?”
“You are a storm dragon!” said the captain cheerfully. “You don’t need to ride in any boat if you don’t wish it.”
“That’s true,” agreed Ellis happily. “Hey, Benton and I are going to get married next year. I… don’t suppose that we could have the ceremony on your clan’s boats? There will be a lot of dragons in attendance.”
“I think that could be arranged,” said the captain, smiling.
Ellis beamed back at him. It wasn’t even directed at him, but her happiness still made Benton’s heart trip in his chest. Ellis was stunningly pretty when she was happy.
There was a call from the back of the boat, one that Captain Renau and his daughter left to answer.
Dafina seemed to take their absence as an opportunity to speak with Ellis privately.
Mostly privately, Benton amended, because he was still shamelessly eavesdropping.
“Ellis?” asked Dafina. She sounded nervous. “We’re all really sorry we gave you such a hard time about Benton. If we had known that he was your soul mate…”
“It’s fine,” said Ellis quickly.
At the same time, Benton asked curiously, “We were pretty quiet about it. How did you know?”
“Oh!” gasped Dafina, startled. She shot a harried look his way and, as a kindness to her, Benton didn’t look up from his camera. “No, we didn’t – That was Landon. He’s an incubus. They feed on sex, so they always know when someone’s, er, getting busy near them.”
“Ah,” said Benton. “Good to know.”
The conversation kind of petered out after that.
When Dafina wandered off to talk to Parker and Kris, Benton took the opportunity to swoop in and claim a kiss from Ellis. She kissed him sweetly, her lips soft and pliant underneath his.
Then her fingers dug into his sides, tickling him, and Benton broke the kiss, laughing. Catching her wrists, Benton held her hands against his chest as he kissed her again.
Benton had spent his life looking for his soul mate, and he wasn’t disappointed by what he had found. Not at all.
I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you! Benton thought, and felt Ellis’ lips curve up against his. Through their shared bonds, he felt her affection and mirth and agreement as she echoed the sentiment back at him.
Whatever their future brought, it was going to be fun.
Benton was sure of it.
THE END
of
HER PHOTOGRAPHER PHOENIX
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Her Photographer Phoenix_A Paranormal Romance Page 13