Heart Secret
Page 36
Wonderful. And he could tell from the bond that spun between them that her serenity was bone deep and natural, that during the previous time he’d spent with her she’d been off-balance.
I have found my HeartMate, she’d said simply, mind to mind, lifting their clasped hands to her lips and kissing his big fingers, her eyes meeting his. Everything else can be finessed.
He had grinned back at her. We have plenty of options. You could even work with me in a partnership.
She’d shuddered and he’d laughed aloud.
Finally they had been dismissed . . . and somehow the moment he’d known they were free—free and together and safe—he’d become unbearably aroused.
He needed her. Now.
So hand in hand, they teleported to the door of BalmHeal estate. Even before she’d melded her visualization of the spot with his, his mind had been clear enough to pinpoint the place. A good sign.
He could barely wait to love her.
Thirty-six
Artemisia frowned. “How are we getting through the spellshields?”
The Fams laughed and ’ported in, ran toward the Residence for food.
Garrett was touched at Artemisia’s question. We. No doubt she could walk straight through the door, as always. But he’d already thought of a solution. He swung her easily into his arms.
She grinned up at him, locked her arms around his neck, and nibbled along his jawline. He panted with desire. “Let’s try it this way. The wall shields know you and they should damn well know me since they got a lick of my blood and flesh.”
Artemisia winced.
He said, “And they might even be able to sense the connection, the vibration, resonance, emotional ties, whatever between us. And my Flaired intention that I will be an inhabitant.” As he strode the few paces to the door, she tensed, but though he felt stinging along his skin, he could ignore the sensation. “Open the door.”
So she pressed the latch and the door swung open.
He could really feel the shields now, minor burning. He hurried through, released his held breath when he was past the wall, and kicked the door shut with a slam.
“We’ll get the spellshields tuned for you,” she promised.
“That would be good, but I think that if we shared a HeartBond, that would take care of the matter.”
He felt her blood heat and pick up pace; she grew warmer in his arms and he liked it.
“There’s a pretty glade to the left,” she said.
“Good,” he replied, though his own breath came a little faster since she’d opened the front of his shirt and was sliding her hands up and down his torso. His blood headed south to become sweet, edgy, urgent desire. His sex thickened.
He stepped from an arbor tunnel, turned left, followed her directions, and stood at the edge of a glen high with summer grasses and wildflowers.
So beautiful. Such a fitting place to love his Artemisia. He wished he had a blanket and a cooler of food and drink—wine and delicacies for his woman. His HeartMate.
Still, he walked to the center of the glade and slipped her down his body, enjoying the feel of her against his hard sex. Holding her hands, he stepped back to arm’s length and said a couplet that had their clothes falling away.
Her gaze focused on his cock and he grew even harder, thicker, needier.
As for her—she was simply the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen—her breasts and hips full curves, her waist small, the tumble of her dark brown, black, deep red hair accenting the cream of her skin and the emerald of her eyes.
His. His. His. It was a chant of the pulsing of his blood, knowledge settling into the marrow of his bone.
“Love with me,” he whispered.
“Yes.”
“HeartBond with me,” he said.
She stared at him with serious eyes. “We don’t know each other well.”
“Well enough.” He stepped closer until his body touched hers, lifted one of her hands to his lips, then the other. “We will explore each other, and the future together.”
Her smile bloomed bright and shining. “Yes.”
So he took them down into the fragrant summer grass, the summer land, and their hands and mouths and tongues explored, producing sighs and quivers and a longing that only each other could assuage.
And when he couldn’t wait anymore, he slid inside her and she tightened around him and they pounded the rhythm of love together. The HeartBond materialized and he threw it to her and she caught it and tied them together, and even as reality fell away, they were bound together forever.
He was whole and complete at last.
When he could, he opened his eyes, lazily noted her own dreamy gaze, the ruddiness of her lips. Beautiful.
Then her eyes cleared and he knew that the mundane would soon envelope them, the everyday. But wonder yet fizzed in his blood, a gentle serenity still stayed near, with him. Artemisia. HeartBonded HeartMate, a comfort even in the quiet moments of the day.
He pulled her close, until she was propped on his chest and he felt the soft weight of her breasts.
She sifted her fingers through his hair. “You’re all right with living here with me?”
“Yes, of course. Living here will be great.”
Her breath sighed out. “Good.”
Yes, it was. A lovely place, a secret that he’d keep close. It, too, settled into his soul. But on to the everyday of things. “I’ll need an office outside. And I think I can get your job back at Primary HealingHall.”
“I don’t know—”
“The newssheets are beginning to relate the results of the experiment. You are a heroine.”
Her brows dipped. “I’m not.”
He kissed her. “Oh, yes, you are. They’ve already told of your selflessness of staying at the bedside of a man suffering from the Iasc sickness for four days.”
She blinked. “I did nothing out of the ordinary—”
“Not for a dedicated Healer,” he said, lifted her fingers, and kissed them one by one. “But there wouldn’t be many who would have done that, and most other Celtans would be scared down to their toenails at the thought. You’re a heroine. And a heroine this morning, too. You’ll be legendary. More than Ura Heather, who is a FirstFamily Lady who runs things, not acts.” He smiled at her surprise. “And I think that lady will want to keep your fame tied directly to herself and Primary HealingHall.”
“No, she doesn’t like me.”
Garrett shrugged. “That won’t matter to her as much as the fame.”
“You think?”
“I think. So now that we’ve got that settled.” He ran a hand down to her lush hip, squeezed.
“We’re HeartBound now,” she said and her whole being seemed to glow to him. He’d done that, given her that glow.
And she’d given him peace and love like he’d never known.
HeartMates, HeartBound, they fit, were right for each other. He hadn’t realized what that really had meant. “I love you. Marry me.”
“Yes.”
He grinned. “You’re supposed to make me work harder for the answer.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
Again he caught her hands, placed them over his heart so she could feel it beating—fast and for her. “The future is ours.”
“Yes. The future is ours.”
“And no more secrets,” he said.
Her lips curved and she kissed him and he wanted more, but she withdrew. Her green gaze matched his. “Only those we keep together.”
* * *
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Robin D. Owens is a RITA Award–winning author. She lives in Denver, Colorado. Visit her website at www.robindowens.com.
Titles by Robi
n D. Owens
HEARTMATE
HEART THIEF
HEART DUEL
HEART CHOICE
HEART QUEST
HEART DANCE
HEART FATE
HEART CHANGE
HEART JOURNEY
HEART SEARCH
HEART SECRET
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WHAT DREAMS MAY COME
(with Sherrilyn Kenyon and Rebecca York)
HEARTS AND SWORDS