by Nya Rayne
“The day we made love in the forest, I claimed you as my own, binding us for all time.” He took a careful step back from her.
“What are you talking about? We made love, that’s it.”
“As you came I said the binding words that would seal us together. I didn’t know exactly what to expect at the time, but you accepted me then—you said the sealing words in response and they were accepted by Anubis.”
“You what?” She glared at him. “You sealed me to you without my consent?” Now that he’d mentioned it, she did kind of remember saying something, but she’d thought it was a hallucination, brought on by the rioting emotions rolling through her at the time.
Fury took another step back. “You didn’t want to listen and you were determined to leave me. I had no choice.”
“You had a damn choice,” Stormy growled. “You could’ve waited for me to be sure.”
“I could have.” He reached for her, but Stormy jerked out of his grasp.
“Is that why I felt closer to you afterwards? Is that why everything thing seemed so much more vibrant to me?”
He shrugged. “It could’ve had something to do with it.”
“Here we go with that evasive shit again.” She turned and stomped away.
“Are you going to run again?” he teased.
“Don’t talk to me.” Stormy wanted to be raving mad at him. She did. But what was the point? She had no intention of ever leaving Fury. Sure, it would’ve been nice if he had let it be her decision, but in the end, would anything have been different?
“What I did, I did for us.”
“You did it for you!”
He was quiet for a long moment but he was still following her, pleading his case. “Think about it this way: now you can call upon my power whenever you need it, and aging will never be something you ever need to worry about.”
Being young forever, living for centuries instead of decades, definitely some worthwhile perks. Stormy turned to him, doing her damnedest to look pissed off. “All of that is fine and good, but you will make this up to me.”
“Whatever you want, love,” he said quickly.
Stormy moved away from Fury, her arms crossed over her chest. “First, I want to go on another shopping trip.”
“Consider it done,” he agreed with a smirk.
“I want an ultra-thin sixty-inch flat screen television. I’ve missed all of my shows over the last two weeks and I don’t intend to miss anymore.”
“Done, but I don’t think we can catch cable out here.” She could hear the smile in his voice.
Stormy glared at him. “There is such a thing as satellite, and if I remember correctly, Tempest and Crul have a pretty big flat screen in their bedroom.”
He ran his hand across his chin and gazed up at the sky. “I had forgotten about that. He bought it for her a few years ago.” Fury scratched the underside of his chin. “But it’s not a good idea to have humans sniffing around our home. Besides, I really doubt Brutus or Sodona would let them within fifty feet of us.”
Stormy stopped and turned to him. “We can work out the details later, but the most important thing I want—”
“I have something for you,” Fury said, interrupting her.
“What?”
He checked his back pockets and then his front, patting himself down a few times before he slid a finger into the tiny pocket set within his right front pocket. “Close your eyes.”
“What? No.”
“Do it,” he ordered.
“I don’t like surprises.”
“Damn it, Ambrosia, just this once, do this for me,” he said with a grin.
Stormy didn’t want to comply, but she knew whatever it was, it wasn’t going to harm her…he would never hurt her. She sighed heavily and closed her eyes. “I swear, Fury one of these days…”
“Yeah…yeah.” After a brief moment, Fury said, “You can open them.”
Dangling in front of her was the one item she had wanted from her room—her bracelet. “Fury?” she whispered his name as she took the jewelry from him and inspected it. “My bracelet. How did you know where to find it? How did you know I wanted it back?” All of the charms that had been collected over the years were there; each one sparkling like brand new.
“Let’s just say that sometimes reading minds has its perks.”
She stepped to him, slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply, telling him silently that her heart was his and perhaps it had always been.
He broke the kiss, his forehead resting against hers. “Back to your list of requirements. You were at your most important request.”
Stormy blushed as she gazed back at him. “I-I want to get married.”
He stared at her, his brows drawn together in a frown. “Married? What’s the point? You and I are bound, our souls one. There is no me without you and vice versa.”
She started walking again, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her back. “Ambrosia, talk to me.”
After a moment she told him, “I told you no woman on my mother’s side of the family has ever gotten married, didn’t I? Well, I want to be the first one. I want my day.” She slipped up close to him. “I want to break the curse and start anew, is that so bad? If we one day have a daughter, I don’t want her to think marriage isn’t a possibility for her.” She palmed the side of his face. “If we’re going to be a family in the way of the Anubi, than we need to be a family under human law as well.”
A small smile formed on his face, his gray eyes softening. He ran his thumb across her lips. “If that’s what you want, love, that’s what we’re going to do. Should I get down on one knee and ask you formally?”
Stormy laughed and pulled him to her before she kissed him long and hard. She spoke via their mental link, Don’t be an ass. Nothing else has been normal about this relationship; why should we start now?
Fury picked her up, pulled her closer, and deepened their kiss. I’m going to love you for an eternity. You know that, don’t you?
And then some, Stormy replied as the earth vanished from beneath her feet and her head began to spin. And then some.
About the Author
Nya Rayne resides in North Carolina with her rambunctious German shepherd, and has been in love with fiction since she picked up her first copy of V.C. Andrews at the age of 11. She holds two degrees: Business Marketing and Psychology. She is a powerful advocate for reading and writing. When she’s not writing or working her way through a novel by one of her favorite novelists, she’s rescuing dogs and volunteering at her local SPCA.
http://discoveringnyarayne.blogspot.com/