Annie's Song(39)

“Stop apologizing.” He tightened his grip on Annie, shifting his left leg until his ankle rested on the pillow again. “It was for a good cause. It was just a ring, blondie.”

“Just a gorgeous ring. Just my focus.” Annie knew she sounded like a spoiled little girl. She didn’t care. “Just the ring you gave me.”

“I’d rather have you. Alive and—mostly whole.” He brushed his fingers over the long white scars on her arm. Marcus healed them, fading the narrow burn on her cheek to almost nothing, but every touch still made fire lick under her skin. It would take time, he said. He didn’t have to feel like an open furnace. “Claire’s going to be fine, and so is Zach. It was a win for us.”

“This time. I know you’re thinking it, so don’t deny.” She sat up, slid out of bed and stepped to the window. Moonlight danced over the water in the harbour, the movement of the low waves soothing. “I thought being thousands of miles from home would mean leaving trouble behind. It’s me, Eric.” She leaned her scarred cheek against the window, the night cold glass a balm on skin that wouldn’t cool. “I’m the trouble.”

“Stop, Annie. Damn it—” She turned around, found him trying to stand. “Come here.”

“I don’t want to—”

“Shut up and get over here.” Surprised by his rude tone, she obeyed. “Sit.” He laid one hand on her cheek, and she sucked in her breath when he laid the other on her stomach. “I love you, both of you. The whole package. I accepted the trouble part of it the moment I knew I wanted to be a permanent part of your life. The ring that saved your life was a symbol. I’ll miss it, but I will always be grateful you had it to throw at the elemental.”

“I don’t deserve you.”

“Oh, I beg to differ.” He startled a laugh out of her. “That’s better. Now that we got that out of the way, I am going to say this only once: you put our baby in danger again, and I will lock you in the bedroom and hide the key.”

“Threat received.” With a sigh, she laid her head on his shoulder. “We’re going to have to put the wedding on hold.”

“What?” He pulled away, studied her. “No—oh, no. You’re not getting out of it so easy.”

“Eric—I’m not trying to get out of it. Claire and Zach both need to recover, I need to put what happened in that castle behind me,” she stopped him before he could protest. “And you need to be able to stand upright at our wedding. Which means we have to wait until you recover.”

“Quite a few needs going on there.” This time he stopped her protest. “Let’s do this—let’s sleep on it. We don’t have to make a decision tonight.”

“Fine. It will give you time to see I’m right.”

He grinned at her. “Of course it will.”

“Oh, stop.” Laughing, she climbed on to the bed, watched Eric carefully slide up, flinching. “I thought Marcus took care of that.”

“It was a bad break, Annie. And he came after it started healing. He told me that can hinder his ability.”

“Great excuse. I’ll stop,” she said, hunching her shoulders at his disappointed look. “I’m just feeling—off.”

“It’s called hormones, blondie. You’d better get used to it.”

“Terrific.” She flopped back on the pillow. “Who knows how much disaster that will rain on my power.”

Eric lowered himself to the pillow, tucked hair behind her ear. “And we will deal with it. Together.”

“Damn.” She kissed him, brushing her fingers along his jaw, and smiled at the low hum in his throat. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I’m glad I did it.”

“Stop talking, and show me.”

Her smile widened. “With pleasure.”



*



A knock on her door had Annie rushing to button her shirt. “Coming, Claire! I’m running a little late. As usual,” she muttered, heading for the door. Two weeks of forced rest and she was ready to climb the walls. The suggestion from Claire to look for a wedding dress had her feeling relieved, and terrified at the same time. Grabbing her purse, she swung the door open. “Sorry. I hope I didn’t keep you . . .”

The purse slipped out of her hand. She stared up into the face of the last person she expected to see.

Simon smiled, amusement clear in the green eyes. “Hello, Annie.”

“I—you came.” She touched his arm. Real. Her brain finally began to work again. “So, did Hell freeze over?”