I closed my eyes and listened to his heartbeat. It was strong and quick, keeping beat with his steps.
“You are going to sleep with me in the bath.” Thayde stopped, fumbling with the door.
The door?
“I called a guy to have it replaced. They’re pretty fast when you offer double the price to have it fixed right away.” He said, pushing it open.
Once inside, he lay me on my bed and locked the door. Hastily, he made his way to my bathroom and I listened to him turn on the bath and adjust the temperature. A few moments later, he was striding back across my room, his dark eyes bluer than ever.
“Let’s go.” His warm hand surrounded mine and again, he whisked me into his arms. I wasn’t going to argue. It was nice, especially since our honeymoon was cut short. Even thinking about it made me feel guilty though as the thought of Naira on her deathbed lingered in my mind.
“Let’s not think about that at the moment, Morgan. Let’s just get you some sleep.”
Thayde sat me beside the giant tub sunk in the floor of the bathroom. The beautiful custom-made bathtub was a miniature pool with a sectioned off area for relaxing. What I loved about it was the healing gel that lined the sides. It held the body and allowed our kind to heal while asleep. The waterfall faucets on all four sides filled the bath quickly, pouring several gallons into it per second.
Thayde stood, grasping the bottom of his shirt and pulled it over the top of his head in one single move. The way he eased out of his clothes was as so fluid and sexy. Watching his muscles flow and work together was breathtaking. He dropped the shirt to the floor and looked down at me.
“What?” He asked.
“Just admiring the view,” I answered and he snorted.
“Don’t you get tired of all the scars?” As he held up his arms, his biceps and triceps flexed slightly making him look like a Greek God. The scars that clung to his torso were but a mere memory for me as I hardly noticed them.
“You have no idea how beautiful you are, do you?” I said, in awe of him. Thayde dropped his arms and smiled at me.
“You’re the beautiful one,” he knelt next to me, taking my face in his hands. “My Pearl,” he whispered and ran his lips against mine.
Silk, water, flower petals.
You think the strangest things when I kiss you, Thayde pulled me to my feet, not letting his lips leave mine.
You have perfect lips, I thought and he actually grinned.
You need to take your clothes off to get in, remember?
I stepped back and let him watch me strip down. When I finished, he turned the water off and stepped into the bath. The water reached the middle of his stomach, lapping against him as he walked deeper into the bath. Steam rose, curling around his shoulders and arms. I nearly dove in. He phased before I reached him, his fins fanning out, tickling my toes as I neared him.
He took my hand, kissing my open palm. It was such a delicate expression of love, it made me phase without trying. Methodically, he pulled me into the gel area and I wrapped my tail around his as we sunk beneath the surface. Nestled into his arms, with the gel at our back and our tails together, I realized that it didn’t matter where in the world I was, as long as I was with him. As long as I was with Thayde, I was home. I closed my eyes and sent him a message of love, happiness, and peace before falling asleep.
CHAPTER FIVE
THE ELDERS
“What do you mean she chose to stay in limbo?”
Mom was going to kill me.
“I pulled her into limbo with me and she wanted to stay. She can’t feel pain there, Mom.”
“She’s going to die quicker now, you know that, right?” Mom swayed on her feet. Tammer placed a hand at her back, steadying her.
“I’m trying to make everyone happy here,” I tried to explain, but she wasn’t listening.
“Happy? Happy? Naira is dying! No one is happy!” She shouted making Thayde stiffen like a chalk board beside me.
“Elan!” Tammer attempted to pull her to him and she shoved him aside.
“My baby is dying Morgandy! You’ll never know what that’s like, will you?” Mom’s thin white hands clutched the air as if trying to hold onto something for strength.
“Elan!” Tammer cried out. “That’s enough! This is not Morgan’s fault.”
“She could stop this! She’s The Link for God’s sake!”
“I can’t stop this,” I argued. “Even if I could, I’m not so sure Naira would want it that way anymore.”
If Mom were capable of conjuring The Look, she would have killed everyone in the room. “What are you talking about?”
“She’s fallen in love. With an angel,” I added.