The light at the window suddenly grew brighter.
“Oh, Gaston, look!” Celine drew in a wondering gasp as Brynna and Fiara started to shimmer, like something out of a science fiction movie. It looked as if they were caught in a whirlwind of silver glitter. Fiara smiled at them over her mother’s shoulder, and raised her hand to wave goodbye.
The image froze, suspended in the beam of moonlight, like a freeze-frame. And then they were gone.
Vanished.
Leaving behind only the window, and the moonlight, and the empty room. Celine and Gaston were alone.
Neither of them spoke or even breathed for a second.
“Saints’ blood.” He exhaled slowly, his hold on her tightening.
“It’s all right, mon cher,” she said a little shakily. “I’m still here.”
He didn’t loosen his grasp one bit. “You will have to pardon me, Roussette, if I am careful to keep you far from all windows whenever there is a dark of the moon.”
She laughed. “But most of my belongings just went several hundred years into the future—I can’t leave now. You’re stuck with me, my Black Lion. For good.”
His reply was a possessive, throaty growl. “Mine forever.” He plucked her baseball cap from her head, releasing a cascade of red curls. “And I shall waste no time in ravishing you thoroughly.” Dropping the hat, he lifted her into his arms and nimbly opened the door.
“It’s our last night in your furs.” She sighed in agreement, twining her arms around his strong neck, curling her fingers through his hair.
He gave her a wicked smile. “I do not recall saying aught of my furs.”
He carried her outside, where Pharaon awaited in the bailey, already saddled and bridled. In a heartbeat, Gaston had mounted the stallion and settled her across his lap. “We have a bold son to make,” he said huskily.
He touched his heels to the destrier’s flanks and shifted her slightly, and Celine realized he was wearing the new leggings she had made for him.
The ones with the buttoned opening.
“Yes,” she murmured against his mouth. “Tonight.”
Her husband sent the black charger galloping over the drawbridge, carrying her away into the warmth of the sultry summer night, sweeping her to heights beyond heaven in the moonlight.