But that was part of the problem. Now that she was adjusting to the idea of being an immortal, Sarita found she had less interest in returning to Canada and her job. She found helping the hybrids satisfying, and she liked spending lazy afternoon siestas in bed with Domitian. But she didn't want to disappoint her grandmother either, or make her stay on an island that had been a prison to her for fifty years.
A soft snore sounded behind her and she grinned to herself, acknowledging that the truth was, now that he was wooing her as he felt she deserved, Sarita didn't really need it. Something had shifted in her. Or perhaps it was just that everything was blending together to make her realize how much they suited each other, from his home being her dream home to how his sense of humor matched hers, how their taste in foods seemed to be always lining up, and how they had danced together as smoothly as if they'd been doing it their whole lives. While she knew she couldn't possibly love him already, she felt in her bones that she belonged with Domitian.
A soft tap at the door sounded and Sarita slipped quickly out of bed, tugging her clothes back into order as she rushed to answer it. That was one benefit of life mate sex-it all happened so fast and furious they rarely managed to get all of their clothes off, she thought wryly as she reached the door.
"Hi," Eshe said softly when Sarita opened the door.
"Hi," Sarita responded with surprise. She hadn't seen the woman since they'd been locked in the cells. Eshe, along with the other hunters had been out searching for Dressler, Asherah, and Davies morning, noon, and night since they'd disappeared.
"Got a minute?" Eshe asked.
"Of course." Sarita slipped into the hall, easing the door silently closed and then followed Eshe up the hall, her mind whirling with curiosity as she tried to figure out what this was all about.
"It's beautiful here," Eshe commented a few minutes later as she led Sarita out into the gardens. "Hard to imagine the nightmare Dressler made it into for everyone when you look at such beauty."
"Yeah," Sarita agreed, peering out over the well-tended gardens.
"I wanted to talk to you about Domitian," Eshe said, leading her along a path with tall flowers growing on either side of it.
"Oh?" Sarita asked, suddenly wary.
"You know you love him, right?" she asked.
Sarita swallowed and glanced away, her brow furrowing. "I've only known him for-"
"Cut the crap," Eshe said not ungently, and Sarita blinked and turned back to her with surprise. Smiling, Eshe said, "Kiddo, I've been alive for a long time and-"
"How long?" Sarita asked with curiosity. Honestly, none of these people looked over thirty and most of them looked more like twenty-five. Yet Domitian was fricking ancient.
"I was born in 1446 b.c.," Eshe said matter-of-factly.
"Did people exist back then?" Sarita asked, trying to wrap her mind around that number. Was there any history back then? She didn't remember studying anything that old. Wasn't that the ice age or something?
"The last ice age was eleven or twelve thousand years ago," Eshe said dryly, obviously reading her mind.
"Right . . . and you were only born three thousand, five hundred years ago . . . give or take a couple decades," Sarita added sarcastically. "God!"
Eshe laughed at her expression and said, "Look. I just wanted to talk to you before I go because Victor was saying Domitian is worrying that you aren't letting him in and aren't acknowledging your feelings for him."
"I don't know what my feelings are," Sarita said with frustration. "They're all a jumble and I can't think straight when he's around. I mean I know I want him. He's like crack to my crack ho, but-" She shook her head helplessly.
"Hmm," Eshe murmured. "And yet you were willing to die for him in the cells."
"That was so Dressler wouldn't know how to become immortal," Sarita argued.
"No. Actually, what you said, and what I read from your mind at the time," she added firmly, "was that you would rather die than allow Domitian to live knowing he'd given Dressler the information he needed to become immortal, and feeling guilty for any deaths and torture that followed. That's dying for Domitian, so he wouldn't suffer guilt."
Sarita stared at her.
"What? You gonna deny it?" she asked and then said simply, "You love him, Sarita. This isn't earth-shattering news to anyone but you. As immortals we know that we'll love a life mate if we're fortunate enough to find them. It's a simple fact. And down deep you know you love him. It's just the mores and traditions of your mortal life that are hanging you up. According to them you can't love him yet and should wait to accept or admit it until a suitable period of time has passed."