"Really?" That was ironic. She'd been the key to undoing whatever trouble Máax had been in back in that circus slash courtroom. And now that he had his powers back, he was the key to undoing her problem? The Universe worked in mysterious ways.
"Yes," her mother replied. "Really."
Ashli gave it some thought. Whoever she used to be didn't sound very happy, and maybe this was her second chance. How many people got to have one of those?
Hmmm, perhaps this would remain her little secret for the time being.
"As for us," said her mother, "we'll always be here, watching over you. And playing poker. Did you know the dead've got a game going 24/7? Yesterday, I played Texas Hold 'Em with a gladiator who died in 100 BC. Fascinating."
Okay.
"Now," said her father, his eyes filled with a calming love. "It's time for you, our dear little Ashli, to return before your deity has a meltdown. He must be wondering where you are, and he's waited a long, long time for you."
Part of her wanted to stay and chat a little longer, but she knew they were right; it was time to go. She already felt the pull. To where? She assumed back to the real world, the world of the living. To Máax. That was the other part of their story she found unbelievable; Máax had been sent to save her, to teach her how to live again.
And you almost lost him. Dork!
She hugged her parents tightly. "Good-bye and thank you."
"Until we meet again," said her mother. "But not too soon."
Ashli blinked and felt herself pulled through a dark tunnel. The noise in her ears at first sounded like a low hum, but then grew into an earsplitting roar. But it wasn't an animal; it sounded like a man. A man cursing the heavens and life itself, vowing to do very awful things to everyone.
The sensation of her body returned. It was warm and cold all at once, and she had a piercing headache.
"Hey, could you keep it down?" The blinding light kept her from opening her eyes.
The man stopped screaming. "Ashli?" he whispered. "You-you are back?"
"Yeah. And it hurts like hell," she groaned.
"Thank the heavens!" The man squeezed her so tightly he practically cracked her in half.
"Okay there, big boy." Ashli opened her eyes. She lay on a bed of leaves with her upper torso cradled against Máax's broad, bare chest. "You'll never believe where I was. My parents were there, telling me I kept dying because I wanted to see them. They said you were sent to help me learn to live again."
His smile stretched from ear to ear, and his eyes filled with unspeakable joy. "Did it work?"
"Oh my gods!" She was looking at him! With her own two eyes! "Máax? Is it really you?"
He placed his warm hand on her cheek. "Yes, my dear Ashli. It is I."
The man, with the long wet strands of brownish hair, staring into her face was a vision of heavenly, sinful masculinity. His golden-brown skin and full lips, his turquoise eyes with thick brown lashes, and his strong jaw were so sensual, so male. But that wasn't what took her breath away. It was the way he looked at her and how it made her feel. Like being complete and loved. Like being at peace and set on fire.
"You are so way hotter than that chair."
He smiled. "Wait until you see the rest."
Máax's lips were on her, and the heat of his kiss didn't just warm her mouth; it shot straight through her center and ignited a crazed, raw hunger.
Máax lay her down beneath him on the bed of leaves and worked up her dress. She gasped as she felt his hand slide between her legs and push her panties aside. When she felt his hard shaft parting her soft flesh, her grip on his shoulders involuntarily tightened, nails digging in.
"Oh, gods, yes," she panted in his ear.
He slowed for a fraction of a moment only to stare into her eyes as he thrust with one brutally sensual stroke, stealing the air from her lungs. She didn't need to see his erection to know he was large. She felt every inch as he slid deep inside. The sensation was so delicious and sweet yet rough just like his kisses. And the way he grabbed her, held her in place, made her feel so, so, so … his.
He thrust again with a sharp, claiming motion. Then again. And again. Every movement was frantic and hard, uncontrolled yet deliberate. His tongue eagerly lapped away at hers.
Just a few more seconds, and she wouldn't be able to stop the inevitable. "Ohmygod, Máax. Don't stop. It feels so good."
He stared into her eyes and thrust again. "I want to watch you"-he thrust again-"come for me."
His words were enough to push her over the edge. Her entire body felt like a solid, immovable ball of pulsating, tingling nerves and then … she screamed his name as he pushed himself sharply forward, never breaking his feral gaze. With each pump of his hips she exploded, over and over again, in one relentless current of orgasms until Máax let out a throaty groan.
Finally, he slowed and smiled, planting one lingering, lazy kiss on her lips.
"That was amazing," she said.
He nodded his head yes. "That was only a taste of what you'll be enjoying for eternity."
Lucky, lucky me.
He kissed her again, unhurried and tender. "You're shivering. Let's get you home. I arranged for a helicopter to pick us up near the lake a kilometer or so from here."
She was shivering not from the cold, but from the heat of his touch. "No more vampire rides?"
He frowned. "No. No, I do not want any more vampires hanging around my future wife unless she's helping them get over their commitment issues."
"Did you say ‘future wife'? Are we getting married? Did you propose, and I accepted?" She honestly didn't know.
He helped her to her feet. "Yes. Not yet but I will. And yes, you will."
"Oh, really?" she teased. "But I am the Goddess of Love. Not sure I really want to tie myself down." She grinned. "Not until I'm absolutely sure you can please me. After all, eternity is a long, long time to be married to someone."
His beautifully plump lips curved into a devious smile. "Mmmm, I love a challenge."
She looked into his impossibly beautiful eyes. He was almost two feet taller, and his body was a mass of hard, ripped muscles and male perfection. His face was an exotic combination of rough masculinity and fine features, as if he'd been sculpted by the heavens. He was huge and gorgeous. And …
"I love you, Ashli. If I were to cease to exist in this very moment, I'd die a happy man."
His admission was so exhilarating. It made her feel like the most precious person on the planet.
His caramel-brown brows furrowed. "You all right?"
"Oh yeah. Better than all right."
"Good. Because I no longer plan on letting you walk out of this jungle."
"Really now?" She smiled.
He spun her around and released a hot breath in her ear. "You, Ashli, are mine. And I've waited an eternity for you." He gently leaned her forward, and she braced herself on the tree. He slid her damp dress up past her thighs and slid her panties down.
She held back a gasp as he rubbed his thick, rock-hard cock against her sensitive bud, sliding his entire length over her. She was instantly and insanely hot for him again. Every intimate muscle pulsed with ravenous need for his penetration. No, she didn't remember her past, but she felt like she'd waited her entire life for this: to be wanted in such an uninhibited way. "Take me again," she begged.
Máax didn't say a word but drove deep. She winced with pleasure as he began hammering away. She knew the moment he came, it would be the most incredible release ever.
"Harder, Máax. Harder." She held on tight while he pumped with a furious, savage pace. Then he groaned toward the sky and bucked wildly against her, and the moment he flooded her with his liquid heat, she felt a strange sensation. It wasn't simply a mind-blowing physical reaction that infused every muscle in her body with rapturous bursts, it was like the final piece that had been missing finally slid into place. A connection not just of their bodies and souls, but something more, something beyond them both.
The air whooshed from her lungs as he clung to her back, quaking with his release. "Gods, what you do to me, woman," he said.
Ashli wanted to tell him how she felt, but her words faltered. It was so, so magnificent. As if life itself had just begun, a spark from a simple dream.