Ash drew his thumb down the side of my face, his eyes searching mine in wonderment.
“You’re incredible, you know that?”
“You keep telling me,” I whispered in reply.
He kissed me, long and lingering, his hands snaking up into my hair and then pulling my backside closer toward him. My body felt like it was on fire—I wanted him so much. Not just in my mind, but in the pure, physical sense.
“Wait.” I pulled back. “There’s more. And we should talk about it, before…”
“I know what this is about.” He smiled gently at me. “And we don’t have to do a thing. I like our unique way of being intimate. Nothing else matters.”
I shook my head. It mattered to me.
“I want to do this properly, Ash. I want us to make love as husband and wife. I spoke to Corrine and Mona about…this at length.” I blushed. That had been a seriously awkward conversation that I never wanted to repeat. “And they say I should still be able to turn into a vampire even if I become a sentry—become a hybrid. And the offer is always open to you too, whenever you want it.”
“You’re willing to become a sentry?” he asked hoarsely. “Part ghoul? To deal with the hunger and everything that Hazel went through?”
“It’s not that different to turning into a vampire, and I know you’ll help me through it. I’ve got friends and family around me who will support my decision as well, so it’s going to be a different experience to the one that Hazel had.”
His caresses became firmer, his hands moving up my waist and then running across my stomach and hips.
“Are you sure about this?” he asked again, his voice growing huskier.
“I’m one hundred percent sure…” Draping my arms around his neck, I pressed my cheek against his and whispered in his ear, “Take me to bed?”
He gulped, lifting me up as he stood out of the chair. He put me in a fireman’s carry, and I laughed, banging on his back for him to put me down. Ignoring me, he walked through to the bedroom. There, he laid me down on the low bed. The sheets were a cool silk, the perfect counterpart to my flaming skin.
He untied my dressing gown, kissing my bare skin.
“My wife,” he breathed, branding me with his lips before shedding his clothes and lowering himself on top of me.
I felt the moment, clearly, when I was about to transform. My breath hitched, a strangled cry of bliss burning my throat.
I love you.
The thought rang as clear as a bell, and I felt my soul lifting from my body. I was weightless, and in that moment of neither belonging to my body or my mind, my husband’s soul entwined with mine. I sank back into myself, feeling like I was falling deeper and deeper into the warmth of the earth. When I opened my eyes, I saw Ash gazing back—his gorgeous brown eyes hooded with desire, his hair mussed and lips flushed, sweat beading on his taut muscles—and I knew that from that moment on, he would forever be a part of me.
Hazel
We lay entangled in the sheets of our four-poster bed. Outside, despite it only just being the end of summer, winds whipped at the window panes, the craggy Scottish landscape making our room seem all the more comforting and cozy. A roaring fire was dancing away in the hearth, sending flickers of light across the stone walls and the elaborate tapestries that hung from the walls.
Tejus’s fingers idly ran up and down the curve of my bare waist, sending shivers running through to my toes. We had arrived hours ago, and not left from the bed since Tejus had whisked me to it. I had high hopes that we wouldn’t need to for many more hours to come.
“When did we leave Nevertide?” he asked lazily, a note of laughter in his voice.
“Two weeks ago,” I replied.
“And you’re already missing castles and stone walls?”
“I wanted to give you a taste of home,” I whispered, leaning in to kiss his neck. “I know you’re not planning to go back… I thought you might miss it.”
“I love it here,” he replied, dragging my body closer to his, “but the best thing about Nevertide was you. Don’t worry about me missing it. You’re my home.”
I buried my head in his chest, embarrassed to show him how deeply his words affected me. I felt like my heart was going to burst into a million pieces. I recalled the first time I realized I had feelings for Tejus—how a moment like this would have been completely unbelievable to me then. How the future we were just about to embark on, and the promises we’d just made to one another, would have seemed impossible.
I had thought that I would overcome my feelings for him somehow. They had been so fragile and dangerous that I’d tried my best to ignore them. In his arms now, I could look back at them with a different perspective, relishing each moment where he had sparked something inside me, made my heart beat that little bit faster, or wounded me so deeply that I felt I couldn’t breathe. All the pain, the joy, the awkward in-betweens, it had been worth it. They had created what we were now.