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Thorne’s phone went dead. What the f**k? After a moment he came back online. “We have a sitch over here at the palace but Endelle said she wants the two of you to take some recoup time then check back in, maybe an hour or two. Can you do that?”
Two minutes ago, Medichi would have argued with Thorne. But two minutes ago, Parisa had seemed so very different. Willing.
“We can do that,” he said.
“You know what’s going on?”
“Parisa told me.”
“And you’re not gonna bust my balls about this order?”
Medichi smiled. “Nope.”
“Well, f**k me. I’ll be in touch.” The line went dead.
He glanced in the direction of the bathroom. steam billowed from the shower.
He swallowed because right now his woman had to be naked. Her pants were hanging from the mirror frame, the empty mirror frame. Jesus, he really needed to get that replaced.
When the steam started carrying a light whiff of tangerine, his body responded. He started to pace.
He glanced at the ceiling, looked into the bathroom, and maybe it wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference but he created a shallow dome of mist inside both rooms.
“That’s so pretty, Antony. I don’t think I’ve seen your mist before. You know, it has almost a golden hue.”
For whatever reason the very feminine tone of her voice, and the compliment she’d just delivered, brought a rush of affection, even love, flowing through his chest in a warm wave. He put his hand between his pecs and worked at breathing for a good long minute.
He understood something in this moment—he loved this woman. He loved her. He loved her. He loved being with her and he especially loved that even though she’d just been through one helluva trauma, she could take her shower and say nice things about his mist.
His heart swelled, pushing his ribs and chest out and out until the whole damn thing broke, a breach in a dam, and love poured from him, a rushing river full of life.
He was dizzy and struggled to keep his balance, then he fell. He fell onto the Oriental rug. He rolled onto his back, his cheeks rising, his lips curved. He must have looked like an idiot and he knew terra-cotta dust was getting on his fine antique carpet but who the hell cared?
Love had come to him, had found him, had battered the walls of his heart and his life and had pushed through despite his unwillingness to open himself. He had felt protected, and maybe a little self-righteous being part of the Warriors of the Blood. He’d committed to them, to his brothers, and he’d pretended that this made him all that a man ever really needed to be; powerful, in control, master of his world, a warrior.
His gaze became focused on the coffer beams overhead, the ones burned with his wife’s poem. Directly above him, the final phrase, Love rises on wings of fire.
Understanding spilled over his mind and body. He knew what needed to be done. He understood the greater meanings of the breh-hedden for him and for Parisa. He understood the purpose, at least in part, of the shared royle wings.
“Antony?”
He looked over at the opening to the bathroom. Parisa stood in the doorway, naked, water pouring from her long wet hair. Her usual dark brown waves looked black. The shower had stopped running.
He leaned up on an elbow. He couldn’t help it. He was a man and his woman had the most beautiful br**sts. They were large and peaked from the water and the cool air of the room.
Oh. God.
But why was she standing there like that. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I felt you.” She put a hand over her heart. “Here, as though you were speaking to me. Were you? Were you trying to say something?”
He rose to his feet, still feeling off kilter, his mind uneven. He drew close and tried to keep his body calm as he approached so much femaleness. He took her hands in his, then bent down and placed a kiss on each.
His heart started to ache. He lifted his head and met her gaze. “I love you, Parisa.” His voice had sunk low. He was almost whispering. “I love you so much. I didn’t think we’d get to have one more minute together.” He swallowed hard. “Sorry, I’m having trouble breathing.”
Her amethyst eyes glittered in the soft light of the room. She rose on her tiptoes and kissed him. His heart constricted a little more. “You love me?” she asked.
“I love you,” he said. “I do.” His voice sounded laced now with rocks and thorns. “I love you. I love you. I love you.”
“Oh, Antony.” He still had hold of her hands so once more she rose and kissed him. This time her lips lingered and his heart tightened a little more.
“I don’t know how this happened,” he said, “but I’m grateful, so grateful. I never thought I’d feel gratitude for the breh-hedden, but I do. I could never have reached for you otherwise, never drawn this close to you without the demands of that myth beating the stubbornness out of me.” He smiled. “Some myth, huh?”
She nodded. Her gaze moved back and forth over his as though searching for the truth. Didn’t she believe him?
“Parisa, when I watched you die earlier, and I was unable to do anything about it, I wanted to die, too. The sooner the better.”
She frowned. “Wait. But you came to me when I was near death, perhaps even when I was clinically dead. I heard your voice in my head, Live, live. You repeated it over and over.”
He had.
“You brought me back. I know that now. There was a part of me that wanted to die as well and I remembered what Rith said, that coming back is an act of will. So, what happened? What changed?”
“You came to me.”
She closed her eyes. “I don’t understand.”
“I have not given my heart in all these centuries because I didn’t believe I had a heart to give. I buried my heart in my wife’s and son’s graves. When I met Thorne, and learned I had a permanent place in the Warriors of the Blood, I was done with everything else forever.
“When the breh-hedden struck I was enraged because I’d felt the first shattering of the walls I’d built around myself. Truth? I’d convinced myself there were no walls, I’d become a more sensible man. I was a vampire, I had powers, I knew how to make war, so war I would make and everything else could go to hell. I was in good company, too, until Alison arrived and turned Kerrick’s life upside down. Although I think I was even more affected by Havily. I’d already been experiencing affection for her, even at times inappropriate desire.”
