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As he drew in his wings, Thorne glanced from familiar face to familiar face. Affection swelled. This was his family and always would be.
The warriors drew in their wings as well.
Jean-Pierre suddenly called out, “Incoming.” Thorne whirled in the direction of his sight line, had his sword at the ready, but it was only a frightened goose.
Strangely, the goose landed on Jean-Pierre’s outstretched crooked arm and immediately settled down though breathing hard.
The men busted up.
Jean-Pierre stroked his breast feathers. “What can I say, mes amis. I have a gift.”
Despite all the anecdotes surrounding the breh-hedden, I’m convinced, having experienced it once myself, that it is love, soaring as if on wings, that forms the true mystery of vampire mate-bonding.
—Memoirs, Beatrice of Fourth
Chapter 23
An hour later the warriors and their brehs milled around Medichi’s villa foyer, sitting room, and dining room. Parisa had called in a couple of favors and an Italian feast had arrived. By noon everyone was well fed, and the warriors who had been battling all night found their beds calling to them.
Thorne spoke to each one, a hand on the shoulder, followed by a quick warrior hug. One by one they folded away with their women, as was the case.
After thanking Parisa and Antony for the food and the use of their home, he folded with Marguerite back to his Sedona home, back to the foyer.
And as his feet touched down, he had one singular thought: There is no place like home.
Finally, after three long torturous weeks, he truly felt as though he’d come home.
With his arm around Marguerite, he looked down at her and said, “I’m so glad you’re with me.”
Her eyes were shining as she met his gaze. “Me, too.”
He smiled and stroked her cheek. “Will you be my breh? Will you take this enormous risk and complete the breh-hedden with me?”
She nodded and smiled. “I haven’t changed my answer since you came back from the dead.”
He chuckled. But she stood on tiptoes and kissed him on the lips, her hand on his shoulder. “Thorne, I don’t have any doubts. Just some nerves about what’s ahead for us. But this is my path.”
He drew back and slid his hand behind her nape. He squeezed then leaned down to return the kiss. Jesus H. Christ, his chest felt full of fire, a kind of wonderful agony he had never known before.
This woman was his woman, now and forever.
They were completing the breh-hedden, something he hadn’t believed they’d ever do. She had wanted her freedom and he hadn’t wanted one more responsibility.
Now his view of life had changed.
“You look so serious,” she said.
“I feel serious.” He searched her eyes, the clear brown glimmer. “I love you, Marguerite. With all my heart. I need you to hear that, to feel it, to believe it.”
“I do, Thorne,” she said, twisting her neck to move against the palm of his hand.
He kissed her again. He wanted this so much, more than he’d wanted anything in his entire life.
He wanted to be joined to her, to feel her, to feel all her external sensations as she would feel his. The bonded men talked about it a lot. Jean-Pierre said he and Fiona had worked out a way to block it; otherwise they’d go crazy with worry. He didn’t know quite what that meant, either the worry or the sensations, but he wanted it all with Marguerite.
“Where do you want to do this?” she asked.
He didn’t hesitate. “In my bed, that place I’ve lived for so long, alone. I’ve loved having you there and I want you there now. I want this solemn deed done where we’ll live together. But are you sure you want this?”
“I’ve already told you what I want. Twice.”
“Marguerite, I want your happiness more than anything else in the world. I know what escaping to Mortal Earth meant to you.”
She slid her arms around him and pressed her head against his chest. “Those days are gone.”
“But you want them back.”
Her head shifted rhythmically against his pecs. “No. I thought I would, but I don’t. I mean, maybe there will always be part of me, that wild part, that wants to roam free. Maybe. I’m really not even sure about that anymore.
“But what I do know is that I belong here, on Second Earth, with you, with Madame Endelle, with Fiona, with all the Warriors of the Blood. This is home for me now. I feel it to my toes.
“When we were stuck in that cage, I realized that if I’d wanted to, I could have gotten rid of you a long time ago. I could have easily escaped to other parts of the world and you never could have found me. I could have gone to Hong Kong or even New York, anywhere with a big population, and you would have had the devil of a time finding me. Because of your sense of responsibility toward Second Earth, you would have given up the search.
“Don’t you see? I wanted to be found.
“Beyond that, well, I kept thinking about what it had been like to connect with Fiona and with Brynna, even with you, whether it was my Seer power or my obsiddy power.” She looked up at him. “I loved it. I mean, I was uncomfortable at first, but each time it happened, I started feeling more and more as though I’d come home after a really long journey. Do you know what I mean?”
He dipped down and kissed her again. “Yeah, I do.”
“This is where I want to be, here, in your arms, in your house, in your bed.”
“So we’re doing this.”
She tilted her head. “I wish I could have been there for you, Thorne.”
“You were.”
“No, I mean the last two thousand years. Now that I’ve really been inside your mind, despite all the women you’ve shagged, I’ve seen your loneliness. I wish I could have eased you in that way.”
“You’re here now,” he said, setting her back on her feet. “That’s all that matters. But I wish I could have stepped inside that barn and beat the shit out of your father.”
She pulled away from him. “I don’t know. I want to say this and I’m hoping you’ll understand, but when I think back on everything that happened to me, because it led me here, into your arms, into your bed, I wouldn’t change a thing. Not a damn thing.”
“Do you know what I thought when you pulled that wretched gown aside and showed me your breast?”
She shook her head.
He chuckled. “I actually thought, Here’s the woman for me.”
“You did not.”
“The hell I didn’t. Yeah, I was gone on you as well, but I was too lost in the war to know it. But I remember what I felt. Every night while battling, I couldn’t wait to get to you. And yes, it was great sex and I mean great sex.” She shivered because he’d added resonance and he knew she loved it. “But it was so much more. I was at peace when I was with you, and you always made me laugh.”
