“Ani?” I gasp, my heart banging inside my chest. I don’t move. Don’t even blink. Because if I do, and he vanishes…
“How’s it going, Stevie Boo Boo?” He laughs, then scoops me into his arms, rolling on top of me in a crushing hug, suffocating me with a kiss so sweet it makes my chest ache.
“I’m dreaming,” I say, pulling back to take his face between my hands. His hair is wet, dark and curling around his ears, his skin carrying the scents of soap and sunshine, as if he’s just stepped out of the shower. “And you’re… naked?”
The hard evidence becomes more apparent—and, well,hard—the longer he lies on top of me, nothing more than a sheet and my T-shirt and underwear separating us.
“MaybeI’mthe one who’s dreaming.” He lets out another soft laugh. “On second thought, scratch that. I’ve had enough dreams to last a lifetime. Right now, I’m only here for what’s real.”
“Did you shower? When? Should you be walking around just yet?” I try to sit up and turn on the nightstand light, but Ani claims me in another kiss, pushing me back down against the pillow.
I don’t fight him. The kiss is too delicious. Too sweet. To real.
Goddess, it’s really him. He’s here. He’s home. He’s mine.
Tears spill unbidden, and Ani pulls back, brushing them away with his thumbs.
“I feel fine, Stevie. Seriously. Stronger than ever. Whatever you guys did to take care of me? A-plus, five stars, would recommend.”
“Magick,” I whisper, gazing up at him with awe and wonder. “We should…we should get up. Everyone will want to see you.”
“Yes, butIonly want to seeyou. You’re way hotter than the rest of those scrubs.”
I laugh. “I’m not sure our Arcana brothers would appreciate being called scrubs. Especially—”
“Stevie? I’m not sure I care.” He slides his hands into my hair and lowers his mouth again, his weight settling perfectly between my thighs as he steals a deeply seductive kiss that has me damn near moaning into his mouth.
After all the shyness, all the sweet and subtle gestures along the winding path of our relationship, I have to admit… This new, assertive Ani is pretty damn sexy, his demanding kisses igniting a fire low in my belly.
For the briefest instant, my mind flashes back to the news that broke tonight, to the haunted faces of journalists and firemen and police officers, to the fires still burning through the streets of Moonlight Bay Beach.
But I can’t bring myself to tell him about it just yet. The news will still be there when we wake up tomorrow, just as heartbreaking as it was tonight. And right now, in the aftermath of so much death and destruction, suddenly all I want is to feel whole and alive. To live in this moment, and this moment alone, falling in love with the mage who beat the odds and fought his way back home to me.
But that thought unleashes another one, and I can’t hold back my worry. Not even for Ani’s deliciously hot kisses.
“Wait.” I press my hands against his bare chest. “Are you… Are you feeling okay? Are you sure you want this right now?”
“I’m sure I want this. More than anything. Right now, tomorrow, the next day… Hell, I’ve wanted this since you kissed me in Kirin’s office that night.” He nudges my cheek with his nose. “Don’t you?”
“Are you kidding me? I’ve wanted this since… I don’t know. Probably since you took me up to the top of the Cauldron and gave me the sunrise, if I’m being totally honest.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
“I’m just a little worried about you. You were basically in a coma for two weeks, and now—”
“And now I’m not.” He flashes another big grin. “Look, I can’t explain it any more than you can. All I know is I spent an eternity in hell. Absolute hell, Stevie. And the only thing that kept me alive was focusing onthismoment. On you. On the knowledge that if I could just find a way to make it back here, to follow the sound of your voice, I’d have the chance to hold you again. To kiss you. To taste you.”
“You heard me?” I ask. “I knew it! I sang to you every day!”
“All the best of the seventies, eighties, and nineties,” he says, beaming. “But now I’d rather you leave the music behind and put that beautiful mouth to work on something else.”
My resolve is weakening, my body heating up at the idea of touching him. Taking him inside me. Sealing our bond in the way I’ve been dreaming about since I first started falling for him.
I don’t respond right away though, and Ani rolls onto his back beside me, his naked body glowing in the candlelight.
“You don’t have to do anything if you’re not into it,” he says, his voice soft and seductive. “But I can’t make any promises for myself.”
His hand slides down his chest, down the smooth planes of his abs, and he fists his cock, giving himself a gentle stroke.
