“It was never even a question. I told you—you’re my family. I’ll always bring you back.”
Ani smiles, his eyes shining with wonder. “I love you. With everything I have and everything I am, Iloveyou, Stevie.”
Nodding, I reach up and cup his tear-streaked face, feeling the warmth of that love flooding through me.
His hips roll, and he slides in deeper. He holds my gaze, never once looking away. Not even when we’re both panting. Not even when the fire dies completely and the chill sets in. Not even when the tingling starts in my core, a spark that ignites into a flame, slowly working its way through my limbs.
“Ani,” I breathe, still locked in his fierce gaze. But the night sky wavers above me, making way for a new vision.
I’m used to getting glimpses of their essences when we’re together—Doc’s moonlit ocean, Baz’s forbidden meadow, the storm-ravaged landscape of Kirin’s tower.
But tonight, the vision I see with Ani isn’t justhisArcana essence.
It’s ours.
Together, we wade into the lake before my standing stones, but rather than the stars overhead, it’s the sun that graces our bare skin.
He crashes against me in another bruising kiss, sliding in faster and harder. Deeper.
The orgasm finally takes hold, that flame exploding into a sudden inferno. My body clenches around him, driving him over the final edge. He moans into my mouth, and I dig my nails into his back, riding out the waves of pleasure. Of heat. Of love.
The vision finally recedes, leaving us back on the rim of the Cauldron beneath a blanket of endless stars.
Ani smiles at me, and I gaze up into his melted-caramel eyes and I know. I just know.
Nothingwill ever break this bond.
Thirty
STEVIE
The sun rises over the canyon in a brilliant blaze, illuminating the far side of the rim in a dazzling light show of reds and golds. It’s so beautiful, it almost hurts to look at.
But I indulge anyway. Life’s too short not to appreciate nature’s beauty, right?
Ani’s already packing up camp, his jaw set in a firm line as he repacks the bags. For a minute I worry he might be freaked out about last night, but when he notices me stirring, his eyes turn soft and warm, his smile almost as bright as the sun.
Nowthat’sa sight so beautiful it almost hurts to look at…
“And there she is, ladies and gentleman,” he says, sounding more like his old self than I’ve heard in a long time. “Rivaling the very dawn with her smile.”
“Funny, I was just thinking the same thing about you.”
He pretends to preen. “Must be my new whitening toothpaste.”
“Yeah, that’s it.”
Bending down to steal a kiss, he says, “How did you sleep?”
“For the first time in forever, I can honestly say I slept like…” I pat the rock beneath me, my smile stretching ear to ear.
“Any dreams?”
“Not a single one. And let me tell you… It wasglorious.”
He helps me to my feet, then hands over the travel mug. “I made you some tea. It’sprobablynot as good as yours, but I wanted to get back on the trail as soon as possible.”
I take a cautious sip, grateful it’s at least passable. “What’s the rush? I thought we’d hike around to the other side of the rim—take the long way home.”
