The idea filled her with hope, but she knew better than to hold onto it too tightly. “Gabriel, I don’t… I’m not even sure if he’s still—”
“He is. I promise you.”
“I appreciate the optimism, but you can’t know that. I haven’t seen him in a month. Haven’t made a single payment since then, either. For all I know, he’s out on the street by now. Or worse.”
“Jacinda…” Gabriel turned to look at her again, his green eyes briefly illuminated by a streetlight they’d just passed. “Colin and I… After you told me about Zachary’s situation, I asked Colin to look in on him. Just once—we didn’t want to risk alerting Viansa—but I wanted to be sure he was receiving the best possible care. Colin assured me the staff is top-notch, and aside from the supernatural issue, his condition was stable, all things considered. You don’t need to worry about the bills, either—it’s all been taken care of.”
“You… really?” Her throat tightened, tears stinging the backs of her eyes. “You did all that… for me? Even after everything?”
Gabriel didn’t respond.
“I thought you wanted to kill me that day,” she whispered. “I honestly thought we’d never get close and—”
“I said a lot of terrible things that day.” Gabriel tightened his grip on her knee. “I was angry and hurt andsupremelyfucked in the head, and if I could erase those words from your memory as well as my own, I would.”
“It’s not like I didn’t earn them.”
“Jacinda,” he breathed, shaking his head, but whatever he’d meant to say next, it never came.
Jaci didn’t push. Just took his hand in hers, lacing their fingers together as they continued down a snowy, treelined road, as far from civilization as she’d ever been in this realm.
Silence fell between them once more, but it wasn’t the silent tension of an ongoing argument, of dark secrets coming to light, of lies and terrors and all the big and tiny things that drove people apart. This kind of silence felt like a new place, one she’d never visited before. A place where hope and possibility grew from the ashes of a ruined past finally buried.
“We’re here,” he said, turning onto a long driveway that snaked deeper into the woods. Snow blanketed the evergreens that surrounded them, but the driveway itself had been recently plowed. As they continued to thread their way through the trees, a two-story A-frame cabin slowly came into view, with massive windows that spilled warm, inviting light into the darkness. Smoke drifted lazily from a chimney on the rooftop, the scent of firewood making her feel cozy inside, despite the frigid winter night.
Gabriel parked the car in the small detached garage, then came around to open the passenger door for her. Beaming at him, Jaci threw herself into his embrace, unable to stop the giggle that burst free from inside.
“What have you done, Prince?” she teased.
“Made a few calls, is all.”
“And?”
“And let’s go find out, shall we?” Gabriel retrieved an overnight bag from the trunk—one she hadn’t even known he’d packed—and took her hand, leading her along a recently shoveled path from the garage to the front porch.
It was beautiful, the whole world utterly silent save for the sound of their footsteps.
When they reached the porch and stopped to take it all in, the silence of the night enveloped them completely. It was so quiet Jaci heard the treetops whispering, their snowy blankets shifting on their shoulders.
“Stay here a moment,” Gabriel said. “Enjoy the fresh air. I’ll be right back.”
He headed inside with the bag. A few minutes later, all the lights went out inside the cabin, bathing her in all-consuming darkness.
She was about to call out for him when he appeared at her side. He pressed a powder-soft kiss to her lips, then handed her a glass of red wine, tucking her under his arm.
“What’s all this?” she asked.
“This,” he said, holding up his own glass, “is an extremely rare Bordeaux. The very last bottle in existence, as a matter of fact, since you smashed the other one to bits.”
“What?” She cracked up, remembering that day in the Obsidian wine cellar. “That’s on you, Prince. If you hadn’t manhandled me—”
“Manhandled? I was merely teaching you a lesson about the consequences of walking away from me in the middle of a conversation.”
“Oh, is that what we were doing? Having a conversation?”
“Mmm. Idolove conversing with you. You’re anexcellentconversationalist. Especially when you’re wearing that little black thong and my fingers are buried in your hot, wet pussy, desperate to make you come.” Gabriel leaned in and kissed her jaw, a soft moan vibrating from his lips, his cock pressing hard against her hip. “I packed the thong in the bag, you know. Just in case you want to have another… conversation.”
“As much as I’d love toconversewith that dirty mouth of yours,” she teased, gently pushing him away, “it’ll have to wait. Now that you’ve made such a production over it, Ireallyneed to taste this wine.”
