Page 49 of Dark Destiny: The Turning Of The Loom

Yaaf didn't know what to do.

He couldn't put her down, and he couldn't pick the boy up, so he crouched with Sullha in his arms, bringing his face level with Tomek's.

"Mama's going to be all right," Yaaf said. "She's not sick. She is going to turn immortal the way you will when you are thirteen. Here, girls also turn. Not just the boys."

Tomek's eyes widened, and his mouth fell open.

"I'll explain the rest when you get to the clinic." Yaaf pushed to his feet. "I'm going to stay with your mama the whole time. I'm not leaving her even for a minute until you come. Then we will take turns watching over her. All right?"

"All right." Tomek let go of his pants.

"Now go back and help Bardov and Nana."

20

ANNANI

Khiann drove his chair into the spacious closet in his room and looked at the row of long-sleeved shirts hanging on one side.

The rods and shelves were full of clothing that Annani had ordered for him while he was still in the ward. When he had been asleep, she had browsed and shopped, filling the time by imagining her mate in those modern outfits.

She would have much preferred to dress him in the kind of clothes he had worn back in the day. The fabrics had been more luxurious, each item meticulously handcrafted to fit his frame and elegantly embellished to show his status without flaunting it. But even if she could have commissioned her seamstress to produce that kind of attire, she would have done him a disservice.

Khiann was not going back to his old life. He was building a new one, and he would be better served by clothing that fit the era he was in.

Her own wardrobe was timeless and did not fit any era, but if she needed to go among humans, she wore something more contemporary.

Annani had a feeling that Khiann would want to go among humans much more often than she did as soon as he could, and that he needed to blend in.

He turned to look at her. "Did you order all of these for me?"

Until now, Ogidu had been the one who chose his clothing, laying it out on the bed for his approval and helping him get dressed.

Today, Khiann decided he was going to do it himself and discovered the contents of his closet for the first time.

She smiled. "Do not look so shocked. Ordering clothing is not as costly or involved as it used to be in our time. Most of it is mass-produced and affordable even for commoners with modest means."

He shook his head. "I do not need all this."

She walked over to him, leaned in, and kissed his forehead. "I did not know what would fit you once you were released from the clinic, so I got things in several sizes. I also did not know what you would like, so I got several styles. Whatever you do not want or like can be donated to charity for needy humans."

He turned to look at the shirts again. "I do not know what to choose."

She laughed. "I used to select your tunics for you when we were married. I see that this has not changed."

He regarded her with a frown. "Are we not still mated? Did our joining dissolve because you thought I was dead?"

Annani put her hands on his knees and leaned in until their faces were nearly touching. "Our bond is eternal, Khiann. It will not dissolve even if one of us dies before the other. The one who passes through the veil first will just have to wait for the other to arrive."

For a moment, he looked at her with such intensity that her heartbeat quickened, but she did not know what lay behind those intensely blue eyes. Then his hand closed around her wrist with surprising strength, and his other arm came around her waist. The next moment, she found herself in his lap.

Her breath went out in a whoosh, and then his mouth was on hers.

It was not an affectionate kiss, nor was it reassuring or love-confirming. It was hungry and confident, exactly as he used to kiss her before he had been snatched out of her life.

One of his hands stayed at her waist. The other released her wrist and went into her hair.

Five thousand years ago, she had kissed these lips on the palace steps, behind pillars, in the palace gardens, in their bedchamber, and even in the throne room when court was not in session. She had relived those kisses thousands of times, but the memory paled compared to the reality of being held by Khiann and kissed like that.