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She glanced up at him, her throat tight with tears. “Did he tell you why I liked it?”
Stone shook his head. The room was very small, especially for a man of Stone’s proportions. He was already bent over to keep from hitting the ceiling. He looked around and reached for a broad stool that he pulled close to the bed.
He sat down and took her hand in his. “No, Joseph never told me anything, only that he thought you would want this one.”
“It was a few weeks ago and I was only Aralynn to you then, but the moment I saw these stones I thought they looked like your eyes. That’s why I admired the ring. I mean your eyes have a deeper, richer color, but the shade was very similar.”
He took their joined hands and covered it with his free one then leaned down and kissed her fingers. “We were meant to be together, Rosamunde. That’s what I believe.”
“Me, too.”
He appeared to search her face. “Thank you for coming back.”
She had to think for a moment to understand what he meant. Then she remembered her mother behind the teal veil. “Mama was there.”
“Then it was no wonder you wanted to stay.”
“It wasn’t that. Yes, it was amazing to see her and I longed to be with her. But, the pull of death is a profound force. Stone, I was so close to leaving the Nine Realms forever.”
“I know.”
“But now I feel bad, because of why I returned. It should have been for my love for you. Instead, the moment you spoke of more innocent people dying, that’s when I made the decision. How will you ever forgive me for not loving you enough?”
He squeezed her hand. “Rosamunde, I love you even more for returning because other innocents will die without your help.” He leaned close and kissed her on the lips. Nothing could have felt more perfect.
When he drew back, he wore a soft, affectionate smile. “Will you marry me, Rosamunde?”
She loved that he wanted it all, the blood rose bond and a marriage that would involve a riotous ceremony. With any luck, she would be pregnant on the day of her wedding, a sign of good fortune and blessings among the fae.
She was overcome as tears spilled from h
er eyes.
He picked up the ring and slid it on her left ring finger. “Marry me, my love. And let the wearing of this ring be a token of our pledge to each other. So what do you say?”
The ring fit as though made for her, but she suspected Joseph had something to do with it, the finagler that he was. “I will marry you, Stone, with all my heart.”
~ ~ ~
The wedding a month later, which Delia organized to perfection, turned out to be one of the largest events in Nine Realms’ history and lasted three days. Stone took his bride from realm-to-realm and danced with her at immense balls that celebrated the end of Margetta’s terror-filled assault on their world and the beginning of what Rosamunde had said more than once would be a thousand years of peace.
Now that he was married, he wanted a family, something he’d never allowed himself to desire before. With the Vampire Guards in each realm hunting down the last of the wraith-pairs and much of Margetta’s army in a state of rehabilitation through the efforts of Samantha and Ethan, he could finally start to think like an ordinary man.
When he’d drunk the last of the champagne at the final Tannisford welcoming-home ball, he took Rosamunde to the lake house, now made private and secure once more.
She shed her full-skirted green satin gown, green diamonds in an elegant piece around her neck, and kicked off her high heels.
Since she now stood in only a thong, he stripped down as fast as he could as well, caught her around the waist in a slick levitating move then carried her to bed.
He made love to her for hours and more than once played with her short red hair. He told her at least a hundred times how much he loved her.
When she lay in his arms exhausted, she twirled a finger through his long hair. “How many children do you want?” Her voice sounded lazy, a very satisfied woman.
“Davido once told me he has eighty-eight children and more progeny than he can number. I’d like to best his goal.”
At that, she rose up from his arms and stared down at him. “I beg to remind you that the man had more than one wife, and that over a period of millennia.”
Because she was naked, her posture put her breasts very close to his mouth. He did what any normal male would do, and suckled his way to pushing her back into the pillows.
