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Rez scowled at him, but Oregis only grinned then glanced at his watch. “I gotta go, Mastyr. I gave up part of date night and promised my missus I’d see her at ten. It’s almost on the hour now. But I’ll be back later.” He waved good-bye and flew to the stairs then disappeared.
Rez heard the clicks and knew Oregis had left the house. He suspected his foreman gremlin was giving them some space.
Just as well. He held a distressed fae in his arms and he still didn’t know what to do for her.
~ ~ ~
Holly adjusted her arms to hold Rez tighter still. He responded with a deep breath as he swept one arm down her back to her waist and pulled her even closer.
Her heart swelled. She’d never felt this be
fore, so much … love. She didn’t know how it had happened. But every event had built, one on top of the other, to create this mountain of feeling she had for the man.
He wasn’t like anything she’d thought. He was a man of duty and sacrifice who served his world in a way that brought him no honor from his fellow warriors. He was kind and tender. Loving, just as he was in this moment, embracing her because he knew she was upset.
He didn’t say anything either, perhaps knowing words weren’t necessary.
As she held him, so many things came to mind, even her father asking if she was bored. Never in a thousand years could she have predicted her life would move this direction, toward a warrior vampire and his long-lost daughter.
Or toward love or the ability to time-path or being a blood rose. She had become so much more than she’d ever imagined. She was helping in ways that seemed to matter and for that she felt humbled and grateful. She believed in service in the same way Rez took care of the vulnerable eastern villages in Tannisford.
“What is it, Holly?”
His voice was the deep, rich timbre she’d come to love. Because of the sharing of blood, and the way her sensitive fae vibrations could read him, it was as though she’d known him a lifetime.
Her spirit had never been more settled in her life. He was what she wanted, but whether he could make the shift, she didn’t know. His losses had been profound.
She drew back and met his gaze. She didn’t answer his question. Instead, she kissed him.
~ ~ ~
The last thing Rez had expected was to feel Holly’s lips against his.
He found himself in an odd place. He wasn’t sure what to do, or how far to take this. Holly had just been through another tough situation that involved him hand-blasting the ceiling of a cave and their small team nearly attacked by shifters.
Now she clung to him, rubbed his shoulders and his back and was making some cooing noises. Was she into this? Did she want to have sex with him?
The real question was why was he hesitating?
He drew back and searched her eyes. “All I want to know right now is if you’re okay.”
She let out a deep sigh. “No. Yes. Sort. I don’t know. Rez, none of this was what I thought it would be. Even holding you like this, I don’t know.”
He ran his fingers down the length of her hair. He used to hold his wife like this. He didn’t want to think about her, but being with Holly felt familiar, the way it used to be with his wife.
His wife. His family. His lost sons. His missing daughter.
He should let Holly go. He had a hole in his heart where only darkness lived.
He could see it in her eyes, he could feel it in the way she touched him, she was attached now and it hurt him.
“Stop thinking, Rez.”
“I never lied to you.”
“I know you didn’t and I don’t expect anything. I promise.”
He believed her. But as she’d recently said to him, would it be that simple?
