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But not this one, mostly because I need his help, and Sm’tek is known for being tight-lipped.
“Please, come in.”
He stands in the doorway, keen eyes on mine. “You’ve told no one about this?”
“None,” I assure him. “And if you say a word, I’ll cut out your tongue.”
“You will try,” he says evenly before stepping inside.
I decide that I like this sorcerer.
Anastasia steps into the main room, hair still drying, with a bright silk dress I had made for her. It moves like magic, partly because it is, and partly because it’s just how she moves. Gracefully, even with child.
But her skin is pale, and when I reach for her hand, it’s clammy.
The climate doesn’t agree with her here, and while she might have borne it well before, pregnancy is making it more difficult for her. By the end of the day, all she can do is sit stubbornly on the veranda until I convince her to lie down.
Her attention is not on me, which I’m usually rather petulant about, but this time I can understand.
It’s not every day one sees a giant, swirling portal in one’s home.
“Volikan?”
I reach for her hand. “Do you trust me?”
She smiles as she nods, and we walk through the portal together, hand in hand.
One moment we’re in my living room, with its oily black stone and chilly, storm-electrified air, and the next we’re…not. There’s nothing. It’s a disorienting nothing, and I can’t tell which way is up or down or sideways. Anastasia’s hand tightens on mine.
And then we’re standing in a tropical paradise.
The air is heavier than Galmoleth, and although I struggle at first, Anastasia takes to it immediately. She gulps the air like a fine wine, and color returns to her cheeks.
“Volikan, where are we?”
I nod towards the black spire extending towards the sky behind the tall, fruit-bearing trees. It looks alien here, like it doesn’t belong, because it doesn’t. Perhaps I should have insisted the soz’garoth use local materials, but I didn’t want to risk the structure failing.
I intend to stay here a long time.
“Kaynvu, I believe they call it. I thought we could both use some sunlight.”
Stunned, she stares at the beach, and the waves crash rhythmically against it, and then back towards the forest, with animals I’ve never seen hopping and chittering about.
And then she pulls me down for a kiss, and I don’t give a damn about the scenery.
Her kisses are sweet and light, but I want more. I always want more, when it comes to her. Lightly, I drag my teeth against her lower lip.
She shivers.
“Here?” Her voice is husky, and it drives me wild knowing it’s because of me. “Are we alone?”
“Very.” Not that I care. I want her so badly I’d take her on the royal lawn.
She’s struggling out of her dress, and I let a smile stretch across my face at her frustrated expression. I rip her dress free, making her scowl.
“I like this dress.”
“I’ll buy you twenty more.” I trail my mouth down her neck, pausing at her collarbone to give it a little nip. She jumps, and I bring to her nipple, which has grown a dark, dusty pink.
