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She hurries to a bag on the dining room table and comes back holding a little brown pouch.
She shakes the contents into my hand, and I stare down at the pendant on a silver chain.
“We all wear our stones,” she says softly. “Mine is rose quartz. For harmony, love, and trust. It’s a healing stone. With our stones—my sisters and mine—and now Cash’s and Lucien’s—”
“The guys wear them, too?”
“Of course. Lucien has always worn black onyx, but Brielle finally convinced Cash to wear his amethyst, as well. He just wears it under his shirt. Anyway, they’ve all been cast with a protection spell, cleansed, and charged. And I had the same done for this one. I know it looks purple, but it’s not amethyst. It’s auralite. For—”
“Also for healing,” I interrupt, turning the stone over in my palm. “For calm. Relieves tension and strain and can even soothe a hot temper.”
“It soothes and heals the mind,” she says as she slips it out of my hand and over my head. “And with your visions, I thought this was appropriate. I know they’re getting worse. I can feel the tension in you when you’ve had them. I want you to wear this, all the time, to keep you safe.”
“Thank you.” I brush my fingertips over the smooth stone, and then over hers. “So, you’re letting me hang out with you a lot.”
I tick items off on my fingers.
“You let me kiss you, you’re worried about me, and now you’re buying me gifts.”
“Do you have a point?” She raises a brow, but there’s humor in her gorgeous eyes.
“You love me.”
Surprise replaces the humor, and then she starts to raise that wall of defense she’s so good at when it comes to me. I frame her face in my hands.
“It’s okay that you love me, Daphne. And I’ll tell you why.”
She grips my wrists and watches me avidly.
“Because I love you so much it hurts. I feel like I’ve loved you all of my life. As if I were just waiting until I met you. And then those years without you were just plain torture. Living without you was way worse than surviving any war zone. I love you, and I’m never going to do anything so stupid that it drives a wedge between us again. I can’t promise to never make mistakes, but I can tell you that I’ll never walk away.”
She narrows those eyes and then sighs.
“I never stopped loving you, you big oaf. I wanted to. Trust me, I did. But I couldn’t. You’re meant for me. And for a while, that meant living through the pain of it. So, yeah, I love you. I bought you a protection pendant, didn’t I?”
“Yeah.” I kiss her nose. “You did.”
“Let’s not get all mushy about it.”
I laugh and lead her into her bathroom, turning on the bathwater and dropping in some bubbles.
“Fine, we won’t get mushy. But I’m telling you, here and now, that once you get naked, you’re not getting unnaked for the rest of the day.”
A slow smile spreads across her beautiful face.
“Deal. But first, I need this bath. Mostly because I have to shave my legs. It’s been a while. I’ve been busy.”
I laugh but shrug and leave her to her bath while I clean the kitchen. I can hear her splashing away in there, talking to herself. She hums for a while.
With the kitchen back to the way I found it, I walk into the bedroom and take off my shoes, then turn down the bed.
I’ve never been so nervous in my life.
I’ve had sex with this woman before—plenty of times. Hell, we were each other’s firsts, way back in the day. I knew her body better than I knew mine back then.
Knew.
That’s the keyword. Because it’s been a hell of a long time.
I’m down to my underwear when I hear footsteps behind me. I turn and just about swallow my tongue.
Standing there in the doorway is Daphne. Completely naked, aside from the pendant she never takes off.
Her long, curly red hair falls around her shoulders, and her brilliant dark eyes are glued to mine.
That gorgeous pale skin of hers looks soft from her bath, and my God, I fucking want her.
“Getting a little cold over here,” she says as goosebumps form over her skin.
“I can fix that.”
I scoop her up and tumble her into bed, rolling her beneath me as I kiss her like my life depends on it.
Because right this minute, it feels like it does.
Her nails scrape down my back, her legs skimming up mine and coming to rest over my hips.
It would be so easy to just slip right inside of her and take her.
But I’m not here for easy. Definitely not this time.
So, despite her delectable invitation, I slow down and slide my nose over the skin of her neck and up to her ear as I whisper, “You’re the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
