“I’ll be sure to thank him for the compliment, but I must hear from you whether you believe me to possess this…gilded tongue.”
She leaned up, capturing his mouth with a slow, languid kiss. Ahh, yes, his tongue was magic, whether it be a kiss or driving her to the brink of world-shattering pleasure. Either way, she adored him.
“Mmm.” She hated the moment he tapered off the sweet kiss and settled back on the bed beside her, pulling her close once more. “Storínmeans little treasure. You are. My little treasure. Priceless. Invaluable. Irreplaceable.”
Rori smiled against his arm. An endearment, and damn if it didn’t make her warm and fuzzy. She played her fingers over his chest, tracing the faint scars, a stark reminder of how her life could have been so different had those arrows accomplished what they were supposed to. She would have never known completion like she did now. She would have never known safety and security, all she’d found with Thaddeus. With him, and only him, she could be at her most vulnerable and never doubt that he would shield her from the universe.
“What about this last one? I heard Shaye call Moira that ‘ghrá’when we were at the grotto."
"Ah, so inquisitive.” He stroked her spine, his touchfeather-light. The sensation cast goosebumps down her arms while relaxing her from head-to-toe. “Moghráálainnmeans my beautiful love.” His lips pressed to the top of her head. “You are the most beautiful creature to exist. You are the only woman to own my heart and have my love. Pure, true love. Alas, you aremine. As long as I shall walk these realms, you belong to me, as I belong to you.”
Rori pressed her palm flat over his beating heart. “I love you, too, Thaddeus. I would never have thought it possible, not so soon after…” She shook her head, deciding to leave Rich’s name unspoken. “Feeling hurts, but you refused to let me forgethowto feel. Only when I thought I’d lost you coming here did I realize how much you mean to me. I guess what you said about the soul knowing its mate is undeniable. I fought against everything to hate you, and I simply couldn’t.”
“Nay,moghrá. You loathe me.”
Rori snorted. “Loathing became lost in the wind before I ever had a good grip on it.”
Thaddeus’s methodical stroking of her back continued, and soon enough, Rori had to fight against a heaviness that weighted her eyelids. She released a sigh, finally giving in to the soothing lure of sleep.
“Would you consider a blood bond, Thaddeus?”
His chest stilled, his breath caught. His fingers paused between her shoulder blades. The contented air stirred with unease, but it lasted a few heartbeats and disappeared.
“If I could promise you a long, loving future with me, I would hold not a moment of hesitation to offer you a blood bond. You now know the truth of my past, and the fate of my future. ’Twould be a punishment worse than death to be bound to a dead mate for all eternity,storín. Going through life after life, possessing an emptiness you can’t explain.Never knowing completion or contentment. Subconsciously searching for more when more no longer exists.” His mouth pressed to her head, not in a kiss. “When Fae die, there is no rebirth, unlike mortals. That small reason aside, the death of one’s soul mate after a blood bond is almost certainly a death sentence to the living mate. For those two reasons, ’twould be without consideration.”
“What about the blood bond you gave me our first night together?”
“’Twas a one-way bond. A promise in blood. To protect you and keep you safe, whatever the cost to me.” He abandoned her back for her chin, lifting her face to his. The sorrow that reflected in his gaze echoed in her soul. If she could only figure out a way to take it away. Change their future. “Blood is the essence of everything, love. It is virility, life, power, magic among some. A promise in blood is unbreakable. Should one be fool enough to try and break a blood-bound promise, they would suffer immense agony for decades, if not a lifetime. ’Tis why Fae do not offer such promises unless they hold no doubt in their mind that they can follow through with it for all eternity.” He brushed aside a rebel wave that had slipped over her cheek. “I don’t need to think twice about protecting you. Anyone who harms you will suffer at my hands. No one, Rori, shall hurt you and live. No one.”
Rori tilted her head enough to press a lingering kiss to his bottom lip. “And I’ll always protect you, the best I can.”
She lowered her head back to his arm and closed her eyes.
“Protect my sanity by not stepping in front of a blade again. Or trying to stop a madman from hitting me with a pistol.”
She found enough strength to laugh quietly at his grousedsuggestion. “Thankfully, you aren’t asking for me to promise that in blood. I would have to decline.”
“Insufferable wench,” he grumbled.
“Infuriating Faery man,” she countered with a yawn. His arms tightened around her. A moment later, a soft, satiny blanket pulled over them. She nestled deeper into his chest, filling her lungs with his warm spiced scent. “You will always be my world, my universe.” Bringing her lips to rest against his chest, she whispered, “You are my home.”
31
“She emerges, at long last.”
Heat flushed Rori’s cheeks when Cassy slipped into her room and hurried to meet her on the balcony. Her friend grabbed her by the shoulders and held her at arm’s length, scrutinizing every microscopic speck of who knew what, twisting her one way, then the other. Rori’s brows shot up. Sure, she’d ended up missing dinner the night before, choosing to keep company with Thaddeus throughout the night until Shaye called upon him late this morning.
It wasn’t like Cassy didn’t disappear for a day or two at a time.
“Well, damn if you’re not glowing like a woman who tread the heavens.” She snickered, her smile melting into a sinister grin. “Will you finally admit you and Thaddeus sealed the deal?”
The way her face burned would be telling enough. Not that she could hide the childish smile or the glow she could practically feel coming out of her eyes. “Nope.”
“Doesn’t matter. He left some pretty little marks on you.”
Rori smacked a hand over her throat, the good-naturedexcitement falling. “What? No, he didn’t.” When Cassy burst out laughing, Rori dropped her hand from her neck and crossed her arms over her chest. “Oh, that was low.”
“What? That you gave yourself away?” She tapped Rori’s shoulder, where this newest gown didn’t hide the juncture of her neck. “You really do have a mark, though.” She leaned closer to inspect it. Rori craned her neck, trying to see for herself, but couldn’t. “Pretty damn nice. You’ve got a biter.”
