Page 41 of The Aether

“You’re like us now, Mama!” Sabrina cried her excitement. “You can hear Papa!”

“Remind me to find a way to block amorous thoughts from her,”Damian said through his connection to his wife.

She laughed.

Never had there been a more lovely sound.

Vivian was surprised to hear her husband’s voice inside her head—and oddly delighted. For too long, she’d gone not knowing how he felt about their situation, but tonight, something had shifted. Both in his expression and through this new connection.

“What do you suppose caused this?” she asked him.

Damian shrugged. “We shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. If those in charge are handing out presents like this one, we’ll accept it, and happily.”

“What’s happening here?” Taryn asked, glancing between them. “Are you trying to say the two of you have telepathic abilities? If so, I’m going to be pissed I didn’t gain any.”

Josie laughed. “You’re not married to the Aether, sister. Besides, it might be scary to be in someone else’s head. Goddess knows I’d never want someone in mine.”

“So, about that ‘sucker for love’ comment…”

Damian’s unspoken words echoed inside her mind, and the sensation of “internal voices” was disconcerting. Her eyes locked with his.

“Are you, Viv?”

She nodded, unable to respond any other way.

His grin stunned her stupid, and she could only stare.

“Wow,” Soleil whispered. “Just wow.”

Vivian silently agreed. How could one man be so aesthetically perfect?

“We’re going to wait over here.” Taryn grabbed Soleil’s arm and Sabrina’s hand, then nodded to Josie. “By the maze, to give these two a minute to remember why they fell in love in the first place.”

“They remember.” Sabrina’s voice, though young, held an age-old knowledge.

“Yes,” Damian agreed, striding toward Vivian, where she stood frozen. He stroked her throat, and his gaze followed the trail of his fingertips as they wound up her neck, beyond the base of her skull, and into her mass of curls. Finally, he focused on her eyes. Heat burned in his. “Yes, I remember,” he said softly.

Lowering his head, he kissed her, and Vivian was more than ready. It seemed like forever since he’d touched her, but in reality, it had been sixteen months. Sixteenlong-ass months.

Burning with want, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body to his. Had Ronan not interrupted, she’d have turned into a molten mess where she stood.

“Aye, it’s good to see you’re patchin’ things up, to be sure.” His humor-packed comment was spoken in his lilting Irish accent, and the suggestion of naughtiness he always seemed to convey caused Vivian’s face to burn.

If anyone could rival Damian in looks, it was Ronan O’Connor. His wavy, white-blond hair fell to his shoulders, and although his face with its deliciously hard panes should’ve appeared more effeminate from the hairstyle, it didn’t. Every part of him was beautifully sculpted. Somewhere along the way, Vivian had heard he was descended from Zeus, and she could damned well believe it.

“It’s a start, yeah?” Ronan’s girlfriend and fellow Guardian said from beside him. Dubheasa was the perfect foil for her mate. With her dark hair and challenging green eyes, it was easy to see why Ronan had fallen for her.

“Yes,” Damian replied gruffly. He’d yet to turn his attention from Vivian, and she could feel the hypnotic pull to the far reaches of her toes. A warm smile curled his mouth, triggering a responding one from her.

With an attempt at collecting herself, she faced the Guardians. “Where’s Nate?”

“Mack is settlin’ Delaney in with him now. As soon as Baz comes down, we’ll head up.” Ronan nodded toward Damian. “We were after lettin’ you know we’d arrived.”

“I knew the moment you crossed the boundary to the property, but thank you.” Surprising her, Damian clasped her hand. “We’ll only be a phone call away. Please let us know if you need anything or if the babies become too much.”

Sebastian and Mack stepped through the terrace doors. “All set?”

“Go, and don’t be worryin’ about your weens,” Ronan ordered. “Sure, and we’ll lay our lives down for them if we need to, yeah?”

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