Page 128 of Taste of Forever
“As soon as I’m well enough to leave this bed,” I mumbled into the hollow of her throat, “I’m taking you dancing.”
“Oh really?” Her fingers dragged down my back, digging into stiff, aching muscles. “As soon as? No waiting around at all?”
“Hmm.” I kissed lower until I found the near fully-healed puncture marks on her left breast. “Maybe I should wait until I’m certain that I can stand and carry you.” I drew her leg overmy hip, then rolled until she was on her back. “In a multitude of positions.”
Heather’s grin lit up her whole face. “You know I’m a fan of the scientific method.”
“I’m glad you agree.” Our lips met and we melted into each other, giving in to our relief and joy to be alive and together.
While I didn’t carve it into my skin right at that moment, I made a vow to always run experiments for my Science Barbie. Until my last breath, I would always seek and then implement the best methods for loving her.
Epilogue
Rhain
Thorne knew exactly where to find me. I smelled the flavor of his darakt before I heard him climbing the ladder to join me on the compound’s roof.
He said nothing at first. Just leaned his forearms on the railing about five feet down from me. After thirty or so seconds, he pulled out his cigarettes and lit up. My own smoke was nearly finished, and I took a final drag before stubbing the end in the ashtray between us.
“They’re getting big, huh?” He jerked his chin toward the distance, indicating the orchard of fruit trees Cyan had planted for Tavia.
“Yeah.”
The trees were just saplings now, but both Tavia and Cyan, along with a master gardener they hired, inspected them daily for signs of pests and illness. Fifty trees tended to like children. And I found myself oddly protective of the spindly little things. Watching them under a bright moon turned out to be a respite from everything else going on.
“When will they bear fruit, do you think?”
“Tavia said it’ll probably be another year for the apples. Three years for the cherries. Not soon enough, in her view.”
Thorne chuckled, red smoke billowing from his nostrils. “She’ll learn soon enough that three years is no time at all.”
I said nothing and waited for him to broach what he really wanted to talk about.
“What do you think of our brothers taking on blood mates?”
I shrugged. “Temkra has chosen well for Cyan and Laith. It’s good to see them happy. Amy deserves better than Novak, but nothing can be done about that.”
Another dry, smoky chuckle. “Think you’re next?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“You know why,” I said with more bite than I intended.
Thorne was quiet for a few seconds. “You weren’t in your right mind when you made that vow. You were grieving?—“
“I really don’t want to talk about this with you.”
Thorne paused to let out a long exhale of red smoke. “I’m sending you away on assignment.”
I forced my fists to unclench the metal railing. “Away where?”
“South of the Ribs, near our border with Shadowburn.”
“Where you had Laith and Cy check out the fight club?”
“Yes. There’s a dive bar there called Nocturne.” He rolled his eyes. “Inessa tells me the owner there is a cousin of her father’s. Goes by Vlad.”
