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Finally, after all those years in the wilderness, we belonged somewhere.
Epilogue
The wind meandered through the treetops, filling the dusk with the whisper of leaves. The mountain air was
cool, fresh with the recent rain and rich with the humus of the forest.
I walked through the trees, my bare feet sinking into the grass and leaving a trail of wet prints behind me.
In a couple of hours, the full moon would rise and I would become a wolf.
But before then, before the sun had fully set, there was the time of promises.
Soon Quinn would become mine, and I would become his.
It was all I could do not race up the remainder of this hill, to where he and Rhoan and Liander waited, to say the
words that would bind us as one forever.
The only thing that could have made this night more perfect would have been for Rhoan and Liander to perform
the ceremony alongside us. But Rhoan was still refusing, and Liander wouldn t push. He understood Rhoan s
reasons. We all did, even if we didn t agree with them.
But I wasn t about to spoil this night by dwelling on such matters.
Not when I was about to commit to the man of my dreams.
My pulse was racing and my heart was light, and every now and again the sheer force of it all had my feet
breaking into a happy little dance.
High above the treetops, the sky was a blaze of color, and though the moon had yet to crest the horizon, the heat
of her was in the air. Her music sang through my veins a richness that was sweet and intoxicating. The change
would come with darkness, but before it did, our promises would be made.
I walked up the rest of the hill. The last of the day s sunlight broke through the trees as I did, warming the
clearing ahead and spotlighting the three men who waited there.
Rhoan and Liander stood to one side, their arms entwined and grins as silly as my own on their faces. Quinn
stood in the middle, as naked as I was despite what he d said earlier. And oh, he was beautiful. Simply
beautiful.
He smiled as I stopped in front of him, and briefly reached out to caress my cheek. I pressed into his touch and
silently said, Do you know all the words?
They have been very firmly drummed into my brain by your brother and his lover, he replied. They made sure
no mistakes would be made.
They d made sure I would make no mistakes, as well, hammering the words into my still somewhat faulty
memory banks. Despite Quinn s best efforts, not all the past had been recovered. Some of it would remain
forever gone. But the past no longer mattered. The here, the now, and the future did.
Good, I replied softly. I did threaten to cook for them for the next year if things went awry.
His laughter was like quicksilver through my thoughts, bright and shiny. Then he dropped his hand and bowed
formally.
I watched him, struggling to contain my joy, struggling to reach the seriousness this ceremony required.
 Does my lover know what night this is? I said softly.
His eyes shone like black jewels in the dusk, filled with such warmth and love that it threatened to steal my
breath and words away.
 It is the night of the full moon, he returned solemnly.  The night of promises.
I stepped forward, pressing my body against his. Feeling in the no-longer-slow beat of his heart an echo of my
excitement. Feeling in the rigid heat of his erection the equal of my desire.  The night of destiny.
The air stirred around us, running with slivers of energy that raised the hairs at the nape of my neck.
 You are my heart, my soul, he said, his arms going around my waist and holding me tightly.
 As you are mine, I repeated. The magic in the air got stronger, thrumming through the forest, matching the
rhythm of our breathing, matching the beating of our hearts.
 Dance with me, this night and for the rest of our nights, he said.  For as long as the moon shines in the sky
and for as long as we live underneath her.
I shifted my stance slightly, readying myself for the more intimate requirements of the ceremony.  In her name,
I offer you my body.
Desire and something else something more ethereal and powerful swirled around us, warming my heart,
tugging at my soul. The heat of him slid inside of me, so deeply that it felt like he was claiming every single
inch of me. And lord, it felt good.
 In her power, he said, as he slowly began to rock inside of me,  I offer you my heart.
The energy in the air was becoming fiercer, burning across my skin, making all the little hairs stand up on end.
 In her shadow, I offer you my soul. My words were breathless, almost inaudible, lost to the pleasurable
assault on my senses and the thrumming in the air. It didn t matter. The magic in the night heard and
acknowledged it.
His hands slid down to my rear, gripping my butt fiercely, holding my body tightly against his as his
movements became more urgent.
 Do you accept the gift of my seed? he growled.
His thrusting was deep and hard and urgent, and the world was spinning, burning, with power, until it felt like
there was no separation between any of us, that our flesh, the magic, the moon, and the night were all one being.
 Yes, I gasped.  Do you accept the binding of the moon and the promises we have made on the night?
 Yes, he cried.  Yes!
The words were barely said when he came, his body going rigid against mine, the force of his release tearing
my name from his throat. Heat and power and magic exploded around us, through us, and my climax came in
that moment, stealing all thought and plunging me into an abyss that was sheer and unadulterated bliss.
I rested my forehead against his, desperately trying to catch my breath, desperately trying to ignore the rising
heat of the oncoming night. I would change soon, but there were still words to be said.
So I took a deep breath and raised my head, staring into the beautiful dark pools that were his eyes.  May the
moon bless this union and grant us a long life together.
He smiled and gently brushed the sweaty strands of hair away from my forehead.  And what the moon has
bound, let no man or woman sunder.
He leaned forward and kissed me. Gently, sweetly. Then he bent and gathered a small, silk-wrapped package by
his feet.  And now, for the human part of the ceremony. He opened the silk, revealing two identical, black
onyx rings. He plucked the smaller of the two free and slid it onto my finger.  With this ring, I thee wed.
I smiled and repeated the process. Then I flung myself into his arms and said,  You can t get away from me
now, vampire. You re mine until eternity ends.
 And a better place to live and die I couldn t think of.
 Run with us tonight.
 Oh, I intend to. No bride of mine is spending her wedding night with her brother and his lover.
I laughed and kissed him, with all the fierce joy in my heart.
From behind us came a whoop of delight, then suddenly Rhoan and Liander were all over us, hugging and
kissing and crying.
It was the perfect way to start our new lives together. As a family, as a pack.
But as the call of the moon got fiercer and fiercer, and the thrum of the change began to tingle across our skins,
Liander made the night just that little bit more perfect.
 Here, he said, and handed me a small photo.
I took it and looked at it, but wasn t really able to make sense of the odd black-and-white image.  What is it? I
asked, looking up.
 Those, he said with a grin that lit up his entire face,  are our babies. Riley Jenson, you and I are having
twins.
At long last, Keri Arthur s riveting
Myth and Magic series
continues with
Mercy Burns [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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