Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 112398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
One that would go on through every generation.
A soft smile played across her tempting lips as she leaned against the door. “Hmm . . . our vacation home will be on the beach, but I think we’ll have another house. Maybe one in Albany.”
I took another step forward until I was standing directly in front of her. I slipped my palms onto her sides as I murmured close to her mouth, my voice rough with need, “Oh, we’re going to have two houses, huh?”
Heat flamed at the contact.
Her tongue stroked out to wet those plush, tempting lips, and she peeked up at me with a sweet dose of playfulness swimming in her expression. “I am a princess, after all.”
“My princess.” My hands curled around her waist as I claimed it.
“Yours,” she murmured. All the lightness vanished, and her voice quivered with the truth. “Just like you’re mine.”
Dipping down to capture her mouth, I kissed her slowly. Needing her to understand what she meant to me. I thought she did, though. I thought she was the only person who could get me.
A low whimper rolled up her throat as she pressed herself against me, all that soft sweetness against the hard planes of my body, every muscle coiled with need.
“Is it wrong that I want you? After what happened earlier today?” she whispered into the lapping shadows of the room.
Twilight just beginning to take hold.
Edging back so I could look at her, I ran my fingers through her hair. “Isn’t it you who told me that we didn’t know how long we had? That we had to relish every second? There is nothing wrong with that, Aria. You deserve every ounce of joy. Every bit of pleasure. And if that means eking it out in the few moments of quiet we have, then that’s what we’re going to do.”
Except Aria and me? We were going to have forever.
I knew it.
Knew it in my soul.
Because I was sure then that mine didn’t function without hers.
My heart.
My purpose.
My Nol.
“I think that sounds like a really good plan.”
“Oh, I have plans for you.”
She rocked her head back on the wood of the door, a shy, excited smile dancing over her lips. “Oh, really? Like what?”
She squealed when I swept her off her feet and into my arms; then I turned and tossed her onto the bed.
Then I peeled myself out of my shirt and tossed it to the floor. “Like this.”
Chapter Five
Aria—Tearsith
She lay wrapped in Pax’s arms, and her Nol held her close as they drifted to sleep, curled on the motel bed.
Their souls hovered and danced in the nothingness. In that bare space that always held them before they were taken to where they were destined.
Lights flickered and flashed in that glimmery second before they flew.
Carried away to the otherworld.
Aria emerged on Tearsith’s boundary first.
Their sanctuary was surrounded by dense woods, the foliage lush and the air cool. Green grass and red vingas covered the ground, and her ears were filled with the gentle babbling of the brook that cut through the middle of the meadow.
Off to the side was the great tree she and Pax had played on as children, its massive arms coiled and twisted. A canopy of peace.
Previously, she hadn’t given much consideration as to why there were no children there now, playing beneath its protection. Why she was the youngest of their Laven family. But now it struck her as wrong.
Ominous.
She didn’t have much time to contemplate it, because one moment later, Pax manifested at her side. He didn’t hesitate to thread his fingers through hers.
Energy erupted, stronger than it’d ever been.
It was as if a new force had been bred between them once they’d joined.
When their barriers had been stripped away and there was nothing left to separate them.
When they’d become one.
They shared a fleeting glance before they turned their attention to their Laven family, who had gathered near the stream at their great teacher’s feet.
Ellis was giving them words to bolster their spirits. A reminder of their calling. The way he did every night before they descended.
But there was something in the air that left her unbalanced, something that felt off as they stepped out from the fringes and into the clearing.
Ellis immediately quieted when he noticed them.
“Aria and Pax. You have arrived.” Aria had thought relief would shine bright in his expression. It’d been only the previous night that they’d defeated the Ghorl, and Ellis wouldn’t know of the new world Aria had stumbled into afterward.
But no.
It was sorrow that twisted through his aged features. The weathered lines carved on his face deepening to ravines.
Aria’s attention rushed to take in the faces of the rest of their family.
Grief.
She felt it fiercely. She felt it distinctly.
And she somehow knew it wasn’t about her or her situation.
“What has happened?” she whispered hoarsely.