said softly.
“I do thank you for keeping her safe, Ben dear,” Lady Aisling said.
“Sure.” Ben appeared shaken. “Any time. My pleasure. I mean that with all my heart.”
Rhianne’s own heart warmed. She pulled her mother close again, giving her a soft kiss on her cheek. “Ivor’s gone,” she said quietly. “May we be a family now?”
Lady Aisling’s eyes filled with tears. “I’d like that.”
Rhianne reached out and took Eamon’s hand. “I’m glad my mother kept you safe.”
Eamon’s voice went soft. “It was hard not to be with you, Rhianne. Your mother told me everything about you, everything you did, every honor you took in your studies. She brought me drawings of you and then photographs. I knew all about you, but I never realized how beautiful you would be.”
Rhianne gave up on dignity and threw her arms around Eamon. “I want to know everything about you. Thank you for coming to help us.”
Eamon held her hard, and the Shifter in Rhianne relaxed. This was right. This was family.
When Rhianne and Eamon parted, Lady Aisling slipped her arm through Eamon’s, and he clasped her hand lovingly.
“Rhianne is right,” Lady Aisling said. “Now that Ivor is no longer a threat, it is time to be a family. There is ample room around my house for you both to fly.” She sent Eamon a fond look. “Though I will miss sneaking off to meet you in Paris. There is something about that city …”
“We can keep the pied à terre,” Eamon offered. “Will be a nice place for a vacation. You can shop to your heart’s content. You as well, Rhianne.”
“Aren’t you sweet?” Lady Aisling tugged him closer. “You will love it there, Rhianne.”
“I’m going to live here,” Rhianne announced. “Not here, but in New Orleans. With Ben.”
Lady Aisling’s wise eyes softened. “Well, of course you are, dear. I plan to be at the Sun and Moon ceremonies. And the house will be a convenient respite for when we attend Mardi Gras.”
Rhianne burst out laughing, Ben rumbling beside her. It felt good to laugh.
Rhianne still had many questions, but Eamon was right. There would be time. They’d sit on the porch of the New Orleans house, or in her mother’s garden in Faerie, and talk about all the things they needed to.
For now …
Rhianne laced her fingers through Ben’s. “Thank you for sending me here, Mother. And for asking Ben to guide me. You were right. I belong here.”
Lady Aisling smiled warmly. “You are very welcome, dear. Ah, I see that the Shifters have gathered for dancing.” She gestured to the howling, laughing, yowling Shifters who were forming a circle under the moonlight. “I say we join them. I do love to dance.”
Lady Aisling embraced Rhianne one more time, her tight arms around her daughter saying more than words could. Eamon, after embracing Rhianne again himself and giving a squeeze to Ben’s shoulder, led Lady Aisling away, the two clasping hands.
Ben tugged Rhianne back to him. “You and your crazy family. We’re going to have a fine time.” He nuzzled her cheek. “I love you, my mate.”
“I love you too, Ben.” Rhianne’s voice dipped shyly. “Mate of my heart. Thank you.”
“Hey, it’s what I do. Make people happy. This time, I get to make me happy too.”
Ben kissed her, the intensity of it strengthened by the mate bond that wound around them. When they eased apart, Ben studied her, his eyes like pieces of midnight, his love clear.
“Now,” he said. “Let’s go join the knees-up.”
Ben started across the green, towing Rhianne behind him, his hand the warm lifeline it had been the first time she’d touched it.
They headed for where Connor cavorted in a series of gravity-defying moves inside the ring of happy Shifters, to Tiger-girl’s obvious delight.
Rhianne laughed as they ran, her heart soaring as freely as the eagle inside her.
The wind chimes on the porch stirred and jangled, echoing their laughter in the night.
Epilogue
Moonlight glowed on the walls of the bedroom in the haunted house, the shadows of rose vines dancing like Shifters at a rave.
Ben was buried inside Rhianne, the mate of his heart, her face soft with pleasure as she lifted herself into his thrusts.
Ben couldn’t get enough of her. He closed his eyes and drove on, blocking out all sensation but Rhianne squeezing him, her hands on his hips coaxing him in, her strength exciting.
Ben opened his eyes again, needing to gaze upon her beautiful face, her black-brown eyes, the mass of her red hair spread around them.
“Love