I closed my eyes, all thoughts fleeing as I let go and let the waves of his love sweep me under, tossing me about like a buoy lost in the ocean. A moment later, I began to come again, and I gave up trying to keep quiet and cried out loudly as he stiffened. He dropped his head back and roared. As he came, he looked down at me, holding my gaze.
“You’re mine,” he whispered, the light in his eyes alien and powerful and terrifying. “You’re mine forever and always, Ember. You have promised yourself to me, and you are my kingdom.” And with that, he stiffened again, coming hard, and I joined him, my heart singing with joy…and…a little bit of fear.
Chapter Eleven
I felt like I should take a shower after, but I didn’t want to march naked down the hall to the bathroom. The agency’s bathroom had a shower and two toilet stalls in it. The shower was in an inner room in the bathroom. It was small, about five feet by five, but it was great for when we came back from cases covered in mud and blood.
“I needed that,” Herne said, wrapping his arms around my waist. He nuzzled my neck, kissing my shoulder. “I love you so much, Ember. And I am so happy you are wearing my ring. You’re mine, you know.”
“I know. You told me while we were making love.” I laughed as I slipped out of his embrace to find my panties and bra. Herne had a possessive streak, but he had managed to get beyond the intense jealousy that had driven me crazy. A little jealousy might be flattering. A lot of jealousy bugged the shit out of me.
“I can’t help it.” He pulled his shirt on and zipped his jeans. “So, what did my mother say? We haven’t had a chance to talk about her visit.”
“She was happy—more than I expected. She told me a little about the Gadawnoin. I’m not exactly looking forward to it, but you know…it will be all right. I trust Morgana and she said she’ll coach me for it.” I paused, then added, “She also said it makes the Cruharach look like a walk in the park.”
“You’re afraid,” Herne said, pulling me to him for a slow, gentle kiss. “You’ll manage. I would never have asked you to marry me if I didn’t think you had everything necessary to survive the ordeal.” He let go and handed me my shirt. As I pulled it over my head, he picked up my jeans and held them, waiting.
I slid into them, zipping them up and buckling my belt, then sat down to put on my socks and my boots. “That sounds so grim. Survive the ordeal.”
“You have plenty of time for my mother to prepare you. You won’t undergo the ritual until the week of our wedding. So, now’s not the time to dwell. We have far too many other things to concern ourselves with.” He let out a sigh, shaking his head. “Yutani might be right. Maybe Typhon is weak. But until we have a way to capture him, there’s no sense in taking him on.”
“Do you have anybody you could send into the astral as a spy?” I asked, pulling my hair back and up into a ponytail.
“Hmm, I hadn’t thought of that. I’ll ask my father and mother.” He motioned to the door. “We’d better get back to work, as much as I’d love to just cuddle and take a nap.”
I kissed him again, then unlocked the door and headed back to my office. Angel glanced up and I saw she had her earbuds in. I blushed, but then again, I heard her and Rafé at home, and she heard Herne and me. It wasn’t like we didn’t know all about each other’s sex lives. She caught my gaze, smiled, and gave me a thumbs-up. I winked at her and started to head back to my desk, but she pulled out one earbud.
“Hey, what do you want for lunch? I thought I’d call in an order since we’re going to be here all afternoon.”
“Tacos sound good,” I said.
“Viktor wanted a burrito, so Mexican food sounds like the order for the day.” She picked up the phone and I headed back to my office.
I settled in, staring at the mound of paperwork. Luckily, Rafé now was in charge of most of the data entry, but I still had to make notes