than married. I could lose you if we were just married. I can’t lose you with our bond. You’re mine. Forever.”
“Okay, could you not say things that make me want to molest you when I cannot act on my desires?” Shelly asked as heat filled her eyes, replacing the fear.
“I’d rather see desire filling your eyes than fear and tears,” he said. He would never apologize for making her feel better.
“You’re too sexy for your own good, Ra,” she murmured.
A little of the worry began to leak back into her features. Ra raised his other hand to her face and leaned down, pressing his lips to hers. He didn’t care that the fire king was standing mere feet away. He didn’t care that the entire training field was full of other warriors and professors. He wanted to taste his soul bonded, and he wanted to distract her. In his mind, it was a win-win.
When Ra pulled away, Shelly was breathing hard. She blinked slowly until her eyes completely opened, and she stared up at him in awe. “I love you,” Ra told her. “I will be right beside you. You’re not doing this alone.”
A small, shy smile turned her lips up. “Thank you. I love you, too.”
Elias and Tara walked up. “Shelly, you okay?” Tara asked.
Shelly stepped back from Ra, and he dropped his hands but grabbed one of hers and entwined their fingers.
“I’m good, Tara-bear,” Shelly assured her. “Just having a bit of a mini freak-out.”
Tara smiled gently at her friend. “Those are completely understandable, considering everything you’ve gone through.”
“I’m not sitting in a corner rocking and drooling. I think that deserves a cookie,” Shelly said, sounding more like herself.
“Agreed,” Tara said.
Aviur opened a portal and looked at their group. “Buffalo, Kentucky, correct?”
Tara and Shelly both nodded at the same time.
Ra tightened his grip on Shelly as they stepped through the portal, reminding her that he was beside her. He always would be.
The first thing Shelly noticed as soon as her feet landed on the porch of her parent’s home was how cold it was. It was May … or maybe June? Crap, she didn’t even know anymore, but she knew it shouldn’t have been cold. This was confirmation things were indeed as bad as the royals had said.
Shelly stepped up to the front door. The place didn’t feel as if it was her house anymore. Not now that she was with Ra. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. As her hand rose to knock, she paused just before her fist made contact.
Her mind raced. She wondered how they would take the news of the supernatural world and the fact that she’d been in hell. Maybe she didn’t have to mention the hell part?
“It’s going to be okay, Shell,” Tara said from beside her. She took Shelly’s hand and squeezed it. Ra held her other hand just as tightly.
With a deep breath, she let go of Tara’s hand and finally knocked on the door. Shelly could feel her heart pounding painfully in her chest. She’d never been so scared and excited at the same time. After what seemed like an agonizingly long time, she heard the lock on the door turn. It had to be the slowest opening of a door in the history of door openings. Finally, her mother’s face appeared in the entryway. Shelly didn’t know what she’d expected, but other than looking utterly exhausted, her mom hadn’t changed. She was as beautiful as ever. Shelly had inherited her long blonde hair and her fine bone structure from her mom, though her green eyes were all her dad’s. Her mom had stormy grey eyes that were currently filled with confusion.
“Mom,” Shelly said in a pained whisper. The moment the word passed her lips, her mom fell to her knees in front of her and wrapped her arms tightly around Shelly's waist. There was a moment of shock before she returned her mother's embrace.
The familiar scent of Regina Smith hit Shelly’s nose, and the tears that hadn’t begun to fall streamed down her face. She felt her mother’s body shaking as she cried and whispered, “My girl, my sweet girl. My Shelly.”
Shelly wasn’t sure what to say, but all of a sudden, all she could do was apologize. “I’m sorry, Mom. I’m so sorry.” She felt as if she’d let her parents down in some way. Shelly wasn’t sure if there had been any way she could have prevented what had happened. But she