Oh boy.
I turned to him. “Noc –”
I stopped talking when his eyes narrowed on the road and he started, “What’s…?”
I turned back and saw what looked like… I leaned closer… stars. Little, glittering stars, hundreds, maybe thousands of them and they were dancing in a wide line perpendicular to the road.
“What the f**k?” Noc whispered as the stars started growing, glittering, increasing in number and Noc slowed his SUV but we still kept driving straight at them.
Oh shit.
“Noc,” I breathed but said no more because the stars exploded, shooting out to the sides, they burst in a blinding light. I flinched against the sudden brightness, lifting a hand to shield my eyes and when I recovered I saw that up their middle a black seam had split through.
“Fucking hell!” Noc shouted.
Then a black horse with rider surged through the seam.
Oh my God!
“Fucking hell!” Noc repeated as the horse’s hooves hit the slick asphalt and came tearing straight at us. “Hold on!” Noc yelled and swerved his SUV, narrowly missing horse and rider.
I grabbed onto the dash but twisted my head to look back, seeing the rider pull the reins sharply to the side to round the horse and come back.
“Stop!” I cried.
“What the f**k is that?” Noc asked, looking in the rearview mirror.
“It’s Tor! Stop! Stop. Bloody stop!”
Noc stood on the brakes, his SUV came to a sliding halt and I was out of my seatbelt and out of the car before Noc could finish shouting, “Cora!”
I took off on a run and cleared the back of the SUV seeing Salem galloping toward me, Tor on his back and I kept right on running but I did it faster.
At the sight of him, the pain that had ebbed with the promise of hope washed clean away.
Tor kept Salem coming at me and when he got close, he leaned down to the side. His arm hooking around my waist, he lifted me up and set me on the horse in front of him.
I didn’t hesitate. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, aimed my mouth at his and the minute our lips touched, they opened and his tongue slid in my mouth.
Oh yes. There it was.
I was home.
I didn’t notice Salem slow to a halt under us because Tor’s arms were around me, his mouth was on mine, his sandalwood scent filled my nostrils and his strength surrounded me. He kissed me hard and I kissed him back just as hard, pushing close, draining him dry.
His mouth tore from mine and his hands came to either side of my head where he held me still while his eyes searched my face so I took that opportunity to allow mine to roam his.
Then he let my head go, his arms crushed me to him and he shoved his face in my neck.
“My love,” he said there, his voice low and hoarse with unconcealed relief.
Feeling it, hearing it, my tears came instantly and started to fall.
“Honey,” I whispered against his skin, holding him tight but my arms still clenched in a futile effort to hold him tighter.
In return, his arms gave me a squeeze.
“I was dying without you,” I told him, my voice trembling with tears.