A Shade of Vampire 77 A Fate of Time - Bella Forrest Page 0,101
chuckled, tilting my head back to look at him. He was gorgeous in this half-light, his sharp cheeks and full lips playing with shadows and moonlight. How lucky I was, to land such a specimen—handsome and funny. “Leave him be. He just died and came back, for the second time,” I said. “He deserves to be as loud as he wants.”
“I’m pretty sure he’s scaring the wildlife away,” he muttered, his blue and green eyes twinkling with amusement.
“Jovi and Dmitri haven’t complained,” I said, making him laugh.
“Oh, boy. Don’t let them hear you call them ‘wildlife,’” he replied. For a moment, he turned serious. “Are you okay, though?”
I nodded, my hands coming up to frame his handsome face. His skin sent electric sensations through mine, and I could not get enough of this incredible feeling. We’d been inseparable for six months now, and there was no sign we’d ever get bored with each other. He was playful and fierce. I was dorky and stubborn. We got along great.
“I’m perfect,” I whispered.
“No more nightmares, then?”
I hadn’t dreamed about the Hermessi and the Soul Crusher’s horrible puzzles in a couple of nights. His concern was understandable, though. I’d woken him up more than once, flailing and screaming, still stuck in a shaft with broken legs in a nightmare, unable to pull myself back up.
“Nothing so far,” I said.
“Good. You deserve peace.”
He kissed me, and I welcomed him. His lips were soft, and he was hungry for me. I could feel him, his muscular figure overwhelming mine beneath the satin sheets. He tightened his grip, fingers gripping my waist, as he deepened the kiss. My heart pounded, his touch sending thousands of energy jolts rushing through me. Making love to Raphael was like hugging the sun, without the risk of literally burning. His passion ignited a different kind of fire within me, and I allowed it to consume me, to take over, and to turn me into incandescent stardust. Raphael trailed hot kisses down the side of my neck as we both moved to our own rhythm, and my name left his lips as we surrendered to each other completely, our love blossoming and spreading, torching everything in its path.
The hours went by lazily, as we settled back into each other’s arms, basking in the afterglow and dreaming with our eyes open about the days to come… hoping they would all be as sweet and as wonderful as this one, and the many that had passed before it.
When morning came, there was silence. The night was still covering The Shade, thanks to the witches’ magic, but our biological systems responded to the sun rising somewhere beyond. I left my darling to sleep a while longer, making my way down the circular stairs into our kitchen, where I set coffee to brew.
Outside, the dew gathered on the begonia leaves I’d planted a month ago. They’d sprung fast, rich and green, their buds finally raising their heads. Tebir had been kind to my little garden, which I’d made, in part, to honor him. I kept little things around the house that reminded me of the Hermessi—in a good way. The windchimes spoke of the Air Hermessi, clinking delicately whenever the wind blew on the east side of my tree. The garden and the potted flowers were dedicated to the Earth Hermessi, and I tended them with much care and love. I had candles burning in the bedroom and living room whenever I was around, enjoying their delicate, floral fragrances. Eira had been kind enough to draw water from a natural, underground spring, which she’d set to flow through a small, white marble artesian fountain, smack in the middle of the garden.
This was my home now. My own treehouse, which I shared with Raphael, filled with books and candles and windchimes and flowers and all kinds of other small, wonderful things. I’d fought hard to get to this point. To see my family across the yard every morning. To bump into my friends on the way to GASP HQ. To hold my lover in my arms, for him to be the last thing I saw when I fell asleep and the first thing I saw when I woke up. This was as close to bliss as I’d ever get. And I’d earned it.
Taking my coffee mug outside, I settled in a chair by the fountain. Its crystalline water gushed out of a sculpted lily, streaming outward and shimmering under the moonlight. I listened to its stream