Valerius moved her hand to his lips so that he could kiss it. "You're worth a lot more than that to me."
Her eyes misted as she looked up at him. "I love you, Valerius."
He'd never heard anything more precious to him. "I love you, too, Tabitha," he said, his voice thick.
Her smile widened as she pulled him into her arms and kissed him senseless.
She literally tore her shirt off before she wiggled herself up under him.
Valerius laughed at her eagerness before he kissed her gently on the lips.
She wasn't in the mood for that. They made love furiously, as if they wouldn't have another chance again.
Afterward, they lay in each other's arms. Valerius toyed with her hair as he contemplated their future. "So what do we do now, Tabitha?"
"What do you mean?"
"How do we make this relationship work? Kyrian still hates me and I'm still a Dark-Hunter."
"Well," she said raggedly. "Rome wasn't built in one day. We take it one step at a time."
Little did she know that those steps were going to be horrific.
The first one came the night of her sister's wake. Valerius had driven her to her parents' only to pull up short as they realized Kyrian, Amanda, and Julian and his wife Grace were there.
The animosity was tangible.
Tabitha had meant to stay with Valerius the entire time, but her Aunt Zelda pulled her away.
"I'll be right back."
Valerius nodded as he went to get something else to drink.
Julian and Kyrian cornered him in the kitchen.
He sighed wearily as he waited for them to start in on him. He set his cup down.
Kyrian grabbed his arm.
Valerius was about to lay him out cold when he realized that Kyrian wasn't hurting him. He pulled back Valerius's sleeve so that the scars of his execution were visible.
"Amanda told me how you died," Kyrian said quietly. "I didn't believe her."
Valerius jerked his arm away. Without a word, he started away from the two Greeks.
But Kyrian's voice stopped him. "Look, Valerius, I have to tell you that it literally kills me every time I see you. Can you imagine what it would be like if I had the face of the man who nailed you to the wood?"
Valerius gave a bitter laugh at the irony. "Actually, I know exactly how you feel, General. Every time I use a mirror, I too see the face of my executioner."
He may not have been twins with his brothers, but they looked enough alike that it was hard to see himself in a mirror without seeing them. It was why he was so damned grateful Dark-Hunters didn't cast reflections unless they wanted to.
Kyrian nodded. "Yeah, I guess you would. I don't suppose I could bribe or bully you away from Tabitha, can I?"
"No."
"Then we're going to have to be grown-ups here because I love my wife too much to hurt her. She's lost one sister, it would kill her to lose another one. She needs Tabitha." Kyrian grimaced as if in pain, then held his hand out to Valerius. "Truce?"
Valerius took his hand into his. "Truce."