until by the time the smoke is released into the air, it’s so dissipated no one will spot it.”
“Impressive,” she whispered. She turned in a slow circle, taking it all in, still hardly believing her eyes. Of course, her gaze snapped first to the most imposing piece of furniture in the place. A bed wide enough to comfortably sleep ten people, it was covered in a mountain of pillows and layers of silky throws and quilts that looked lush enough for a pasha’s harem. Something inside her stirred to life and she felt heated tingles begin to gather at her center. She took a breath, held it for a second and then blew it out again as she realized that soon she and Rune would be on that bed, sealing their relationship for all eternity.
Nerves jangled through her, but Teresa battled them into submission. There would be time enough for hesitation later. For now … she shifted her gaze deliberately to take in the rest of the room. There was a fire ring, surrounded by more crystals that shone so brightly in the flickering torchlight that it almost seemed as if they were alive.
And in a way, she knew, they were. Inside those crystals were trapped the energies of eons. They were of the earth and carried at their core the very heart of magic. She felt the pulse in the air, the reverberating beat of power, and drank it in, as she would a glass of water after a long walk in the desert.
Rune started a fire in the ring of crystals and it was only then that she noticed the metal rack spread across the ring for cooking. “Amazing,” she whispered, stunned at both the intricate beauty and the functionality surrounding her.
She felt as though she’d stumbled into Aladdin’s cave. She smiled in spite of everything that had happened that day and laughingly said, “If only there was a bathroom with a shower, it would be perfect.”
“Well, then …” Rune set the bag of supplies down and gave her a half smile. Taking her hand, he led her toward the far wall of the sumptuous cave and then behind yet another wall of crystal-studded rock. He lit the torch within to display even more wonderful secrets.
“A hot tub?” She bent over the rocky ledge of a pool of steaming water and dipped one hand into the froth. Heat pulsed through her and she nearly sighed with pleasure.
“It’s not a shower,” he told her with another smile, “but I think it’ll do.”
“Are you kidding?” she asked. “It’s great.”
“Glad you approve. It’s fed from an underground spring,” Rune told her, then showed her another alcove. “It drains through here …”
Teresa looked, realized what she was seeing and laughed, delighted. It wasn’t the Ritz, and in fact it looked more like what she assumed a medieval garderobe was like, but at least she wouldn’t have to run into the desert at night to relieve herself. “This is so great, Rune. I don’t even know what to say.”
She turned to smile up at him and found him watching her with amusement and something … else in his eyes. Those pale gray depths were awash with secrets and emotions. As if she could sense exactly what he was thinking and feeling, she shivered in response. That low curl of heat and expectation at the very core of her had returned and it was all she could do not to moan softly as need pulsed inside her along with the beat of her heart.
“You feel it, don’t you?” he whispered, even that faint hush of sound seeming to echo against the rocks.
“Yes,” she said, not bothering to pretend she didn’t know what he was talking about. What would have been the point?
“We begin the Mating tonight.”
She lifted her chin to meet his gaze squarely, so that he could see her own determination to accept their joined destiny. She only hoped he couldn’t read her trepidations as easily. “Yes, we will.”
He nodded, reached for her and then let his hand drop before touching her. “Bathe,” he said. “Get warm. Then we begin.”
Her insides quivered again, despite the lack of anything remotely resembling anticipation in his tone. If he was going to treat what passed between them as all business, then she would, too. Probably better for her if she did. So in a brisk voice, she stopped him as he turned to leave her in the crystal-studded bathroom of rock. “Did you do all of