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It was the sound of a gentle, cooling breeze after a long, hard day’s work. It carried the scent of roses blooming after a bloody battle …
And it felt like a gift from the goddess who’d claimed Lorelei before her birth … or a reward from the god Gerard had followed with such devotion.
Either. Both?
Oh, yes. Definitely both, working in tandem, unexpected but utterly perfect in combination …
Just like them.
As Lorelei woke in her own bed in Balravia, the first hints of dawn shone through the gaps in her velvet curtains, and she laughed out loud through her lingering tears of wonder.
Lying on his back beside her, Gerard shook his head in awed disbelief. “Were we really … was that actually…?”
“Oh, yes,” Lorelei said with relish. “And do you know what else? They woke us up a full hour before we have to get out of bed and go anywhere!”
His eyes widened. Then they narrowed with a sudden, dangerous glint—and her serious, stoic lover abruptly rolled over to pin her beneath him, trapping her between his braced forearms. “In that case…”
“Why, General.” Lorelei fluttered her eyelashes up at him, scattering sparkles with abandon. “Are you by any chance attempting to take me prisoner?”
“It seems only fair.” His lips twitched, but his amber eyes burned with intensity. “Considering how often you’ve played that game…”
She pouted theatrically, blood thrumming with excitement as his big, nearly naked body hovered tantalizingly close above hers. The gods knew, this man was a veritable furnace of energy and tightly controlled passion even in ordinary times; now, the heat from his bare skin flared through every inch between them and sent flames licking across her own, making her shift restlessly against the trap of his strong arms. “Unfair, darling! I’ve only kidnapped two men so far.”
“Two men ever,” Gerard intoned. The muscles in his upper arms flexed deliciously, making her throat go dry, as he lowered himself to breathe his words into her ear. “No more kidnapping other men, Lorelei. Never again!”
“Aww.” She couldn’t reach him with her arms still pinned, but she turned her voice into a teasing caress of its own. “Do you really want to spoil all of my fun?”
“Never.” His low growl sent warm breath ghosting across the sensitive skin of her neck, making her shiver. “I want to share all of your fun from now on. Feel free to kidnap me as many times as you like.”
“Oh, I definitely will.” Tipping her head back on her pillow, Lorelei beamed up at him. “But you’ll have to promise to try to escape every time. That’s part of the game.”
And just to prove it …
Their bed suddenly lurched into the air. Caught off guard, Gerard fell back for only an instant before he reached for her again—but Lorelei had already seized her chance to slip away. The vines she had commanded to sneak up from the floor released the bedframe as she leapt off it, and it fell back into place with a juddering thud to slow his chase even more. Giggling, she sprinted for the door, showering taunting sparkles in her wake.
Strong, bare arms closed around her waist and scooped her up off the ground before her fingers could touch the door handle. “You should have drawn a portal if you wanted to escape,” Gerard whispered into her hair.
She wriggled happily in his unyielding embrace as his warm breath ruffled her skin. “Would you have given up on catching me if I had?”
“Never.” A hot, open-mouthed kiss sucked at her throat, making her whole body shiver with delight. “I will never give up on you, my nemesis. My love.”
“That’s good, because you’re all mine.” Lorelei wrapped her arms around his, binding him in place, as she tipped her head back to give him a stern glare. “And you’d better understand, I will never let you step into danger without me ever again. Last night was unbearable!”
His lips curved in response. “Why would I want to go anywhere without my partner? We fight best together, always. Didn’t the gods themselves just confirm that?”
“They certainly did.” She smiled dazzlingly, content in their mutual victory … but she made her voice prim and proper, because she wasn’t finished with their game. She would never be tired of playing with this man! “Personally, I think we ought to give thanks for that. Don’t you?”
His amber eyes narrowed. “What exactly did you have in mind?”
She stood on tiptoes to whisper the shocking answer in his ear … and he let out a shout of laughter that no one else in the world would have expected from the sober and stoic Golden Beacon.
Then they lunged for the bed together.
Laughing—and then shivering and moaning—with delight, Lorelei spent the rest of that early morning with Gerard fully celebrating the gift their gods had given them.
EPILOGUE
Queen Ailana of Nornne was meeting with her chamberlain to go through her accounts early that same morning, firmly holding back every yawn that wanted to escape, when a letter suddenly fluttered into place on the small side table beside her.
