I nudged Adam’s arm with my elbow. “Give me a break. The guy’s an asshole and I wouldn’t have minded introducing him to my right hook, but give me a little credit.”
Adam bumped me with his shoulder. “Let’s put this stuff in the bungalow and you can tell me all about it.” His tone implied he wasn’t looking forward to the rehash.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “It was just some stuff that probably needed to come out sooner or later. It’ll be fine.”
He looked at me. “You sure?”
I nodded. “Yeah. The mission’s still on, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“I’m not worried about the mission. I’m worried about you. You have a lot of shit to process over the last week.”
I shrugged. “Look, I don’t want to spend what might be our last night together talking about Tristan Graecus.”
We opened the bungalow door and walked straight into a scene from demon porn. Apparently, while I was telling my father off, Giguhl and Valva decided to get each other off.
“Gah!” I shouted. “Jesus, you two!”
The scrambled apart like two teenagers caught by their parents. “Sabina!” Giguhl said, his voice high with panic. “I didn’t expect you back so soon.”
I crossed my arms. “I can see that.” I picked up a pillow and threw it at him. “Among other things. Cover yourself.”
Valva pulled a throw off the arm of the couch and covered her bare breasts. She eyed the door like she was planning her escape route. Giguhl stood, holding the pillow in front of his pelvis. “Please don’t be mad.”
Was I mad? I wasn’t so sure. Shocked? Sure. Grossed out? Definitely. But mad? I sighed and leaned against the door. “I just don’t understand. Last night you said—”
Giguhl waved a claw. “I know what I said last night. But tonight, while Valva and I hunted down the herbs for you guys, something changed.” He glanced at the demoness with a warm look. “Our eyes met over a patch of stinkweed and I suddenly knew. None of it mattered. Not the past. Not the future.” He stood straighter and grabbed Valva’s golden hand. “All we have is now.”
I looked at Adam. His eyes were suspiciously shiny. I swallowed hard. I didn’t want to waste another moment worrying about anything or anyone else. Because Giguhl was right. All we had was now, and I intended to use it showing my mancy how much I loved him.
“Just do us all a favor and get a room,” I said finally.
Giguhl’s jaw dropped. “You’re not going to yell?”
I shook my head and grabbed Adam by the hand. “Have fun, you two. I know we will.” With that, I pulled the mancy after me and locked the door behind us.
I took the box of supplies out of Adam’s hands and set them by the door. He smiled at me like I’d just done something brilliant.
He didn’t say anything. Just waved a hand. The room lit up with a hundred flickering candles. I raised a brow. “Nice.”
He came forward and ran a hand down my face. “Beautiful.”
Adam and I generally came together in a heady rush of adrenaline and desperate passion. But that night called for slow, lingering lovemaking. Taking the time to savor, revel in each other.
I leaned forward and kissed him softly. The contact, the taste of him made a rush of heat flood my chest—desire and need and love. The warmth radiated through my limbs and swirled in my core. I wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders. His sandalwood scent enveloped me. My own shoulders relaxed as I left my worries behind and focused totally on this beautiful man, this perfect moment.
His hot tongue entered my mouth and explored languorously. The warmth in my stomach blossomed into heat. I gripped his hair in my hands, pulling him closer, but never close enough. His hands sneaked under my shirt and calloused palms created delicious friction against my skin. Needing to touch him, too, I pulled his shirt over his head. Placing my hand over his heart, I felt its reassuring thud against my palm.
I pulled away from the kiss to gaze on the muscled planes of his chest, the hard ridges of his stomach. His Hekate’s Wheel mark winked at me from under his waistband. The mark was bracketed on either side by the indentions of his hip bones, pointing to the Promised Land.
I lowered myself to my knees before him and unclasped his jeans. I kissed the mark that identified him as one of the goddess’s children. Laved my tongue over the hot, smooth head of his sex. His hips bucked and he groaned.
“Sabina.” His tone held the reverence of a man in prayer. I raised my hands to grasp his hands and his fingers tangled with mine. Taking him fully in my mouth now, I stroked him with my tongue. The air filled with the breathy sounds of arousal.
My fangs throbbed against my gums, signaling their imminent growth. Normally they don’t extend until I’m in the throes of serious arousal, but pleasuring Adam and hearing his sounds made them make an early appearance. I pulled back, not wanting to hurt him.
He cupped my chin and tilted my face up. “Hungry?”
I nodded, unable to speak. I wasn’t sure if he was asking if I was hungry for him or for his blood, but either way the answer was yes. Emotion and a spark of something mischievous, something distinctly Adam lit his eyes. He pulled me up and urged me back toward the bed. “Let’s see what we can do about that.”
He laid me out on the bed and took his time removing each item of clothing. He worshipped every inch of skin he exposed with his mouth. Then, finally, he spread my legs open before him like a banquet.
I was impatient for his mouth and feverish with the need for his blood. But instead of lowering himself between my thighs, he climbed onto the bed. Leaning over me, he placed a lingering kiss on my lips. “I want to try something new,” he whispered.
I swallowed hard. “Okay.”
He spread out next to me with his head at my hips. “Now we can both satisfy our hungers.”
It took me a moment to catch his meaning. But once it hit me, I dove in like a starving woman. The same instant his tongue found my core, my fangs found his femoral artery. His blood flooded my mouth. Unlike the jugular’s deoxygenated blood, this rich brew directly from the artery packed a heady punch. His passion added a flavor to the blood, like dark spices, and the unselfish offering of the gift made it taste all the sweeter.
As a reward for his brilliant idea, I encircled him with my palm, stroking in time with the lapping of his tongue, the pulls of my mouth on his thigh. The world swirled in a kaleidoscope of sensation. The tension of my approaching climax, the flavor of Adam, the sounds of his moans, the pulse of his hot flesh in my hand, the musky perfume of sex and sandalwood and blood.
But the feast of the senses paled in comparison to the feeling of complete connection with Adam. This man who’d stood by my side through countless battles and heartbreak. This man who’d seen me at my worst and loved me anyway. This man who taught me that loving someone didn’t make you weak or vulnerable. I’d never felt stronger or more invincible than when I was with this incredible man.
My heart felt impossibly large for my chest to contain. My skin throbbed with sensation. My breath hitched as the frenzy reached a fevered pitch.
The entire world held its breath. Adam groaned. My legs went rigid. We plunged into the chasm.
Together.
Hours later, the sun was already rising when we finally fell to the bed in sweaty heaps.
“Damn, woman,” Adam panted.
I laughed and curled into him with feline movements. “Damn yourself. I feel drunk.”
He stroked a palm down my chest and settled it on my stomach. “Are you saying I’m intoxicating?” he teased.
I placed a palm on his cheek and looked him in the eye. “You are.” I placed a kiss on his lips. “I love you.”
He sobered instantly. He pulled me toward him until we lay face-to-face. “I love you,” he said in a fierce tone. “I know that we need to sleep, but I don’t want to. Not yet.”
I stifled a yawn. “Me neither.”
“Good, because I need to talk to you about something.”
Something in his tone told me that our little bubble of intimacy was about to burst. I wanted to hang on to it for a few moments longer. “Can’t we just talk tomorrow? I just want to hold on to you for a while.”
He shook his head with a solemn expression. “No. It has to be now.”
I cleared my throat and braced myself. “Okay,” I said slowly.
He licked his lips and looked away. Adam wasn’t one to get nervous easily. Uh-oh.
“Just tell me whatever it is fast.”
He blew out a deep breath. “Sabina, I… I know that neither of us knows what tonight will bring.” He paused to collect his thoughts. I nodded impatiently. “But I prefer to believe that we’ll somehow figure out a way to win.”
“Of course.”
He shot me a look. “I won’t get through this if you keep interrupting.”
I bit my lip and nodded for him to continue.
“But even if we don’t win and the future doesn’t exist for us past a few more hours, I need you to know that I love you.”
I opened my mouth to say that I knew that. Of course I did. But he held up a hand. Then he turned away. The movement caused a rush of air to cool the skin he’d been touching. With the loss of his heat, my stomach sank. I slammed my eyes shut.
“Red? Look.” His tone was soft, almost pleading.
I stilled and opened my eyes. It took me a couple of blinks before I realized what I was seeing. In the foreground, a silver circle shot through with blue. In the background, Adam Lazarus stared at me with his heart in his eyes.
My heart fluttered. “What’s this?”
With his free hand, he lifted my right hand. He slid the ring over my middle finger—the same one mages wore their handfasting rings on. The heaviness of the ring echoed the weight of the moment.
“Look at me,” he whispered.
I blinked back the tears that gathered at my lashes and forced my gaze to his dear face.