She had every confidence that Reyes would take down Starlin, piece by piece, as he’d sworn to do.
For herself Angelica had only one desire, at least for the present, and that was to continue to be a comfort to Reyes.
She felt a profound sense of wonder from Reyes and an ever-flowing wave of emotion that moved back and forth, like the waves at the shore’s edge, rising up on the sand, drifting back, a constant push-pull.
She was content, deeply so, and awestruck. She still couldn’t believe that she’d been instrumental in metaphorically bringing a woman back from the dead. Reyes had never believed she’d survived the deaths of both her husband and her son. Sweet Dove’s recounting had seemed entirely plausible to Reyes.
She stared up at a beautiful piece of red crystal that lay embedded in the slate-colored ceiling, the natural shade of the mountain stone.
She shifted onto her side slightly, turning toward Reyes and drawing close. She was naked, as was Reyes, but he hadn’t made love to her yet. Right now she lay next to him, as each settled into the extraordinary moment of coming home.
They’d spent hours in his mother’s company, sharing the empanadas with her, talking and talking. Faylen was very thin and ate only a few bites. Her body would take months to fully recover from her captivity.
Reyes wasn’t asleep. He lay on his back, also looking up at the ceiling.
She rose up slightly. “You know I’ve been turning this over in my mind, and what I don’t get is why Sweet Dove kept your mother alive.”
He shook his head. “I don’t really know. Maybe Sweet Dove had planned on using her, or she might have forgotten all about her. You heard what mother said, that a group of caregivers had been in charge of her for decades. She’d only actually seen Sweet Dove three times in all those years.”
“You know what? I believe in grace. I believe your mother lived so that your life could be restored in just this way.”
He shifted this time, turning to face her. He took her chin in his hand. “You were the first evidence of grace, more than I ever deserved.”
Angelica kissed him softly. “I have a feeling that we will have many arguments on the subject of what you deserve before you finally give way to my superior opinion of who you are. Because if a man ever deserved grace, and all good things, it’s you.”
He searched her eyes and pushed her hair away from her temples. He kissed her forehead and her cheeks. “I love you, Angelica, more than I’ll ever be able to express.”
He made love to her after that, moving slowly over her body, holding her gaze while he brought her to ecstasy. The double-chains added a new layer of intensity. She could even feel his pleasure as he released into her, which brought her crying out as once more she reached the pinnacle.
As she fell asleep within the warm comfort of Reyes’s embrace, a different kind of vision came to her, something that surprised her beyond words and made her smile. She held a dark-haired baby in her arms, and when he opened his eyes they were as crystal clear as the mountain sky.
She’d been abducted into the vampire world, fallen in love with one of their kind, and would one day give birth to a child who would know only love and security in their care.
In the vision Reyes came to her, moving in close behind and embracing them both. “I don’t deserve this bounty,” he whispered.
She smiled. Their only real argument, what the man deserved. She turned her head and kissed him. The baby cooed his pleasure. And life was good.