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“Delay?” She sidled up to Thaddeus and traced the slanted arch of his brow. Goddess, the feel of him against her after so many months ignited a giddiness she’d been so long without. She pressed up onto her toes and brushed her lips across his. “Sweet. So deliciously sweet. As sweet as the revenge I plan to reap from all who betrayed me.”

14

Rihanna turned her head away from the window when she heard footsteps ascend the stairs. The pain in her heart had subsided and all but disappeared. Hearing the account of Mikhail’s brutal murder from the lips of his reborn soul ripped her apart inside. She had only ever speculated about what occurred after he left the cabin to tend to the situation at his store. The wounds he bore when the merchants returned with his body that eve screamed agony.

She had been unable to stop his death then.

Dear Goddess, she had been given a second chance to love the man taken from her too soon.

Curled on the window seat, knees drawn up and arms hugging her stomach, she couldn’t stop the small smile as Bryce appeared at the top of the stairs, a plate in one hand, mug in the other, and contemplated the ajar door to her bedroom.

“Rihanna?”

“Over here,” she said, twisting on the bench and lowering her feet to the floor. Bryce turned, eyes widening before an endearing blush highlighted his cheeks. Her heart lightenedand she patted the seat beside her. He crossed the sitting area and settled on the seat, placing the plate laid out with several of Pompelia’s pastries between them. “My brother found the pastries, I see.”

Bryce chuckled. “He said they were some of your favorites.”

She chose one flaky delicacy with berry swirl and a dusting of sugar, and took a bite. The mix of sweet and tangy blended deliciously.

“Mmm.” She offered the pastry to Bryce. “Try a bit.”

Instead, he reached up to her jaw, cupping her cheek. His thumb wiped gently at the corner of her mouth. Self-conscious, she brushed her fingertips over her bottom lip, finding a few stray crumbs. He watched her, his gaze one she’d longed to feel again. As he took her in, her skin warmed, her body reacting with a long-lost heat that died with him.

Slowly, he leaned over and took a small bite from the pastry she held out for him. ’Twas the closest he came to her since what she could only assume would have been a kiss in the kitchen before his unusual reaction. Now, clear-headed, she detected the energy they once shared, ablaze and golden, reaching for each other. ’Twas a bond they once forged, splintered in death, begging to be reunited.

“Wow, that’s pretty amazing,” Bryce said after he swallowed the treat.

“Aye. Pompelia creates the best sweets.” When his brow furrowed, she dipped her head into his hand and laughed. “Pompelia. She’s a renowned baker in our homeland. A friend brought them to me in hopes of curing my homesickness.”

“Ah, Faeryland sweets? Then it mustn’t go to waste.” He relieved her of the remaining bite-sized piece and held it to her lips. “Open up.”

“There’s another, if you wish to finish it.”

He tipped his head in a half-shake, the corners of his mouth curling upward. She lifted her gaze to his. Her heart thumped hard, hundreds of wings fluttering around her lungs. Goddess, her Mikhail. Here. Alive. Stitching the edges of her broken soul together more every second. She’d not held such hope in her heart since the day she first crossed his path a century prior. When she wanted for naught, needed naught, other than Mikhail.

And now, Bryce.

He pressed the pastry against her lips, beckoning her to accept. She parted her lips and welcomed the sweet treat into her mouth, catching the tips of his fingers before she leaned back.

“If I remember from my dreams, you always had a sweet tooth,” he said thoughtfully before licking the sugar from his fingertips. His eyes dropped to her mouth, making it difficult to savor the pastry while her mind ran wild at the very idea of kissing her belovedanam cara. Goddess above, how many eves had she suffered the bittersweet memories of melting into his embrace and forgetting the world in his kiss? She licked the sugar from her lips after she swallowed. His grin dropped as he tilted her chin up a little more, bringing her closer. “If that’s true, it hasn’t changed, has it.”

“Nay. My guilty pleasure has always been sweets. ’Tis no different now.”

His thumb teased the corner of her mouth. “You were the most caring person I’d ever known. Always able to calm a storm inside a person. You spread life around you, gave hope to anyone lacking, helped heal those who were sick.”

Rihanna lowered her head against his hand, breaking their gaze as old grief tried to overwhelm the joy inside her. “I couldn’t calm the storm in the townsmen. I brought death tothe one person I would sacrifice everything for. I couldn’t heal you because you were already gone. And half of me died with you.”

“I may not understand everything, Rihanna, but I do know that whatever happened in the past will not happen again.”

To her quiet surprise, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. The gesture brought another rush of memories of his tenderness. Mikhail had a strict no-nonsense side when it came to business, but in the privacy of their own small home, he was romantic and attentive. A tenderness reserved strictly for her came alive when they were together.

“Did those men really come to the cabin the evening I left?”

She sucked in a slow breath. “Aye. All you’ve seen is based on old memories you’ve carried into this life.”

“You warned me not to go.”

She squeezed her eyes shut against her failure. “You were concerned for innocent children.”