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“I should’ve listened to you. I could’ve prevented everything from happening that day.” He moved the plate and mug to the floor, then closed the small space between them. Cupping her face between both hands, he lifted her head and forced her to meet his eyes. “Those merchants in my dream were suspicious. I felt it in my gut, but still I left.”

She rested her hands over his. “We were not meant to have our happiness then. Should it have been prevented that day, it would have occurred another time. ’Tis the way of Fate, and Fate was cruel to us. We’ve been blessed with a second chance.”

“Yes.” He couldn’t hide the uncertainty from his expression. Desperation burned in his eyes while restraint shadowed his face. His fingers lay tense against her skin, and she felt the occasional twitch. “Coming to you tonight, I can’t explainit. Though I’ve only just met you, it feels like I know everything about you. Almost like we’re picking up where we left off.”

“I suppose ’tis normal.” She released his hand for a wave of hair that had fallen over his cheek, curling it between her fingers before tucking it behind his ear. Soft, so soft. “Deep within, our souls recognize each other.”

She leaned forward, bringing her lips to his. A breeze of a kiss that sparked an old fire alive. Their life essences clamored for one another as her body ached to get closer to the man who held the pieces of her heart in his hands. The only man she trusted to cherish her, broken or whole, while he healed every shard with the utmost care.

Dipping her head, she began to lean back.

His hands stiffened against her face, drawing her back, drawing her close, so quickly, so desperate.

The touch of his mouth against hers sent her world spinning. His lips pressed firm, possessive, easing hers apart, testing her response as his tongue slid between her lips.

How could she resist?

How could she fight?

Shecouldnot. Shewouldnot.

Shedidnot.

He kissed her, slowly at first, tentatively, waiting for her response. She responded, aye, returning each slow, delicious swirl of his tongue. Her arms linked around his neck, and she inched closer, unwilling to leave any distance between them.

A century. A brutal, painful century.

All she wanted washim. The other half of her soul. The life to her living. The balance to her world.

She gasped when he scooped her up and rested her across his lap, one arm cradling her back while his fingers explored her face. His kiss deepened, a welcome breach, one she clungto with each intensifying sweep. Sweet Goddess, even his kiss was familiar, from the tender press of his lips to the possession in each probe of his tongue.

For the briefest of moments, they were back in the cabin. Moments after they’d pledged their love and life to each other in a blood bond. Moments before she laid herself down on his feather-filled mattress and gave herself completely to the one man who owned her heart and soul.

His fingers left her face cold, but immediately heated her waist as he grabbed her, squeezed, then groaned as he leaned back. Eyes glazed with lust, hunger, and a mixture of emotions she could only understand through her own feelings, he swallowed hard.

“My God,” he whispered. “You’re like a drug. An addiction. All I see is us from my dreams, and all I want to do is live that over and over. Here and now. With you.” He chuckled, but the sound lacked humor. “I sound like a fool.”

She lowered her head as he dropped his to break their gaze. With a single finger under his chin, she held his gaze steady, and shook her head.

“You are no fool, Bryce. If I were to be honest, I’d been thinking the same. ’Tis too easy to fall back into what we once shared. Trust me,chroi. I wish for naught more than to forgo these last hundred years and know what I knew only with you.” Touching him, even light as she did, infused her with the familiar desire, that insatiable need she’d shared once before. Oh, should she kiss him again, she’d be lost. Hopelessly lost. “Alas, I’ve suffered a century of pain without you and you’ve been reborn into a new world, a new life. You have a history here, one that cannot be erased by dreams of the past.”

Bryce captured her hand. He lifted her fingertips to his lips and kissed each one gently. “You’re right, I know. Buttell me, Rihanna—the woman I’ve seen in my dreams. She is alive and well.” He lowered their hands to her chest, just above her cleavage. “Here. In your heart. Yes?”

A muscle at the corner of her mouth twitched. That problematic knot at the base of her throat thickened. She nodded once.

“Aye.” Leaning forward, she pressed her forehead to his and managed to grin, even if her eyes misted all over again. “You’ve given her new life. A new reason to break free of the grief that’s held her all these years.”

“Then we’ll rebuild what we once had. Only this time, it’ll be better. Stronger.” He released her hand and cupped the back of her neck. “And I won’t let the past repeat itself.”

Hours passed,filled with tea and pastries, and innocent enough talk about his current life, his family, and his career. They’d moved to the living room shortly after he promised her he’d not end up dead in this lifetime, not in so many words. He savored the way she curled up beside him, listening with interest, her amethyst eyes glittering with renewed life he’d not seen until tonight. He couldn’t help rambling on and on, wanting her to know everything about him in this life. Deep down, he hoped it would stitch the gap in time. Logically, he knew that could never happen.

He had to accept the loss from their past. He couldn’t dwell on his dreams, or he’d miss what he’d been given this life.

At some point, as the periods of silence grew longer and longer, and exhaustion settled in, Rihanna’s arm slid limply from his chest to his waist. He craned his neck to get a better view of her face tucked snug against his chest. In sleep, sheappeared even more magical, more angelic, more perfect. The faint lines of old pain smoothed and her pink lips relaxed in what resembled a peaceful smile.

A strange prickle swept over his skin, a sensation he couldn’t quite describe. As he adjusted his arm over her body and sank deeper into the sofa—there was no way he’d disturb her, even if it meant he’d wake up with a stiff-ass back—when he heard a methodical click-click from the foyer.

“I haven’t seen her look so peaceful since she first met you.”