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The door to her chamber opened, followed by the intoxicating essence of heranam cara. The door clicked shut, and she heard the muffled snap of the lock.

She didn’t bother to greet him. He knew exactly where she was. His gaze burned along her bare shoulders, her backto him as he approached. She lathered soap into her hands and worked it through her hair, never once forgetting the man whose gaze remained locked on her every movement as he approached the pool. She scrubbed dried blood from clumps of hair until thin ribbons of dark red snaked through the water toward the natural drains in the rock wall.

Her heart kicked up a few beats as she lifted her fingers to her scalp and massaged it with the soap. Her stomach fluttered and heat grew between her legs as Bryce’s intense presence pressed against her shoulders. She tried to keep her breaths even and steady, but found each breath came with a struggle to get enough air.

Behind her, fabric swished and ruffled before one item, then another, plopped to the marble floor. Metal clinked. A zipper hissed open. Rihanna swayed in the water, desire swelling and making her body and mind weak. She fumbled as she rinsed the soap from her hair, but quickly managed to regain her composure and comb her fingers through her clean mane, leaving the thick locks to float on the surface like a sheet of black satin.

Gentle waves lapped the sides of the pool as Bryce climbed in behind her. The water heated along her back as his body closed in on her, his strength electric and enchanting. His poise during an otherwise frantic time swelled her with pride. ’Twas heranam carawho kept a level head while she struggled to remain composed. His words that gave her strength and hope, however hopeless the situation appeared in those dark moments.

Strands of her hair pulled at her scalp as he drew his fingers through the floating locks. Modesty had no place between them, yet she lifted her arms to cover her breasts as her cheeks streaked with warmth. Bryce’s touch met her shoulder, a sensual caress with two fingers that traced thetense line of muscle before backtracking along her collarbone.

“You well?” he whispered, mouth devastatingly close to her ear. His breath teased her earlobe a second before his lips brushed the firm angle of her ear. His tongue flicked out, tracing the shape to her tapered point, eliciting a gasp and shudder she couldn’t fight.

“Aye, beloved.”

She closed her eyes, absorbing the familiarity of his airy caress as he drew his fingers down her goose-flesh-covered arm. So gentle. So erotic.

His mouth followed, lips barely touching her skin, but the essence of his restraint, the spark of anticipation, caused her to sway on her knees.

“Your mind, little bird, is not well.” His lips crested her hip, and he lifted one submerged hand until it came up under her breast. His thumb slipped beneath her arm, gently prying away her attempt to cover herself . His mouth rose to the sweet, delightful spot beneath her ear, his tongue flicking the sensitive skin as his thumb circled her hard nipple. “I’ll never leave you again, Rihanna. I loved you through death, and love you too much now to let anything come between us.”

Rihanna rested her head back on his shoulder as his lips caressed her jaw, his fingers played with her breast, and the tip of his erection slid against her bottom.

“’Twas a reminder of how fragile life is, my sweet. This eve brought back the horrors of what I once suffered as I begged the Goddess not to let my brother know the pain I’ve endured.”

Before his lips reached the corner of her mouth, she turned to face him, straddling his lap, cupping his face between her hands. Desire simmered in his eyes, his handsome face hardened with a feral edge. He cradled her handsin his, slipping one palm up to grace it with a lingering kiss. His eyes never deviated from her gaze, holding steady and strong and confident.

“My brother wouldn’t survive without Moira.” She shook her head, her throat swelling as she imagined losing heranam cara. Again. “I wouldn’t survive if I lost you again. Mortals have the ability to reincarnate. Fae do not. To live lifetimes alone, empty, our hearts dead inside is a punishment no Fae could endure.”

“Yet you did.”

“Once. I’m not strong enough to do it a second time.” She slipped her hands from his, combing her fingers through his hair. Savoring the silky smoothness of his thick locks. So familiar. So perfect. She leaned close, brushing her lips across his. A taste. A tease. Assurance that he was real, alive, and with her in this lifetime. Fear that he could be taken again.

He caught the back of her head before she could lean away, holding her close, a hairsbreadth from his mouth. The heat of his lips scorched her own, the promise of his kiss waiting to be tasted.

“We’ve been granted a second chance, Rihanna. I can’t imagine any deity being cruel enough to rescind their decision for this reunion.” He pressed his lips to hers in a gentle caress. Rihanna closed her eyes, absorbing his nearness and the way it unleashed decades of desire. “I’ll show you I’m real. I’ll show you every second, every minute, every day for the rest of our lives.”

Real, as hard and warm as the flesh beneath her hands, gliding over his damp skin. Real, as the press of his mouth to hers, the claim of his kiss, the taste of spice on his tongue. Real, as the guttural groan that rumbled deep in his chest, the pinch of his fingers against the globes of her bottom, the fullness of his cock sinking deep inside her.

A wistful moan fled her as she dropped her head back. Bryce’s mouth ravaged her neck with gentle sucks and kisses until tremors skated across her muscles. He guided her hips with one hand, still fiercely gripping her bottom, the other cupping her breast to meet his hungry lips with a sharp pluck. She gasped, the discomfort of his playful antic quickly melting into something far more pleasurable. Delightful.

’Twas sheer bliss, holding him, kissing him, feeling him complete her. ’Twas surreal, his hands sliding about, his touch tender and possessive. The light in his eyes as he tipped his chin up, caught her gaze right before he claimed her mouth again bore a brightness that matched the golden light within her chest. The very light of their blood bond, their souls combined, entwined, united, just as their bodies were.

Rihanna rolled her hips, taking him deeper, sitting harder against him. Her body ached and burned, craving everything denied her since his death. He thrust upward, meeting each rock, hitting every sensitive nerve ending until her mind came undone. The coiled pleasure mounting within her body snapped, unleashing the torrential storm of bliss. A merciless tidal wave of ecstasy crashed down, shattering her in a million pieces, ripping her from the physical enjoyment of Bryce to an ethereal dimension, embraced by the golden glow that tethered them.

Bright.

Throbbing.

Real.

She clung to him, riding each overwhelming pulse of her climax. There was no making sense of his muffled words. Naught pierced this paradise of his doing, his creation.

Naught except for the scorching heat that exploded inside her. The long, low resonating growl that echoed in her marrow as she brought about his release. The shuddering ofhis muscles. The labored breaths as they both fell from such a harmonious reunion.

She’d not realized she’d rested her head in the crook of his neck, her body trembling, weak, her mind foggy. Not until his fingers tangled in her hair and gently tugged, lifting her face away from his warm skin until their foreheads met.

“I’m here, little bird. I’m here with you now, and nothing will take me away again.”