Page 160 of The Nymph Prince

No one can ever know.

I picked Theron up and carried him to his room with Alek at my side. We put him into bed and placed his favorite stuffed doll in his arms. He stared up at us, fretting over something he wouldn’t say out loud.

“You have my heart, darling,” I said before kissing his forehead and tucking in the blanket around him. “Everything will be okay. Your Da and I will not let anything happen to you. Ever.”

He gripped my hand before letting go.

“I love you, little bird.” Alek leaned down and kissed his cheek. “Fly high in your dreams tonight, but remember to return in the morning.”

Theron grinned and shut his eyes.

I sat with him a while, occasionally touching his hair and smoothing it from his face. My heart was full of love, for him and for Alek. With that love came a fierce need to protect them. There was nothing I wouldn’t do to keep them safe.

Once he was asleep, I quietly left the room.

Alek waited for me in our bed. I nestled my face against his neck as his arms wound around me.

“You still smell like sun-warmed rocks by the sea,” I said, gliding my lips up his throat and to his jaw. “A different body didn’t change that. Except now you also have a scent of…lemon.”

He chuckled. “The lemon is from dinner, sweet prince.”

“Ah, well that reminds me.” I purred as I crawled on top of him. “I never got my dessert.”

“Aye, that sweet tooth of yours is insatiable,” he responded in that deep voice I loved, one made deeper from his arousal. “What am I goin’ to do with you, love?”

Kiss me. Bite me. Fuck me.

“Love me,” I whispered, pressing my forehead to his. “Take away the shadows in my mind.”

I didn’t want to think about another possible war. I just wanted to stay in this haven by the sea where those things couldn’t touch us. I wanted to watch our son grow and spread his wings. I wished to spend every night in the arms of my soulmate, falling more in love with him with each rising of the sun.

“You never have to ask for my love, nymph.” Alek slid his hand through my hair. “It’s yours. Just like the rest of me. As for these shadows…” He took hold of my nape and lightly kissed my neck. “They cannot have you. I forbid it.”

I rolled my hips, creating a delightful pressure between us, and kissed him. He moaned deep in his throat, a sound that encouraged me to deepen our kiss. When his hands glowed, the worries faded from my mind.

He was both loving me and chasing away the darkness.

I whimpered as the intensity of my love for him bubbled inside my chest.

“Do not fret over the vision, sweet rosebud,” he murmured against my mouth. “We’ve been through worse.”

I tangled my hands in his blond hair before joining our lips again.

Fate had brought us together for a reason, and we had overcome every obstacle thrown our way. Not even death had been able to tear us apart.

“I love you,” I panted against his kiss-swollen lips. “I loved you when I first saw you, and I’ve loved you every day since.”

I couldn’t remember my life before Alek.

I never wanted to.

“Love seems too small a word to explain how I feel for you,” he responded, just as breathless, gazing into my eyes with a look that made my heart skip a beat. “Your very existence makes mine worthwhile. I’ll spend the rest of my days loving you. And even after this life, I will love you still.”

My soul reached for his as we came together. All of the years I’d spent running away, never satisfied with being in one place for too long, had led me to this moment. To this place.

I was home.

The End