Healing Eden (26 page)

Reese offered his hand, a possessive glint in his eyes that kindled a slow burn across her own cheeks. “Two hearts with one future. Will you come with me?”

A future and a family. With Reese. Flutters rippled through her and her throat clogged so thick she could hardly breathe. She placed her hand in his. “Anywhere.”

Reese tucked Galena tighter in the circle of his arms, the damp night cool around them as they flew. Stars and fat energy streams streaked overhead. Flowers and the crisp, clean bite of foliage scented the air. He’d been braced for disappointment. Had suffered an emotional anvil to the heart when Galena had failed to take his hand. But now, here he was, in a perfect moment surrounded by the quiet darkness of a newly fallen night.

He toyed with the metal bead holding Galena’s braid in place. Customarily she’d have worn it down had she expected him, but his choosing the most ancient of rituals, stating his desire and laying his request before her in front of her family, hadn’t allowed for her knowing. Not without risking Eryx’s denial of Reese’s petition.

“You’re quiet.” He brushed her ear with his lips. The lotus flower scent she favored clung to her hair and escaped wisps from her braid tickled his nose. “Regrets?”

“More confused than anything.” She glanced over her shoulder, startled. “With Eryx, not us.”

He couldn’t blame her. The malran left him just as confused, booting him from the castle one day, only to give his blessing a few days later. Though something told him the malress had served as his advocate. If ever he proved such was the case, he’d gladly offer his new queen whatever she asked. Galena was worth any effort. “Want to talk about it?”

Beneath his arms, her chest rose and fell in slow, thoughtful breaths. “It’s what he said before we left, or maybe what he didn’t say.” She grew silent, her thumb shuttling back and forth against his forearm in an absent swipe. “You forget, women are sheltered from the ritual. Cryptic words and pointed looks without a basis for interpretation don’t do much to prepare a woman.”

He hadn’t forgotten. Histus, if anything he’d thought about nothing else since he’d woken from Maxis’ attack with her beside him. “What did he tell you?”

“That I should be attuned to your actions. To base my decisions on the care and thoughtfulness behind each act as it should represent how you mean to go forward.”

“He’s right.”

An exasperated sigh huffed out and she dropped her head against his shoulder. “Still cryptic.”

Reese rolled, his back to the miles passing beneath them, holding Galena tight above him. “It’s necessary, sweetheart. Tomorrow it’ll make sense.”

He might also be dead. No way would he give up until she accepted his bond. He tightened his arms and kissed the top of her head. “Relax into me. Let me fly us both while you enjoy the stars.” For an independent woman like Galena who’d been flying on her own for years, surrendering flight to someone else hundreds of feet above the ground didn’t come easy, but it was a decent warmup for what would be asked of her as the night progressed.

She wiggled against his grip and rolled so she peered down at him, still perpetuating her own flight. She stroked his pectorals through his drast and studied him. Inch by inch, she relaxed, her head turning so her ear lay above his heart. “You have me.” Her forward movement stopped.

Reese adjusted, dropping them both a good ten feet in the process to keep her settled against him. Praise the Great One, he’d nearly failed her.

Her delighted chuckle rumbled against his ribs and she petted the rough-slick fabric of his drast. “You did say to relax.”

“A test from my mate-to-be.” He cupped the back of her head and reveled in his heart’s rapid thump. “I’d say you took your brother’s meaning quite well.”

They fell into a comfortable silence, the night’s steady hum and air around them a soothing song. Water trickled in the distance, growing as they covered the miles.

Galena lifted her head, her brow furrowed in concentration, undoubtedly triangulating their location. “Where are we going? We’re nowhere near the homestead.”

“No.” And the fact that she’d followed him without question, not bothering to check their direction until now, pushed his shoulders back with pride. “I want to get your opinion on something.”

Her face lit up, full of innocence and free of concerns or worry. “I’d thought we’d—”

“Maybe it’s best you lose your assumptions tonight.” He cradled her and angled to land. “Just let what needs to happen, happen.”

Her eyes widened, focused on something behind him. “Oh…”

The cottage looked different at night than it had when he’d seen it this morning, more mystical and a bit exotic. Built into the side of a rocky mountain peak, the front half looked every inch an English village, but with a charcoal slate roof instead of thatch. The roofline was asymmetrical, one side at a standard pitch, the other with a slow, concave curve that jutted out over a cozy porch. From there it stretched back a good thirty feet before blending into the hillside.

“I’ve never seen anything like it.” Galena studied the structure, head tilted in curiosity.

Ah, the flowers, planted in varied pots and boxes at the porch’s edge. Of course she’d be drawn to those first.

Reese led her toward the front door, her awe spurring his own enthusiasm. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt this light and free of taint. “Come look inside.”

The tour wouldn’t take long. Empty of everything but its rough, stone walls and ancient Blackwood floors, there wasn’t much to show—a comfortable kitchen situated at the center, three living areas, and three well-sized, but otherwise unremarkable guest bedrooms. The master, however, packed a pretty inspiring punch he couldn’t wait to share.

They moved from room to room, candles he’d left behind late this afternoon flaring to life at his command. The master suite lay ahead, all that remained of their tour. The long, dark hallway echoed their steps and drew them deeper, far away from the rest of the cottage.

Galena glanced over her shoulder. “Are we beneath the hillside?”

“For now.” Pale moonlight sparkled at the end of the corridor. “A little farther and you’ll find the best surprise.”

She hustled faster, her full skirt flaring. Two steps from the threshold she slowed.

As he closed the distance behind her, he shifted to one side. The pearlescent light from the wide balcony window spotlighted the wonder on her face, one hand resting at the hollow of her throat.

“Reese this is…” She glided forward, slow and reverent. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

He hadn’t either. The room wasn’t obscenely large, but enough to handle over-sized furniture and still appear roomy. The entry’s nine-foot ceiling vaulted to nearly fifteen feet at the center, the hillside rock exposed as it eventually opened to a balcony. The entire wall to the outside was glass, domestication wedged within an otherworldly aerie.

Galena pushed open the sliding door and the soft rumble of the waterfall they’d heard flying in filled the shadowed room. She rushed to the carved railing and leaned over, her gasp mingling with the water’s rush. “It’s beautiful.”

Reese crowded behind her and cupped her shoulders. “You missed the bathroom, but I’ll agree this was probably the more exotic choice.” It also brought her one step closer to where they’d end their night, but she’d learn that soon enough. “Do you like it?”

“Who wouldn’t like it? It’s amazing.” She scanned the deep green fauna around the tall, intimately rounded cove at the waterfall’s core. “These plants…they’re some of the most difficult to grow. The soil here must be incredible.”

“Beth tells me there’s a certain rainforest effect here, a blend where Havilah and Runa meet.”

She shuffled to the edge of the balcony. A wood bridge spanned from there to a stone path beyond and down a winding trek to the cove’s sandy base. She stooped to touch the charcoal soil.

“Beth?” She rubbed the granules between her fingers and thumb and peered at Reese. “I don’t remember you mentioning a Beth. Is this her place?”

“Beth and Ben care for my homestead. She’s the woman who kept my mother’s greenhouse.” Reese edged forward and urged her upright. “As for who this land belongs to, it depends on you.”

She tilted her head in silent question.

“If you like it, it’s yours. My mating gift to you. A home that fits your gifts and your exotic nature, free from all my past.”

“Your past makes you who you are.” She edged close, her breasts soft against his chest. Her fingers pushed and pulled against his drast and she swallowed, pupils dilating. “And I happen to love you. I have no desire to lose what makes you unique.”

He’d thought the night was perfect before, but he’d been wrong. This was perfect. The two of them, surrounded by tropical indulgence, the water’s vibration, and the pulsing, damp air. He’d never thought to hear those words from any woman.

“I love you, too.” He traced her jawline. Tonight was real, not a dream or a figment of his imagination. “Enough to keep you safe and far from anyplace known to Maxis. Enough to surround you with beauty and what feeds your soul.”

He lowered his head, the lure of her lips and the potent pull that crackled between them too much to ignore. “Enough to claim you if you’ll have me.” He hovered, close enough to feel her warm exhalations, to scent her honeyed breath, but not enough to touch. “Say yes.”

She gripped the back of his head and crushed her mouth to his. Her answer tasted of impatience and her tremors echoed the need stomping through his own.

The path. He had to make it down the path, tamper his need, and see to hers. This was her time, a definition of how he meant to treat her. How he’d cherish her in the days and nights to come.

He swept her up and cradled her against his chest. Each step rung through the grotto, sharp against the bridge’s wood slats, and then on to the thick stone. The air grew thicker, damper against their skin as he navigated the slow, meandering path.

Rounding the trail, he angled for the natural grotto near the waterfall’s base. A push from his thoughts fired the waiting pit. The flames leapt in a powerful burst and settled beneath the air’s damp kiss.

Galena pulled away on a startled gasp and fisted his shoulder. “Praise the Great One.”

He lowered her to her feet, the amazement on her face worth the temporary loss of contact.

She crept forward, gaze roving across the candles wedged in clumps along the rocky ledges. She stopped at the natural raised shelf near the fire and ran her fingertips atop the forest green pallet. Understanding settled in her expression, her focus squared on the thick padding. “Here.” The single word seemed more for her ears than his, a thought spoken aloud.

“It’s your choice, Galena.” He might go ten different kinds of insane in waiting, but he’d be damned if he pushed her in this, or gave her any reason to second-guess her decisions. “Always your choice.”

She lifted her head. “You misunderstood.” Never dropping her gaze from his, she toed off her sandals and unhooked the draped platinum belt at her waist. Every move held a sensual grace, an elegant stroke that called him closer. She pushed the wide neck of her gown past one shoulder, and his stomach wrenched tight. “I wasn’t questioning my decision.” She freed the other side and the velvet fell to the ground in a decadent heap. “I was asking you to make it happen.”

Firelight flickered over Galena’s tanned curves, her hair a perfect match for the flames. Every untamed, carnal thought he’d kept caged fought for release. His cock, a ready player from the moment she’d stepped onto the balcony, hardened to the point of ache. He tugged his boots free and tossed them aside. “You’re going off script.”

“I don’t know the script, remember?” She cupped her breasts, lifting them and worrying the tight tips between her fingers and thumbs, a seductress unleashed from her confines. She prowled closer, hips swaying seductively. “Can’t we make our own?

He rubbed his shaft, desperate to make room behind the too tight leather. Christ, he’d had a plan. What in histus was it?

“You’re supposed to show me how you mean to go forward, right?” She slipped her fingers under his drast and pushed the fabric up, splaying her hands across his pecs. She laid a kiss above his heart. “You give me pleasure when you make love to me, so give me that.”

Fuck, the woman was muddling his mind and enslaving his body with little more than a words and simple touch. He yanked his drast over his head.

Before the shirt could even clear his head, Galena unfastened his pants and kneeled before him. She peeled the leather past his hips and his cock sprang free, heavy and ready.

Her mouth parted and her delicate tongue swept across her lips, so close her breath fanned out against his skin.

His dick jerked and his balls tightened. “Galena.”

She leaned in, lips at the base of his shaft. With a reverent kiss, she looked up from beneath weighted eyelids. “I want us. This. However it comes.”

“So bold.” Fisting himself, he grazed the tip along her lower lip. “Show me what you want.”

Her eyelids dropped on a heated moan and her mouth enveloped him, sinking to the root in one insistent plunge.

Hot. Scalding and so damned intense the pleasure nearly knocked him off his feet. Galena worked his length as though starved for his taste, the sensation too much and not enough all in one breath. He had to get a grip, to keep control and see to her needs.

“Mine.” He gripped the back of her head and freed the bead binding her hair as her tongue lashed his hard flesh. He worked the sections free, fingers tangling in the smooth strands. His legs shook, the need to indulge warring with the need to protect. “Mine to take.” A short thrust, and then another. “Mine to pleasure.”

He pulled himself from her mouth’s searing heat and dragged her to her feet, slanting his mouth against her swollen lips. He pinned her hands behind her back.

She fought his hold and let loose a frustrated mewl. “Let me touch you.”

He tightened his grip, and cupped her nape with his free hand. “No.” He nipped her chin, kissing his way up her jawline. “Tonight you feel.” He savored the skin along her neck, and rubbed his cock against her mound. “You enjoy.” He tumbled them to the pallet, adjusting her hands overhead and pinning them there with his mind. He splayed her knees wide and his mouth watered, eager for her taste. “You relent.”