I searched his face and smiled brazenly up at him. “Aw, did I scare the big, bad Fairy? Afraid I’d get hurt?” I teased softly.
“I’m serious. You could have been killed, and for what? You have nothing to fucking prove anymore. If that was for me, then I get it. You want to be seen as more than just a pretty face. Fine, I see it, but next time, do it with me, not alone. Don’t make me watch without being able to do a damn thing to protect you.”
I shook my head. “You’re wrong. It was closure. I needed it before I could go, and be what Adam needs me to be. If I went without at least trying, I’d always regret it. You told me I’d make the right choice, and I will. I needed this, and, yes, maybe I wanted to show you that I could handle myself. But that’s not why I did this. I know who is trying to kill me, as do you. I brought him face to face with you, and now you can finish what I couldn’t.”
His eyes scanned my faced intently, and his mouth curved into a gentle smile. “Smart and deadly. Loving the woad…Do you have any idea how fucking hot you look right now?”
“I’m covered in blood, and blue paint,” I snorted, and rolled my eyes at him. Only a male would think this sexy.
“Right now? You look like a fucking warrior Goddess, and my cock is rock hard because of it,” he whispered, and grabbed my hand rubbing it over his massive erection. The rough jean material pressed against my fingers as I wrapped them around him through his pants.
My breathing hitched in my lungs as his eyes illuminated a deep, burning, amber color. I licked my lips, and watched as his eyes lowered to them with hunger deep inside of his. “Be ready when I get back. I need to remove the brand from you. I want to be inside of you when it’s removed. I want one more night of nothing but you. Understand?”
“You need to fuck me to remove it?” I asked breathlessly, with anticipation building inside of me.
“I need to fuck you. Period.” His lips tilted up, before they landed on mine again, and his hands lifted me up until I wrapped my legs around his waist. When he pulled away, his eyes changed back to their normal golden color. “I have to go.” He kissed me again and ran his hands down my back before he set me back down. “Don’t change. I want you just like this, my little warrior Goddess; woad and all.”
Chapter Thirty Four
I spent the next hour or so, sitting on the cold ground beneath the starlit sky talking to Larissa about things I wished I could have said to her before, and the things I’d never get to tell her again. I knew that her time here was short, and Adam wanted his chance to say goodbye too. We talked a bit more about my feelings on marrying Adam and his alternative of the handfasting. We also talked a little more about my thoughts on becoming a mother. A few years ago, it had been a dream that Adrian and I had once talked about, but I was always scared of becoming a mother deep down. It had always seemed to be more his dream than mine. She squelched a few of my fears, while making a couple of them worse, even though that wasn’t her intent.
“Adam’s always loved you, and, yes, maybe it is this bond you share, but, in the end, if I had to pick another woman for him—it would still be you.”
“He was going to ask you to marry him,” I said softly, turning to watch her smile grow softly.
“I know. I always knew. I found the ring a week before Joseph came. You fought, Syn; I watched you fight for me. Thank you. I know it couldn’t have been easy. You’ve been the only sister I’ve ever known, and my family. I wouldn’t change it for anything. I love you. Even in death, you still feel love, and this is only temporary. I’ll be reborn when the time is right. This is how I want it to be, so stop thinking I’m sad. I’m not. I get to see the other side. Yes, it totally sucked getting here, but it’s not so bad. Death is only the beginning to another chapter of life. Another shot to get it right.”
I smiled, but felt no peace for her. She’d died because of me, and even if she could forgive me, I couldn’t forgive myself completely.
“Stop doing that! I can hear it now, ya know? When you feel it, I feel it, and I know you still blame yourself, but you shouldn’t. I let him in; I thought I could hold him until you got there. I was cocky. I knew it was him when I let him into the apartment. Stupid of me, yes, but it was my mistake. Not yours. I almost got you killed too, because when he told me to call you, I did. I just wanted the pain to stop, and at that point I would have done anything to make it stop. I fucked up, and it cost me my life. Almost yours, as well. I’m to blame, not you.”
“You let him in?” I asked, stupefied that she would have done something so crazy and careless with her life.