Blind Warrior (The Weavers Circle 3)

“I see a red ribbon around the two of us. Cort, you’re my soul mate.”

Cort’s heart stopped. He’d been so afraid to hope. It was soon, but his feelings for Grey were already stronger than anything he’d felt for anyone ever. “I’m your soul mate,” he whispered.

“You’re my soul mate, and you’re fucking gorgeous. I knew you would be.”

He didn’t know about that, but he couldn’t deny that Grey was staring at him like he was the most attractive man he’d ever set eyes on. It was wild knowing he could see him, and Cort let out a joyful laugh and pulled Grey into a hug, getting his clothes all wet, but he didn’t care. Grey’s arms wrapped around him, the man laughing with him.

Soon, all the Weavers were joining the hug until they had a big pile. Grey fell to the side under all the weight, but he was still laughing. Of course he was—he had his sight again. Cort fell with him, his body landing on top of Grey, who didn’t let him go. As everyone stood up, they continued to lay on the ground. Ruby, who must have wanted to join the party, began to bark and run around them. Cort shivered and realized Grey had to be freezing.

When the goddesses appeared, Cort wasn’t surprised. He got up and held a hand down to help Grey to his feet as the three women gathered around him, hugging and grinning.

“We knew you all could do it,” Willie said as she danced around happily. She had a huge, red flower in her hair. “This calls for a celebration!”

“One of your dinners?” Clay asked as he went to Dane and cupped his face. “You okay? You did it!”

“I’m fine and we all did it. I don’t know if it was the crystals or the agrimony, but I’m thrilled it worked.” Dane came to Grey and held out the crystals. “You should hang on to these as keepsakes.”

“I’m pretty sure the power came from you all more than those stones. Plus, they should go to Wiley, so he can be the keeper of spells.” Still, Grey took one of the crystals and held it up to the light, and the silver streaks sparkled. “Beautiful. It’s all so beautiful.” He looked at Cort. “Especially you. I’m so happy to see your face.”

Cort grinned at him, his joy so all-encompassing, he couldn’t find words. Grey tugged his shirt on and reached out to hold Cort’s hand. Cort threaded their fingers together as everyone stayed gathered around Grey.

“So…dinner?” Clay asked Jo. He had a hopeful, puppy-dog look on his face.

“Yes, let’s cook!” Jo announced and all three goddesses started toward the door.

“The goddesses love to cook,” Grey told Cort. “And they make these huge, extravagant meals, which are partially magic. It’s a lot of fun.”

“Sounds wonderful.” Cort squeezed his hand. “How’s your head? Any pain?”

“The light still hurts some, but I’m sure it’s because my eyes aren’t used to it, but other than that, no. I’m all good.”

The other Weavers and their mates went inside, leaving Grey and Cort alone in the backyard. Grey let go of his hand and cupped both sides of his face, his eyes running over Cort’s features. “It’s so good to see you, I can’t get over it. Your face is nothing like I imagined. It’s even better.”

Cort leaned in and kissed Grey softly. “I’m glad you’re not disappointed since apparently, we’re stuck together for life.”

“How do you feel about that?”

“I’m thrilled about it. Are you?”

“Oh, hell yeah. I was hoping you could be mine.” Grey slanted his lips over Cort’s and Cort opened his mouth for him, shuddering when that warm tongue slid in to tangle with his. Grey’s hands slid to his neck, his thumbs rubbing over Cort’s chin. The kiss went on and on until Cort had to pull away to draw in air. He stared into those gray eyes, panting slightly. Grey stared with a small smile on his lips. “You have very, very pretty dark eyes.”

“Pretty?”

“Yep, definitely pretty. It’s the only word that fits with those long lashes. God, look at you.” He ran his fingers over Cort’s cheek, then down to his lips. “I was so afraid I’d never get to see your face. I’m tempted to say to hell with dinner and cart you upstairs to my bed.”

“How about we celebrate with your friends first, not that I’m not tempted myself.”

“The dinner is in my honor, so I guess I’d better be good.” He ran his finger over Cort’s lower lip. “But just so you know, the whole time I’ll be thinking about getting you naked so I can see everything.”

Cort groaned and leaned close to kiss him. Naked sounded damn good to him. They reluctantly pulled apart and went inside, where chaos reigned, though this time it was in the kitchen. The goddesses sort of cooked and sort of magically whipped things up. Cort looked at the feast slowly growing on the kitchen counters, his stomach rumbling. But the food couldn’t hold his attention long—not the way Grey stared at him. Something stretched between them, a profound connection that made him hold his breath.