Riven (Mirus 2)

“To here,” he said, tugging her over the last rise.

Marley forgot about everything else as they stepped into the clearing. “Oh my God.” The Bitterroot Mountains spread out like a visual banquet before them. Endless green against a sky so blue it almost hurt. She tugged away to wander, trying to drink in everything at once. Somewhere in the distance, she could see a ribbon of river, but there wasn’t a single sign of civilization, not even evidence of Clementine, hidden below. Her fingers itched for charcoals and chalk. “The light up here is amazing. Why didn’t you tell me to bring my sketchpad?”

“Because I wanted your undivided attention. There will be plenty of time for drawing later.”

Later.

With that one word, her mood plummeted, anxiety cranking back up. She turned back to Ian. “You really believe that?”

He crossed to her, took her hands. The contact settled her. “Aye, I believe that. It’s why I brought you up here.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You will.” He smiled and turned her to face the river view. “Your studio should go here, to take advantage of the northern light.”

“My what?”

“Look.”

The walls rose around them, the golden timber all but glowing in the light that shone through the wide bank of windows. An artist’s drafting table materialized in one corner, beside another table covered with paints, pencils, and jars of brushes. Canvases were stacked neatly against the wall, and an easel stood to one side, where it caught the light filtering down from the skylights. With every detail, Marley felt her heart swell, her throat tighten.

“It’s wonderful,” she breathed.

Ian led her through a doorway and into the main living space with the big farmhouse table and comfortable chairs grouped in front of more big windows that capitalized on the glorious views to the west. The ceilings were vaulted, and a magnificent stone fireplace dominated one wall. He pulled her out the front door and onto a wide-planked porch. “We’ll put a swing here to sit and watch the sunset. Because there will be time for sunsets, after the day’s work is done.” As he spoke, the swing came into being with colorful pillows propped against the wooden slats. Simple. Inviting. As the cabin and the life he built for her with words and illusion were simple and inviting.

Ian didn’t linger. Instead, he tugged her back inside and up the stairs to a loft with a huge, sumptuous bed and more windows open to the view. “The bedroom up here. There’s room downstairs to expand for children.”

Marley stumbled, feeling her heart knock hard against her breastbone at the idea of it. “Children?”

Ian pulled her the rest of the way into the room and took both her hands again. His usually guarded face was open, his eyes serious. “Yes, children. I love you, Marley. You are the first person to truly see me, not what I am. You gave me the gift of feeling human again, and you make me believe, for the first time since I was Made, that I can have the kind of life I gave up on centuries ago. I want that life, and all that goes with it, with you. We’re already bound on a level most people will never understand, but I was a man first, and I want to formalize it in a way that speaks to the man you make me remember how to be. I want to marry you, have a family with you, make a home with you. Here, in this spot, where the light guilds the trees and puts stars in your eyes.”

Everything she’d thought she would never have, could never have, he was offering. And more. She felt dizzy and weak as she looked into that beloved face. “It’s not the light. You dazzle me, Ian.”

“Is that a ‘yes’, then?”

Marley laughed and leaped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist and fusing her mouth to his. He staggered a bit, but caught and held her fast. All the joy and love she felt surged into the bond between them. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

“Glad you cleared that up. I wasn’t positive.” He grinned.

She framed his face. “Thank you. For giving me your faith and making me believe in After.”

“I never wanted an after until you.”

Marley took another look around the house he’d built with his mind. “It’s a pretty amazing after,” she said. “I’ve got a question for you, though.”

“What’s that?”

“How real is that bed?”

Ian’s smile spread, slow and wicked. “As real as you want it to be.”

As he circled her closer to it, Marley remembered the picnic. “Oh, but what about dinner?”

“It’ll keep,” he assured her, and tumbled her into the sea of pillows.

Chapter 16

“You’ll never get away with this,” growled Ian.