The image of us in the mirror, it’s so intense. The way we’re clinging to each other, the hunger still blazing in our eyes. We’re passion incarnate. The most sensual thing I’ve ever seen.
“I wish you could see what I am seeing now,” he murmurs. “How your flame burns yellow for me. And how…” Damianos turns his head to look me straight in the eye as he says. “And how my flame burns yellow for you.”
My eyes widen when I realize what he’s saying…what I’m feeling. Not only my love but his.
“Reverence…” The word I feared I’d never hear from him again feels like both a revelation and a sigh inside my mind. “You honor me with your confession, with your vow to never use my weakness against me. But do you understand that I wasn’t only scared of you? I was scared of myself. Because I would do anything. Anything to keep you. Anything you asked.”
My breath catches at his words. And the way he’s looking at me. It’s just as tender as Other Damianos. But so much more intense. “The answer to your question, to all your questions from here on out is yes. Yes, I will revere you from now on. You honor me with your reverence, and I will spend the rest of my life honoring you with mine. I love you, Reverence. Here and now and until the day my flame extinguishes.”
In that moment I recognize that Damianos was right. He could never be the dragon I fell in love with at the gatehouse. That dragon made his proclamation of reverence out of grief. I was the she-wolf he lost too soon.
But this Damianos chose to love me. To pay me the reverence I’d so longed for since losing the other version of him.
Other Damianos told me I honored him often and without fail.
This Damianos makes me understand the meaning of the word.
“You honor me with your Reverence,” I whisper to him. “You honor me with your love. Thank you, baby. Thank you so much.”
No, it’s not the wedding he planned. But as he rolls me over and starts stroking into me again, it feels like we’ve made a pledge to each other even stronger than wedding vows.
It’s a beautiful morning.
And as I fall asleep in the arms of my dragon with the sun rising beyond the open balcony doors, more beautiful visions dance through my head.
Reconciliation…the return of my sister…a time of peace both inner and external that neither of us has ever known.
But when I wake up the next morning, the bed is cold.
And this time I do panic because I can’t feel anything at all. No warm love. No buzzing consternation. Not even the cold numb. Only the total and palpable absence of our mate bond.
Damianos…
He’s not just gone from the bed. He’s so far away, I can no longer feel our bond. Which means he’s gone from the property, maybe the whole island.
My morning fear is confirmed when I go to the nursery next door to his suite and discover Bazzi all the way awake and hovering over his crib. He squawks at me pitifully, his dragon wings flapping furiously and human tears running down his face.
As developed as he already is, he still can’t speak in any language a human would understand. But he doesn’t have to. I know he’s upset and confused over his father’s disappearance after having him as a constant presence in his life for the past few days.
Just like me.
With a whole lot of effort, I get him dressed in one of his wing covering morning suits and carry him downstairs.
“We need breakfast stat,” I say as I come into the kitchen with Bazzi still furiously crying. “The baby’s…”
I stop short when I find the kitchen empty. No Agda. No hustle and bustle like yesterday. The only indication that yesterday even happened is a stack of catering trays left drying on top of the sink.
I sniff the air and…nothing.
Listen, last night was some kind of party, and I’m all for giving everyone on staff the day off.
But this sudden disappearance of all staff doesn’t feel like Damianos decided to do something decent. It feels ominous.
Really, really ominous.
I remember what he said to me at the North Dakota kingdom house…
I will free myself from these chains…and when I do, I will no longer be afraid of hurting you.
And then I see the envelope on the table.
White and still. But ticking with threat.
Like a bomb.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
MAX
“I’m sorry. I tried. I really, really tried. But I just can’t marry you. The trust is gone, and I don’t believe we’ll ever be able to get it back.”
Max’s heart seized, then cracked at Dyana’s words.
He supposed he shouldn’t be surprised.
He’d skipped out on her, just like his father did his mother. Worse than that even. Colby had at least left a note and money for Max’s schooling. In contrast, Max had pulled his runner the very same night he’d proposed to Dyana, during their Ibiza holiday—which she’d paid for!