Happy holidays to all!! My muse is being friendly! Even though it is short, I hope you all enjoy this chapter & the changes I have made to previous chapters! Please remember that I am not C.F., so don't sue me!!! I only write for fun!!!
He awoke in the ground and for the first time in months he did not reach for her immediately. His mind was still reeling from the events of the dawn before. He could still taste her on his tongue and the lingering memory made his body harden anew. It had been the most exquisite torture to be with her, to touch her without taking anything for himself. It had taken every ounce of will power to resist taking her then, but he wanted more for her. He even wanted more for himself. Experiencing her coming apart for him, knowing that she had never experienced sexual fulfillment before he had given it had left Dimitri with an intense satisfaction.
Everything about her had been perfection. The beat of her heart had drawn him in; the softness of her skin had soothed him even as her scent had driven him to a fevered frenzy. She had reacted to him with no reservations. He had thought she would struggle to accept his touch, but instead she had been open to him in every way. Every movement, every moan had been manna to his starving soul. Now more than ever, he had reason to hope. He knew now with utter certainty that she would come to him.
Though he knew that as lifemates they were bound together by a force outside of the physical world, that their destiny to be together had been written in the heavens long before any of them had ever set foot on the Earth; he had not known that he could feel so deeply for another person. It had been so much simpler when only her blood had called to him to claim her in the ancient way of his people. But he had sworn to act with honor, so he had left her there on the promise of one kiss. The year he had spent in her mind had led him to want more from their relationship. He had wanted her love, in return for which he would give her honesty, loyalty, and protection. Now he saw that he could not escape the reality that moved through him with every beat of his heart; a reality that liberated him from every past guilt and elevated him above the pain if years of solitude. He loved her.
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Dimitri was with her throughout her night of travel, alert to any sign of attack. Gabriel had chartered a private red-eye flight for them from Rio De Janairo to Prague, the city where Natalya and her lifemate Vikirnoff currently called home. Though he knew his vigilance would annoy Gabriel, Dimitri could no nothing else while Skylar was in the slightest danger. Beyond that, he enjoyed being in her mind, teasing her and being teased, and feeling her blush when he mentioned their interlude the sunrise before. The magic she had performed continued to amaze her; and it made her more determined than ever to unlock the full depth of her mage-power. Though Dimitri had felt the powers stirring deep within her before, this night it was distinct. It was as if the magic she had done to bring them together had unleashed the floodgates of her power. He was very glad that she went to her aunt's.
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Skylar awoke in a new place; the sounds of the rainforest did not greet her here. Instead she heard the sounds of cars whooshing by over the wet pavement. The dawn before, she had been too exhausted to do more than greet her aunt before falling into the plush four-poster bed provided for her. Now she called on Dimitri and led him through her detailed exploration of her room. It was decorated in an ornate old world style that smacked of culture and opulence. It was easier to imagine him here with her in this place than it had been in Brazil; a fact which caused a deep pain in both their chests which only mutual understanding helped to ease.
She could have brought them together again, she knew; but Skylar had sworn to herself that she would not. It had been torture to let him go the first time and she did not know if she had enough power in her to let him go were she ever to have him close again. Desire for him had always been the easiest. Even against her will and better judgment, the call of lifemates had drawn her to him physically, sexually. Coming to like and respect him had been inevitable. He had a keen and witty mind and a sense of dignity and honor that went straight to his bones. Even her father Gabriel was not as absolutely perfectly honorable the way Dimitri was; Dimitri would rather die or be an outcast than act without honor. And because she knew he would never break his word to her, she trusted him. In the weeks before she had brought them together something strange had begun to happen to her. It was almost as if she was not herself without him in her mind. And after he had touched her body; after he had taken her to an ecstasy she could never have imagined she knew that something had changed in her irrevocably. She loved him.
