Forgotten Sea (23 page)

Her eyes sought Iestyn. He held her gaze, smiling crookedly. “I told you we missed you. I missed you. I came to get you back. Whatever it takes.”

A wave of relief, of reassurance and love, crashed over her. She started to shake.

Sometimes you didn’t need words and guarantees. Sometimes one look said everything and one act, one gesture of faith, was enough.

“Don’t be a fool,” Zayin growled. “Do you have any idea what you’re giving up?”

She lifted her chin. “I think so. I can go with you and follow the Rule. Or I can stay with him and follow my heart.”

Zayin stared at her, his eyes black and blank and opaque as always. “Simon will never understand. Will never accept your decision.”

She felt a quiver of anxiety, a flutter of regret. But she held his gaze without hesitation or apology. “What will you tell  him?”

A corner of Zayin’s mouth turned up in a barely perceptible smile. “That I couldn’t find you, of course.” He bowed his sleek dark head, in acknowledgment of defeat. “I wish you joy of your decision.”

He stalked toward the door. Morgan and Dylan stepped aside to let him pass. As his footsteps faded down the hall, the tension leaked from the room.

Dylan cleared his throat. “We’ll just see him as far as the ferry.”

The two wardens followed him down the stairs.

Lara shivered in reaction. “Well.” She swallowed. “I’m glad that’s over.”

“Not over yet,” Iestyn said and then he was there, solid, warm, and real, wrapping his arms around her, driving away the cold.

She melted into him. Her heart began a slow pound in her chest. “There’s more?”

“There has to be. For me, at least.” He took her hands, holding them palm to palm between both of his as if he were praying. He kissed her fingers, his face serious.

Nerves knotted her stomach. “You don’t have to say anything,” she said.
Don’t let go.
“You don’t have to feel obligated to me because I chose to stay.”

He shook his head. “I’m not obligated. I want to be with you.”

She smiled at him wryly. Tenderly. “Yesterday you said we barely know each other.”

“I know what I feel.” He held her closer, her head against his chest. “I know that without you, I’m lost.”

“Not anymore,” she mumbled into his shirt. “You’re back where you belong now. You can go back to the sea.”

“I belong with you. We belong with each other.” His voice was sure, his heartbeat strong and steady. She could feel her body softening, adjusting to his, all of her pressed against all of him, breasts, belly, thighs.
Heaven.
“Give me time to prove it to you.”

All her doubts were dissolving away. But she eased back within the circle of his arms to look him in the eye. “How much time are we talking about?”

His grin flashed. “Five years? Fifty? Five hundred?”

“You want me to wait for you that long?”

“I want you to stay with me. Be with me. Here on the island. They need you. I need you. I love you, Lara, by God I do.” His voice shook. His arms tightened around her.

“I love you,” he repeated, resting his forehead against hers. “If you don’t want to live here, we’ll go someplace else. Just don’t leave me.”

Hope welled inside her. “You love me.” She tested the words in her mouth, tasting their sweetness.

His arms tightened in frustration. “How many ways do I have to say it for you to believe me? Give me a chance. Give us a chance.”

“A leap of faith?” she murmured.

 “If you’ll take it, I swear I won’t let you down.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning her weight against his hard, sheltering body. “I believe in you. In us. I love you, too.”

“Thank God.” He cradled her face in his hands, tipping her head back to kiss her, her eyes, her nose, her cheek. Her mouth. Joy flooded her soul.

“You know, you could come with me,” he murmured after long moments had passed.

Lara surfaced reluctantly. “Come with you where?”

“When I go to sea. You could come inside me.”

She blinked. “You mean, spirit cast? Under water?”

He grinned down at her. “Why not? You said yourself we can do more together than we can apart.”

The possibility teased her. Tempted her. She felt no fear. Only wonder that they had two worlds and all of their lives to explore.

“Let me share my world with you, Lara,” Iestyn said in unconscious echo of her thoughts. “My life with you.”

She smiled, twining her arms around his neck. “Why not?” She threw his challenge back at him. “After all, there’s more than one way to fly.”

He laughed and covered her mouth with his.

Beyond their window, the bright sky blended into the shining sea.