Read Nicholas: The Lords of Satyr Online
Authors: Elizabeth Amber
Nicholas: The Lords of Satyr (29 page)
Above her, Nick bucked hard, newly invigorated. When he finally drove deep and shouted his release, the last of his pain drained from him, washed over her, and faded into nothingness.
All around them, woody canes firmed and straightened. New blossoms burst from healthy vines now flowing with sap.
Nick clasped her to him. Above them, the rain slackened to a diamond mist that drifted its veil over them from the sky.
I love you
, his mind whispered. His kissed her deeply with rain-slicked lips. Then he spoke aloud. “I love you.”
“And I you,” she echoed.
The earth that smeared them both was dry by the time they left the slopes. Far below them, Jane watched the forest part and saw stone and shingle come into view.
And knew it to be home.
G
reenery sprang to life everywhere across Satyr land.
Bees hummed at the vines. The grapes were beginning to ripen. Soon it would be autumn and harvest would begin.
In the castello garden, Jane heard laughter and turned to watch Emma instructing Lyon on the proper way to wield a baby carriage across the lawn. Even the servants smiled at their antics, caught up in the sheer joy of their happiness.
The outward normalcy her new extended family presented to the world was something Jane reveled in. Any Human chancing upon the idyllic scene would think nothing unusual. Hers could be any of hundreds of well-heeled families in Italy on a summer afternoon.
But here on Satyr land, all was wonderfully unusual.
Life here suited her as that outside Satyr walls never had. EarthWorld had once seemed such a hostile place. And Nick’s home had sometimes seemed darkest of all. Now she knew it was a haven. A place of acceptance. Her home.
Soon, the Satyr clan would expand. Raine was even now gone in search of his FaerieBlend wife for yet a third time. His brothers had teased him mercilessly about his inability to locate her as quickly as Nick had found Jane. Though Raine moved more carefully and methodically than the others, Jane had no doubt he would eventually succeed at his task. Once he had, Lyon would go in search of his bride.
Would her sisters be like her? Nick had explained that magic found its outlet differently in each of the Faerie. Her gift was a facility with plants. It remained to be seen what her half sisters’ abilities might be. She looked forward to welcoming them into the fold.
Jane’s eyes strayed to the clock Emma had completed only yesterday. The passionflower was in bloom. It was nearly time for Nick’s return. After an absence of a week, her husband would be randy.
She rubbed a hand over her flat belly. Nick had promised her a second child a year after the birth of their first. It would be many months before then. For now, Emma and baby Vincent kept them busy.
Joy bubbled through her veins at the knowledge that their children would grow up here, safe, accepted, and loved. And free of the restrictions the world outside Satyr lands imposed. Here, in this inner sanctum, there would be none to condemn them for their strangeness. They had only themselves to please and would hurt no one else in the process. There was no false piety here, no useless societal rules to govern them. There was only the private, secret wonder of their lives.
She heard the soft pad of footsteps across the lawn and felt Nick come to stand behind her. Unsurprised, she leaned back against the heat and strength that was her husband. Muscular arms came around her, and Nick nuzzled his chin in the nook of her shoulder.
“I am returned,” he murmured.
“I’m glad,” she said.
“You knew I would come,” he teased.
“I knew,” she murmured on a soft smile.
Tonight there was to be a full moon. A Calling night. She looked forward to it.
Grape phylloxera is a tiny aphidlike insect that feeds on the roots of grapevines, stunting their growth or killing them. The pest was accidentally imported to England and France on American vines around 1862. It reproduced with devastating speed, and by the end of the 19th century, phylloxera had destroyed two-thirds of Europe’s vineyards.
For the purposes of this story, the date of the infestation is set at approximately thirty-nine years prior to the actual date of the infestation.
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Copyright © 2007 by Elizabeth Amber
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ISBN: 0-7582-2640-3
