RiskingEternity (12 page)

Please, take it. Accept me. Just once, accept me.

The moment stretched out a heartbeat too long and he started to pull back.

Ren’s
hand closed over his, gently plucking the gift from his fingertips.
He lifted the glossy black feather to his lips, kissing it.
Dominicus
’ heart swelled when
Ren
slipped it in his wing, where it stood out against the snowy white feathers. It would live
there,
grow there, a visible sign to all in the Realms that
Renatus
loved.

Dom turned away, unable to watch him leave again, leave for good.

Long moments passed and his heart pounded with pain. He was forever losing his best friend. The thought of it twisted in his chest like a dying creature. He had been restored to the Heavens, yet had never felt more alone.

“Dom?”
He glanced back and his eyes welled.
Ren
stood holding out a snowy feather.

Accepting it, he held it to his lips, kissing it with all the love
Renatus
had never allowed before slipping it into his wing. When he looked up,
Renatus
was gone, and
Dominicus
knew, deep in his gut, that he’d never see him again. With a heavy heart, he returned to the bed and to Maggie. Curling behind her, he buried his face in her hair and mourned.

* * * * *

Maggie stirred, waking
Dominicus
. Outside sunlight blazed, revealing scars the battle left on the earth. Trees split by lightning lay on land torn by earthquakes, and humans tried to clean up from what they believed to be nature at its most violent. Despite the destruction, there was peace.

“Dom?”
She rolled toward him and blinked groggily.

“Good morning, darling.” He brushed her lips with a gentle kiss and gave thanks she was safe.

“Where’s
Ren
?”

“Gone.”
His chest felt tight, as if his ribs had shrunk and he didn’t have room to breathe.

She slipped her arms around him and kissed his forehead. A simple soothing, but it eased the pain. “I’m sorry.”

“There is nothing to be sorry for.”

“If it hadn’t been for me…”

“
Ren
would still not be able to accept loving a seraph. Such affection for a male goes against everything he believes about himself.” He buried his face in the curve of her shoulder and held her tight to him. “Does it bother you?”

“Does what bother me?”

“That I love him. That you have to share my heart with him.”

She thought for a long moment, stretching his nerves tight, before answering. “No, it doesn’t. Not really. He’s not what I thought. No matter what he says, whether he could have a physical relationship or not, he loves you.”

In his mind’s eye,
Dominicus
could see the inky blur of one dark feather against snowy white. “Yes, he does.”

“He’s not coming back.” She could feel the finality, just as he could.

“No, he’s not coming back.” The words were muffled by her skin, but she heard, and hugged him harder. Minutes melded together and they simply held each other, comforting each other in silence.

Finally he shifted, angling to look up into her sweet face. “Part of me had hoped that he would stay. That I wouldn’t have to choose and the three of us could be together. Selfish, wasn’t it?”

“I didn’t know him well, but he didn’t strike me as the sharing kind.”

“No, he isn’t.” If
Renatus
had taken that step, he would have deserved nothing less than everything Dom had to offer.

“He healed me last night.”

“I know. I watched.”

She stiffened in his arms. “I thought you were sleeping.”

He lifted a hand and cupped her breast, caressed the place where the claw and tooth marks once were with his thumb.
Ren’s
healing gift had allowed them to heal without scarring and the flesh was unmarked by the horror of the night. “You were making peace with him. I didn’t want to intrude. It was beautiful, watching him heal you, seeing his mouth on you, your eyes shining with pleasure.”

Her nipple drew tight, whether it was from his words or his thumb, he didn’t know, didn’t care. He bent his head and took the hardened tip between his lips and sucked it tenderly. A soft sound escaped her and she arched against him. This time, he didn’t use his power to arouse. He allowed the sensations to grow naturally.

His body stirred, hardening, lengthening, and without any more foreplay, he slipped into her wet heat. Ah, but this felt more like home than Heaven ever had.

“I love you, Maggie,” he whispered into her hair. “If you allow it, I will spend all of your days with you.” He let her adjust, waited until he felt her shift under him,
then
moved in a slow, easy glide.

“I love you, too,
Dominicus
. I wish I had forever to give you.”

“I will take whatever you have to give, darling. And when your days come to an end, your spirit will go on. Perhaps I can be with you then, as well.”

Her breath caught and he lifted his head to look into her eyes. “Is that possible?”

“It can be. I will do whatever I can to make it happen, I promise.”

He moved again, rocking gently and letting the tension build within them. She breathed his name and tightened around him, her climax as gentle as their loving. Increasing his pace, he let himself begin the climb toward that peak. She came again, this time with a high, keening cry.

“Maggie,” he groaned, and his climax poured from him. “I love you.”

“I love you, Dom. Forever.”

There was an ache in his chest, but it was nothing like the emptiness which had resided there for too long. He was full, his heart was full,
overflowing
with the love Maggie gave him.

He brushed a kiss across her shoulder.
“Forever.”

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