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  She touched his chest. “It doesn’t seem proper that you should be leaving me only in my slip, and you’re fully clothed. She widened her eyes mischievously. She wanted to see every inch of him, just as he would be exposing every part of her body to his sight. “We shouldn’t have anything between us. I want to see you.”

  “Not with those glasses on. I want to make love to you, knowing that you can see me for what I am.”

  “Even if my sight had failed me completely, I would still be able to see you for what you are. I can read you like a book, Malachi.” Stepping away from him, she walked over to the nightstand. Sighing, she took off her spectacles. “You should trust me, Malachi.”

  “I do trust you. Truth of it is, I want to see your hauntingly beautiful eyes. The rose tint to your lens make it hard for me to see that sparkle in your gorgeous blue eyes.”

  “You must have been born with that charming, debonair way of yours,” she mused.

  Annabelle walked back toward him. Tilting her head, she watched as her hand become transparent. The veil was being activated again—and she was happy to find she could actually control the use of it. She touched his chest, as her hand become solid once again.

  “I think you should use some self-control when it comes to calling the veil to your command. If you use that ability too much, you will greatly exhaust yourself.”

  “Right now, with the adrenaline pumping through my body, I feel as I did three years ago.”

  “You should not be going after Roland. You should be staying here where you are safe, waiting for Rainbow to return.”

  “I can’t. I don’t have the time. What if you concocted a basic healing potion to help me? Whatever you gave me the other night seemed to fortify my strength.”

  “Aye, but it’s already wearing off, isn’t it? The only thing I can do is to make up several of those healing potions for you to take while you are with Roland. They might not heal your illness completely but they may at least give you the strength you need to survive until Rainbow can cure you.”

  While he talked, she had managed to free him of his tunic. She ran her hands over his bare chest. He drew his breath in sharply, looking down at her hands.

  “They are so small.” He grabbed her hands, pulling them up to his lips he brushed his mouth over her hands in a gentle caress. “I will not go any further if you think you are too weak.”

  “Weakness isn’t something I’m feeling right now. I feel as if something brews on the horizon, if we do not take issues into our own hands—we will be caught in the fires. We can’t let the other side win—we must be brave and strong until victory comes to Thaliana.”

  “You are filled with renewed vigor since you know you are needed.”

  “Indeed.”

  “Know this, Annabelle. You are not just needed by the subjects of Thaliana, but I also need you. I need you more than I’ve ever needed anyone. As long as I know you are with me in spirit, if not in body, while we are apart, I will do whatever you need me to do.”

  “Thank you, Malachi. I feel the same way.”

  She kissed him again, with a fervor she had not yet displayed. She was hungry for him—and she knew he was hungry for her. They needed to be together. That’s all that mattered right now. She reached up to touch is blondish red hair.

  “It feels like silk.”

  Then, she kissed his the scars on his face, he stiffened with each light caress. Before she could react, he had rested his hands around her waist. Lifting her high in the air, he let go. She looked around her. She was levitating in mid-air.

  “With magic, making love can be an adventure.” His green eyes twinkled mischievously.

  “Malachi…” He lifted himself up into the air as well. “Now, I really do feel like I’m walking on air.”

  She laughed, as they both connected once more. He seemed to be guiding them toward the bed. “I feel like we’re creating our own paradise.”

  “We are.”

  She sighed. Her thoughts centered in on him. He was the only person that believed in her. Her soul had been slowly breaking before she had found him—and now, she was becoming whole again. He was an anchor in a sea of uncertainties for her.

  He slowly lowered them down onto the bed. They lay side by side, staring at each other.

  “What are we waiting for?”

  “I am savoring this moment between us. I want to remember it for all time.”

  “Why?”

  “The trusting loving look in your eyes is a rarity for me. I haven’t seen anyone look at me with such absolute acceptance in a long time.”

  When they touched next, she thrilled at the feelings he was arousing within her.

  *****

  His hands gently caressed her breasts he cupped them, and ran his the pads of his fingers over her nipples. They pebbled and hardened, with each soft stroke. He kissed the side of her breasts, and then as he took one of her bright cherry red nipples into his mouth, she arched on the mattress beneath him.

  Her hands were above her head on the pillow. She lowered them so she could run her fingers through his hair. He rubbed his hand over her flat belly. He hated the fact that she and her fellow villagers had been going without food for so long. She was so thin, he worried about her. She didn’t look strong enough to stop someone like Roland. He had to believe that in her case, appearances were deceiving. He was about to relieve her of her leggings when they disappeared, as did his trousers. He hadn’t done that.

  He looked up at her. She gave him a knowing smile. “I’m either feeding off your magic, or my abilities are getting aroused just like I am,” he laughed. She followed. Then her eyes rested on his very apparent erection. She licked her lips, and swallowed.

  “I am ready, and I can see you are quite ready.”

  The next blinding instant gave her the sensation that she was being transported to another plane. Magic swirled around the room. Fireworks started to go off when they exploded, they trickled down to the floor, turning into flower petals. He entered her in the next moment. A brief flash of pain, and then all she felt was the wondrous feeling of their bodies being joined.

  “I love you, Annabelle.”

  “And I love you, Malachi.” Their lips met and she drowned herself in the moment they were sharing.

  No matter what crossed their paths in the future, she would be able to carry the love Malachi had for her for all time.

  Chapter Fifteen

  After their lovemaking, she savored the feelings of Malachi holding her close. She felt safe, and contented. She didn’t want to leave the castle—but she knew by putting off her departure, she would only be delaying the inevitable.

  She studied Malachi’s features. He had fallen into a fitful sleep. She felt drugged with exhaustion, and yet restlessness burned inside of her. Her legs felt as if they needed to move—she needed to do something. She had a fear of falling into too deep of a slumber—she didn’t know if she would awaken. She couldn’t handle waking up to find that her physical body had failed on her.

  “You are worried. I can hear your heartbeat thundering.”

  She smiled at the sound of Malachi’s soft sleepy voice. “You are right,” she sighed. If she thought he could predict her thoughts and decisions before, now, his abilities were increased tenfold. It was almost as if they were linked through a psychic bond.

  “I don’t want you going without me bonding with you.”

  “You already did,” she chuckled, and kissed him.

  “No. I mean the bonding ritual. I would feel much better if I knew you were linked to me through the bond. If you were, you would be nearly invulnerable to harm.”

  “I can’t. I won’t ask that of you, Malachi. Please, don’t broach the subject again. I don’t want to endanger your life. I don’t want to put you at risk. If you are bonded to me—you will be forever linked to me. You know that I’m dying. What if the bond can’t cure what I did to myself? What if you perish with me? I wouldn’t be able to bear that.”
r />   “We would both be dead. Death has a wonderful way of shedding the burdens of life.”

  “How can you be such a bloody expert?” They lay on the bed facing each other. She studied the sober look in his eyes. He was now fully awake. He looked so frightened for her.

  She knew that nothing could easily rattle him—to know that he was afraid for her made her heart surge with newfound love. Her love for him just kept on deepening, she was falling so hard for him, she had never loved anyone the way she loved him. His tenderness, his strength, they complimented each other so beautifully. His heart really was pure.

  “My mother and father are slightly different now than the way they were when they were alive. They fretted over everything so much more, now they just seem to trust that everything is going according to plan. They do not worry about the lost time, or fret about what will occur in the future.”

  “I hope they are with your sisters and brothers,” she said.

  “They are. I can feel it. They know that they have need of them far more than I do now. They also know that you are determined to leave me. I don’t want you to…but it must be.”

  “I’m glad you have come to terms with that, Malachi.”

  “What will you tell your father, when you go to him?” The look in his eyes told her that he already suspected what plans she had concocted.

  “I will tell him that you are a beast both in appearance and nature. I will tell him that you were horrid to me, and that I barely survived with my life. He will believe me. You’ve already told me that the castle camouflages what truly happens here to the outside world. He will not know that I have fallen deeply in love with you.”

  “I will prepare those healing potions for you tonight.”

  “Is there any way you could ask Ardal to get them together for you? I don’t want to lose any of the time that we have left together.”

  “I can do that.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I just want to give you a warning to live by when you are with your father. Nothing is true. You will be living a lie—and having others tell you lies in order to pacify you. They will believe they have won.”

  “I know.” She smiled, and entwined her hand with his. “But make no mistake, Malachi—they will never win. We’re together, we’ve already struck them their final blow—it will just take them a few more days to realize that fact.”

  “You amaze me, Annabelle. Your beauty is so astounding and to know that you have an inner soul just as beautiful makes me grateful that we have found each other. You are a blessing to me.”

  “You call me Annabelle—but how do I know that’s even my real name?”

  “It is your real name. You grew up with that name, how could you even speculate about another one?” Malachi asked.

  She shrugged. “I can wonder, can’t I?”

  He chuckled. “I have more names than I know what to do with—as I’m the firstborn, they really went all out.” His eyes sparkled. She loved seeing that sparkle of levity in his eyes too often they were filled with bone numbing seriousness.

  They spent the rest of what was left of the day together. She had never known such happiness, and she knew that in the coming weeks, she would not know such happiness again. As long as she was parted from Malachi she would carry heaviness with her that would weigh on her heart and on her soul.

  Annabelle’s reckoning was near.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “I still want to hold you back from taking on this quest. You will only encounter heartbreak, Belle,” Malachi prophesized. Annabelle looked over at him, inclining her head slightly. “You look like a Belle. I couldn’t help myself.”

  She smiled. “For anyone else I would certainly correct them, but coming from you, I like the sound of it. It seems to fit me.”

  “As I said,” he chuckled, in an instant, his face transformed from carefree loving expression to one that coupled dread with worry. “I am going to have sleepless nights when you are gone—I will be keeping a constant eye on you through Gabriel—if you ever need me, I will find a way to come to you. I will not let you be unprotected.”

  “That’s why I will be accompanying Lady Annabelle.” Ardal stood framed in the doorway to their private sitting room. He looked battle ready.

  “Ardal, you can’t come with me, you are a Thalin elf.”

  “Not now.” In a burst of shimmering light, he morphed into a human male. “I am but your humble servant. I only have a smidgeon of magic blood in me, making me your most humble servant.”

  “I can’t let you come with me.” She tried to sound stern and absolute. Unfortunately, he wasn’t having any of it, and neither was Malachi.

  “Ardal will go with you. He is the only one that can pass into Roland’s domain without being sensed. His Elvin magic acts as a veil just as your special ability does. He will protect you in my absence. It is as it should be.”

  “Indeed. I can also render assistance to your brothers and sisters.” Ardal’s eyes flashed with concern. “I am most worried about Shaylah.”

  She studied the haunted look in Ardal’s eyes. She didn’t need to ask to know the answer to her unspoken question. He loved Shaylah. So much so, that he would walk into the fires of Roland’s domain to make sure she was brought back home to safety. She could only wonder why he hadn’t been out on the front lines fighting back to back with Shaylah.

  If they loved each other why were they apart? She shook her head, shoving her thoughts about Malachi’s sister and Ardal to the back of her mind. Right now, she had to focus on the task at hand. She had a huge challenge ahead of her—and if she failed, everyone would be in peril.

  “You should not go to your father wearing that outfit.” Ardal’s bold words made her frown.

  “I don’t see where what I wear will have any bearing on my first meeting with Roland.”

  Ardal sighed. Malachi snorted.

  “Ardal is right. You should listen to his counsel closely he knows your father’s ways far better than you do. He’s been studying him for quite some time. Roland does not allow any woman in his court to wear trousers. He thinks they are undignified and unladylike.”

  “He sounds like a chauvinist pig.”

  “He does, doesn’t he?” Malachi’s eyes flashed. “Trust me, just go to him wearing one of the beautiful gowns the wardrobe has created for you. Ardal has no doubt packed some supplies for you along with your healing potions, if you are need of anything else, I’m sure your dear father will be more than happy to lavish you with whatever you wish for.”

  “Now you’re making him sound like a doting father,” she pointed out.

  “He might be. He just might surprise both of us. But remember under his fatherly love, beats a monster’s heart.”

  She nodded her head in silent understanding. “I know. I will never lose sight of that fact.”

  “I won’t let her forget it.” Ardal smiled. “I’ll leave the two of you to say your final farewell to each other.”

  Pain stabbed her heart. “Not final farewell, Ardal. Malachi and I will never have any final farewells, it will just be a farewell for now.”

  “Indeed. I couldn’t agree more.” Malachi pulled her to him. Winking at her mischievously, he snapped his fingers. In an instant, she stood wearing an amethyst coloured velvet and gown. She wore a matching amethyst necklace, brooch and ring. When she tapped her head, she felt some sort of a tiara perched there. She walked to a mirror, with him closely following her.

  “Now you look like a princess.” He smiled, pulling her back toward him. She looked at her reflection. She barely recognized the woman staring back at her. Her hair was draped loosely around her shoulders, in rich thick waves. She’d almost forgotten what her hair looked like when not pulled back. The tiara kept the hair out of her face, so she would not be blinded. Strangely, enough, her spectacles seemed to fit in with the rest of her outfit. They were almost unnoticeable. Almost. She stared down at the wedding band on her left hand.

  “You
forget to make this disappear.”

  “I didn’t forget, I don’t think you need to remove it. Your father will think nothing of you still wearing it. He will think you are just like your mother. Even after declaring war on him, she still wears her bands.”

  “I didn’t realize that.”

  “Many don’t. When she rides into battle she dons gloves.”

  “Oh.”

  He smiled at her, turning her so they faced each other. “You are not your mother—I wasn’t saying that…but the more alike the two of you seem, the more he will fall for the fact that you have come to him seeking a reunion.”

  “I don’t know how I’m going to survive being around Katrina.”

  “You will survive. Just remember, if you do get to see my siblings, you only need to say this word, Enchantment, and they will know you are loyal to me. It’s a code word for their Hawthornes that means loyal to the end. Don’t ask me where or why our ancestors chose it.” He pushed a tendril of loose hair off her forehead. “So beautiful.” He lowered his lips to hers, and gave her a tenderly searing kiss. Her toes curled.

  She glanced up at the clock. “The moon will be high in the sky soon. I must go.” She hated to leave him. She hated it. He was the only person in her life that had ever truly wanted her, and that thrilled her very being.

  “I know. We will be together again before you know it. Say hello to my parents when you get to Roland’s stronghold. He’ll most likely be in a neighbouring lords’ castle. He never did like to camp with his forces.”

  “I will keep an eye out for them—my other eye will be spent watching my back for Katrina. Once a betrayer, always a betrayer,” she said, shuddering.

  He nodded his head solemnly. “That’s a wise idea. I know I can count on you to succeed. Once you have freed my siblings, I must insist that you flee with them. We can make our final stand here on my castle ground.”