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and with his hands and his lips, he blocked out the world, making me think only about him—want only to be with him. His touch banished the ugly memory of Loren, and the mistake I’d made giving myself to him, into the mists of the past. At the same time Stark soothed the hurt inside me left by Heath’s loss. I would always miss Heath, but he had been human, and as Stark made love to me I understood that I would have had to say goodbye to Heath eventually.
    Stark was my future—my Warrior—my Guardian—my love.
    When Stark unwrapped the MacUallis plaid from around his body and lay naked beside me, he bent and I felt his tongue first against the pulse at my neck, and then a brief, questioning touch of his teeth.
    “Yes,” I said, surprised by the breathless, unfamiliar sound of my voice. I shifted my body so that Stark’s lips pressed more firmly against my neck, while I kissed the strong, smooth slope where his shoulder met his biceps. With my own wordless question, I let my teeth graze his skin.
    “Oh, goddess, yes! Please, Zoey. Please.”
    I couldn’t wait any longer. I nicked his skin at the same moment he bit gently into my neck, and with the warm, sweet taste of his blood my body was filled with our shared feelings. The bond between us was like fire—it burned and consumed, almost painful in its intensity. Almost unbearable in its pleasure. We clung to each other, mouths pressed against skin, body against body. All I could feel was Stark. All I could hear was the pounding of our hearts beating in time together. I couldn’t tell where I ended and he began. I couldn’t tell which pleasure was mine, and which was his. Afterward while I lay in his arms, our legs twined together, our bodies still slick with sweat, I sent a silent prayer to my Goddess: Nyx, thank you for giving Stark to me. Thank you for letting him love me.
    * * *

    We didn’t leave the grove for hours. Later I would remember that night as one of the happiest of my life. In the chaos of the future, the memory of being wrapped in Stark’s arms, sharing touches and dreams, and for that moment in time being completely, utterly content, would be something I cherished, like the warm glow of candlelight on the darkest of nights.
    Much later we walked slowly back to the castle. Our fingers were threaded together, our sides brushed intimately. We’d just crossed the moat bridge, and I’d been so wrapped up in Stark that I hadn’t even noticed the staked heads. Actually, I hadn’t noticed much of anything until Aphrodite’s voice intruded.
    “Oh, for shit’s sake. Could you two be more obvious?”
    I lifted my head dreamily from Stark’s shoulder and saw Aphrodite standing in a pool of torchlight at the entrance to the castle, toe tapping in annoyance.
    “My beauty, leave them be. They’ve earned their piece of happiness.” Darius’s deep voice came from the shadows beside her.
    One fine blond eyebrow lifted mockingly. “I don’t think happiness is the piece she just gave Stark.”
    “Seriously, even your crudeness can’t bother me right now,” I told her.
    “It can bother me, though,” Stark said. “Shouldn’t you be pulling the wings off seagulls or the claws off crabs?”
    Aphrodite acted like Stark hadn’t spoken and walked up to me. “Is it true?”
    “Is what true? That you’re a pain in the butt?” I said.
    Stark snorted. “That’s definitely true.”
    “If it’s true, then you’re gonna have to tell him. I’m not listening to him blubber.” Aphrodite waved her iPhone around, using it to punctuate her words.
    “Jeesh, you’re acting super crazy, even for you,” I said. “Do you need shopping therapy intervention? Is. What. True?” I spoke slowly, pretending she was an English-as-a-second-language-learner.
    “Is it true what the Queen of Every Damn Thing Skye just told me—that you’re not leaving with us tomorrow? That you’re staying here?”
    “Oh.” I shuffled my feet, wondering why I should feel