The answer doesn’t matter once we push past the castle’s looming entrance doors. Inside, the place is brighter than it seems from the outside, though the Italianate accents are gaudy reminders of what I’ve glimpsed so far in the Valari compound. A look in Gio’s direction brings confirmation that he’s not a fan of the decor either.
I can’t bring myself to be that bothered, though. I’m ready to sleep on a bed of nails. The massive leather lounger that I do find is like reclining onto a cloud. Within seconds, I’ve hauled off my shirt, shucked my boots, and am fully down for the count.
But my mind doesn’t let me stay that way for long.
Chapter Ten
Kara
It’s disturbing that I’m taking one shred of Hades’s words as constructive, but he’s right about the fact that I need some rest. Correctly translated, some hardcore getting-to-know-you time with the big pillows on the huge bed in the middle of my chamber. Fifty percent of my DNA is one hundred percent human, confirmed by my overriding exhaustion level. And as beautiful as this draped thing is, I desperately don’t want it to be my death bed, as well.
This time, I just have to make myself do it.
Encouraged by the impression that my host will be leaving me alone for a little while, I approach the high, plush mattress. I release a blissful sigh from the mere thought of finally shutting my eyes and escaping into nothingness.
Into peace…
The thought is better than the thickest blanket, enveloping my senses as I drop my head to the pillow. For the first time since Hades seized me at Rerek’s party, I’m able to fully breathe. To feel free. Free enough to let my mind fly to thoughts of Maximus.
He’s in the clouds again. The beautiful thunderheads across the landscape of my memories. Air, water, and wind collaborate to create his hair and smile and eyes. Soon, his shoulders fill out too. Then the magnificence of his chest, the firm waves of his abs, and the stunning lengths of his legs. They’re all here before me. But…how? He can’t really be here, can he? Not in this dark suburb of hell’s desolate capital.
I wish I could celebrate the possibility, even just a little. That I could welcome the vision of his light shining into the gloom of my fathomless prison. He’s so beautiful, I can’t help but shed tears. Because to think he’s actually nearby, having survived a journey into this realm on his way to find me, is foolish. To keep contemplating that I’ll ever see him again, let alone have him…
New agony tears through me, ruining the descent into sleep. I push up until I’m sitting again and open my eyes into the mostly dark room. A fresh sigh spills out of me.
Right before a small rustle shivers across the air.
After a silent startle, I straighten even higher. My gaze darts to the rich red couch on the other side of the room.
“Huh?” I ask beneath my breath. This is so strange. I don’t remember the lounger being there before.
Fantasy and sanity are still dancing flawlessly together, because Maximus is there now, reclining in what looks like a fitful rest. The waltz gets even more beautiful when he lifts his head to meet my stare, which fans his tawny mane across the rich mahogany cushion.
At once, my skin breaks out in aroused perspiration. I tremble from the need to surge forward, stretch myself across him, and bury my hands in his thick, luxurious strands while kissing him with all the need in my soul and desire in my body.
But I don’t.
Because when I do, I’ll know it isn’t real.
Just a little while longer, I beg to the outer reaches of my mind. Please, just let us have this for a few more moments.
If only the dream will allow…
“Kara?”
But, pathetically unable to resist his call, I rise to my feet. At the same time, I let my robe slide off my shoulders. It whooshes down to create a silky crimson puddle from which I step with seductive slowness.
“Kara,” he rasps again. “This…you…can’t be…”
I secretly bow to providence in thanks while quivering from the fresh dew across my skin. And collecting along the walls of my core…
“It’s me,” I answer in a rough whisper. “Is it really you?”
He pushes up, showing me more of the breath-halting mounds that compose his upper torso. Unable to help myself, I roll the tip of my tongue between my lips. He’s that mouthwatering. That stunning. That incredibly close.
“It’s me.”
I don’t know how it truly can be, but everything feels too real between us to convince me otherwise. I’ve never wanted a dream to be more real.
“I miss you…so much.” My confession is broken apart by a jittery sob. Every inch of my body, from the roots of my scalp to the valleys between my toes, aches so exigently for him.
“Then come here,” my lover husks. His hands, splaying his massive thighs, now slide to his sides. It’s not just a physical opening. His eyes well up too, vulnerable as lakes beneath lightning. He swallows with raw uncertainty. “Come here and find me.”
A smile breeches my lips. But I can only take one step. “I…can’t,” I rasp.
His eyebrows dive toward each other. “Why not?”
“I’m afraid.”
“Of me?”
“No.” I chide him with a small laugh, and it feels so damn good. “I’m afraid…”
“Of what, then?”
“That you’ll disappear. That you’re…”
“Not real?” His sleek mouth gives way to the small smirk that always makes my pulse skip. “You mean like the persimmons we swore we bought at the farmer’s market that day, that never made it back to my place?”
My heartbeat isn’t skipping anymore. It’s fully stopped.
I dare another step forward. With equal deliberation, I say, “I’ve never told anyone else that story.”
Maximus fully locks his stare with mine. “Neither have I.”
I’m taking my own turn to gulp hard. But to hope with the same magnitude. “I totally forgot about them until we got back home.”
The lightning finally touches down in his gaze. His eyes are agleam with dazzling light. “I like it when you call my place home.”
I scoot ahead by another step. He’s still here. I force myself to believe it. “You’re my home.”
“And you’re mine. Forever and always.”
His vow is a fervent force on the air, to the point I’m longing to reach out and capture it like ribbons. I look around, battling to make sense of where my chamber ends and his room begins. But he’s not there either. At least not the retreat in downtown LA where our love began and flourished in such magic and passion.
“Is this an accident of reality, or a collision of dreams, or…?”
“I don’t know. But does it even matter?” he implores. “It’s a gift, Kara. A gift for which I’ve been begging fate since you disappeared.”
Anguish hits me like a twelve-foot wave at Venice before a storm. “I’m sorry.” I wring my hands. “I’m so sorry. I should’ve been more careful. I should’ve known Rerek couldn’t be trusted. If I’d only—”