Jessica Andersen - Storm Kissed

She moved toward him almost without volition, her body drawn into his orbit by a gravitational pull of rightness that said: there you are. Destined mates or love at first sight—how much of a difference was there, really?

Joining him up at the front of the room, aware that they were the center of attention—though as the king’s consort, she had gotten pretty used to that—she whispered, “What are we doing, naming this place or something?”

His lips curved up. “Or something.” He dipped into an inner pocket of his bomber, pulled out a jeweler’s box . . . and went down on one knee.

And Reese. Stopped. Breathing.

Time telescoped and a decade disappeared in an instant. They were standing almost exactly where they had been the last time, when everything had been so very wrong. But now, as he opened the box, everything was right. The ring was made of white gold, a serpent that curled around a central stone. But instead of a cobra guarding a black stone, this was a sleekly elegant serpent god that curved around a sparkling multicolored array of white diamond, red ruby, yellow chalcedony, and gleaming onyx arranged in a circle around an emerald that glowed, green and perfect, at the center.

Her eyes filmed, spilled over. And she didn’t swipe the tears away, didn’t mind being a girl. Because if she couldn’t be a girl when the man of her teenaged dreams and woman’s fantasies proposed to her, when could she?

“Oh, Dez . . .” she breathed. She wanted to tell him that it was beautiful, that it was perfect, the moment was perfect. But she couldn’t get any of that out. She could only stare at the ring as the past and present merged, finally finding their balance, becoming the whole of her life, and the anticipation of their future. They would wait until after the end-date, she knew. Just as the magi were resolved not to bring children into the world prior to the war, they were holding off on human-style marriages, some because they believed more strongly in the mated marks, others so they would have something to look forward to. She wanted to be one of those looking forward.

He cleared his throat. “I promised myself I wouldn’t fuck up proposing this time.”

“The lack of bodies is a good start,” she observed, then winced and bit her tongue when the guy standing beside Dez choked, his eyes going round behind his glasses.

But Dez’s eyes gleamed, as if that had given him the answer he needed. Suddenly, she realized the shadows she had seen in him came from wariness. Nerves. Did he really think she would turn him down? “Fuck the speech,” he said hoarsely. “I love you, Reese Montana. Marry me. Please marry me. By all that’s holy, I don’t want to do this without you at my side, wearing my ring.”

“Yes.” She caught his face between her hands and stepped into the lee of his legs to lean down and kiss him, feeling the stir of heat and magic they made together. “Of course I’ll marry you,” she said against his lips. “I love you. Oh, how I love you.”

He rose up into the kiss, then stood, still kissing her, until they were wrapped together, the heat spinning around them. Then he broke the kiss and stepped away from her to take the serpent ring from the box, which he tucked back into his jacket. He didn’t put the ring on her finger, though. Instead, he palmed it and took her hands in his, the ring forming a bump between their hands. Then he nodded to the stranger. “Go ahead.”

The guy smiled faintly, took a piece of paper out of his pocket and unfolded it.

Reese stared at him, blood suddenly rushing so loud in her ears that she couldn’t hear the guy when he started reading, could only see his lips moving. “Wait,” she interrupted. “What?”

“You said you would marry me.” Dez nodded to the others. “I’ve got witnesses.”

She didn’t look at them, couldn’t. Her heart raced, making her muscles tremble with the need to move, though there was nothing to flee from, nothing to fight. Her voice shook. “I thought . . .Don’t you want to wait until, you know. After?”

“That’s the one thing I don’t want to do. I waited too damn long before. I’m not making the same mistake again.” He tightened his fingers on hers. “I want to marry you right now,” he looked around, grinning, “and most definitely right here. I love you, and I don’t want to wait another minute.” A pause, a hint of wariness. “What do you say?”

They were standing in a half-rebuilt warehouse in near-frigid temperatures, both wearing jeans and leather, each with a knife in a pocket and a gun hidden somewhere within easy reach. There were no Barbie dresses and tuxes, no flowers, papier-mâché, or drippy music. And that made it exactly right. A smile split her face. “I say yes.”

The shadows fled, leaving only love behind. “Thank the gods for that.”

He tugged her into his arms and kissed her, long and deep, with an intensity that sent sweet heat roaring through her, turning the chill air suddenly tropical. She clutched him, clung to him, sank into him. They had made love in the shower that morning, twining slick and slippery together, but she wanted him again, here, now and—

“Ahem,” Strike said drily from behind Dez. “You skipped a couple of steps. Including the ‘I dos’ and the cake.”

She broke away. “There’s cake?”

Dez groaned, then laughed along with the others. “Guess I know where I stand.” But he was still chuckling as the stranger got going again, reading from a simple set of nondenominational vows and prompting them at the appropriate moments.

Her “I do” was a little shaky, his cracked as a single tear leaked down. Then he kissed her, and, as she leaned into him, trembling, he slipped the serpent ring onto the fourth finger of her left hand. It curled around her finger, warming against her skin and shimmering with a faint prickle of magic that said she was done wandering, done being lost. She and Dez had finally, after all these years, come home to each other.

Note: Most of these words sound the way they’re spelled, with two tricks: First, the letter “x” takes the “sh” sound. Second, the letter “i” should be read as the “ee” sound. Thus, for example, Xibalba becomes “Shee-bal-buh.” Hope that helps!

Entities

Banol Kax—The lords of the underworld, Xibalba. Driven from the earth by the many times great-ancestors of the modern Nightkeepers, the Banol Kax seek to conquer Earth on the foretold day: December 21, 2012.

itza’at—A female Nightkeeper with visionary powers; a seer. The itza’at talent is often associated with depression, mental instability, and suicide, because the seer can envision the future but not change it.

nahwal—Humanoid spirit entities that exist in the barrier and hold within them all of the accumulated wisdom of each Nightkeeper bloodline. They can be asked for information, but cannot always be trusted.

Nightkeeper—A member of an ancient race sworn to protect mankind from annihilation in the years leading up to December 21, 2012, when the barrier separating the earth and underworld will fall and the Banol Kax will seek to precipitate the apocalypse.

makol—These demon souls are capable of reaching through the barrier to possess evil-natured human hosts. Recognized by their luminous green eyes, a makol-bound human retains his own thoughts and actions in direct proportion to the amount of evil in his soul.

Order of Xibalba—Formed by renegade Nightkeepers around A.D. 600, the order was believed to have been destroyed in the 1520s. However, the order survives, and is now led by a powerful mage named Iago, who has bound his soul to that of the long-dead Aztec god-king, Moctezuma.

winikin—Descended from the conquered Sumerian warriors who served the Nightkeepers back in ancient Egypt, the traditionally raised winikin are blood-bound to act as the servants, protectors, and counselors of the magi. However, some winikin—rebels who mutinied against the king—escaped prior to the massacre. Now, their return threatens to upset the fragile balance of power at Skywatch.