Laurell Hamilton - Never After

I tilted my face up. “There’s one last opportunity.”

He didn’t need to be invited twice, and he laid a most enthusiastic kiss upon my mouth. “Oh, now,” he said, lifting his head and giving me a devilish smile, “I liked that so much I might want to stay another day.”

I laughed and pushed him in the chest. “No, you must go before someone finds you. But you must come back, you know—in disguise, perhaps, but as often as you can bear it.”

“I will,” he promised. “And whenever I return, you will have to let me know if it is time to change your father back to a man.”

“Well, I will,” I said, “but I don’t think that day will come soon.”

Hekissedmeagain,touchedafingertomycheek,and spun away into a golden sparkle. When my eyes cleared, he was gone, and not even his shadow remained.

I sighed a moment, remembering his blond curls, his happy air, his good heart. And then I shook my head and remembered my true fiancé, with his steady soul, his deep affection, and a very good heart of his own.

We would be married soon—by week’s end, if I had my way, and I always did. But before then, there was so much else to take care of! I must settle my father in his new quarters, make sure Dannette was comfortably situated, confer with Gisele, meet with my advisors, and write a proclamation for my subjects. And there would be much to do after the wedding as well—learning about trades and tariffs, outlawing the ownership of fighting dogs, changing the laws of inheritance, and generally becoming the very best monarch I could be. Oh, and doing everything in my power to secure a lifetime of happiness—for me and for everyone I cared about.

And if I didn’t achieve that final goal, it damn well wouldn’t be for lack of trying.