Page 156 of Kai
“You mean like the mile-high club, but in reverse?”
“Precisely.”
“You’re hurt,” I reminded him.
“This is a unique opportunity.” He slid his hands up and down my arms, then dipped his fingers beneath my T-shirt and traced a lazy trail on my skin. “When is the next time we’ll get thechance to do it in a sub?”
“It’s probably against Navy rules,” I mumbled between kisses.
“Are you in the Navy?” He slid his hand up to cup my breast.
“No.” I gasped and arched into his hold.
“Me neither, not officially anyway.” He strummed my nipple with his thumb. “So…?”
As long as he continued to stroke me, I could only answer one way. “Yes.”
When his mouth returned to mine, we were well on the way to breaking the rules and getting no rest.
“Wait,” I whispered when we came up for breath. “You gave me your pledge. Can I give you mine?”
His aura ignited with the deepest indigo and the brightest golds of a Hawaiian sunset. “Yes.”
“Okay.” Enveloped in the light and warmth of our combined auras, I took a leveling breath and found my words. “Kai King. You are my improbable, impossible love, the one that wasn’t in the cards until my sisters talked to you about an odd connection, and you fought to give us a shot. You bring joy to my heart, peace to my soul, and wisdom to my hothead. You’re my ocean, my fate, and my destiny. I give my love to you, you give your love to me.Mau loa.”
“Mau loa?”Kai’s eyebrows spiked on his forehead. “You know the words?”
“There are a couple of Hawaiian subbies on this thing. I had a talk with one of them.”
“So, you know what it means?”
I nodded. “It means forever.”
“Mau loait is.” He kissed me.
My aura surged, singing in my head, a music so sweet that the universe felt like an immense orchestra radiating with lightand melody. Kai’s energy also flared and joined mine until we were a union of swirling energy. Entwined in each other’s arms, we lit up the little room, shining in the depths of the sea like a supernova blazing in the night.
To think we hadn’t even had sex yet.
“I’m impressed, Sorceress.” Kai’s smile dazzled my world. “And here I thought you didn’t speak romance.”
Returning his smile, I stripped off my shirt and murmured between kisses. “I do now.”
Epilogue
Cece
Days after returning to Astor House, I sat on my bed, reclining on a pile of pillows. Even though I balanced my computer on my lap, it was hard to concentrate on my work. My mind spun, processing too many things at once. It had been amazing to see my sisters again, to hold them, love them, catch up with them and learn about their lives and loves. We’d also dissected our gifts as best we could.
Our reunion had been the stuff of dreams, a mix of joy and grief, tears and laughter. In my sisters’ arms, I’d come home. I cried so much during the first few hours that Thena and Missy got worried. They’d never seen me cry before. I told them to get used to it. Ugly crying had turned into a permanent feature of the new Cece.
My return to Astor House felt surreal. A lot of things had changed since the last time I’d been here. The house flowed with good energy, and yet a few ghosts remained behind to ambush me when I least expected them. A lot of unfamiliar faces bustled all over the place, challenging my underdeveloped social coefficient.
This explained why I’d sequestered myself in my bedroom and still wore my pajamas this late in the morning. I’d gone from one extreme to the other. Even with Kai by my side, bridging me back into the world, I needed to pace myself.
My gaze drifted to the semicircular bank of windows that edged my room. It occupied one of four medieval-looking towers that Father had added to Astor House’s extravagant design. Nix and Dash’s rooms were in what Father called the “bachelorquarters,” but he’d insisted that each of his daughters had to have a tower. Mine faced west. His persistence wasn’t to make us feel like princesses; that much I knew. To separate us, maybe?
It didn’t matter now.
