“Devon, please will you take Delinda and Marguerite back to Ponte? We will be along shortly,” I ask him.
“Of course,” Devon says as Marguerite gives him a look filled with interest and sparkle.
I squint at him, knowing she finds him attractive. She is a very attractive woman, especially showing off her assets in a tiny, wet swimsuit. But my boy doesn’t seem to care. I give Delinda a cuddle and a kiss. “I’ll see you soon,” I say to her.
She bobs her head and Remiel hands her off to Marguerite and then they, too, are gone with Frederick close behind, glowering at Remiel and not saying a word.
“So, what are we going to do with him?” I ask Remiel after a pause.
“I will have to take him back to the Dragon Realms,” he replies.
“Oh,” I say, slightly disappointed. “I can’t go with you then.”
“Why not?”
“The time shift. It’s too much. I only just gave birth,” I say to him as if he is dense.
“Oh,” he replies. “Well, it is only proper. I will have to go alone.”
“I don’t really want you going either,” I say, frowning at him. “You will be gone for a couple days at the very least.”
“I will be as quick as I can, but there is no alternative,” he says reluctantly.
“We need you,” I say. “Me and Delinda.”
He focuses on my eyes and cups my face. “I need you as well. Both of you. You make me a better man.”
I purse my lips at him. I was under the impression that he thought he was the gift of the gods. Seems a few insecurities are popping out. It makes me want him.
“Take me then before you go,” I murmur.
His eyes bulge out and he splutters, “Aefre, no! Your body has just been through something so traumatic. I cannot.”
I chuckle at his vehemence. “You have more restraint than anyone I have ever known,” I say to him, shaking my head.
“Humph. Those other men in your life should treat you with better care. You are not a toy to be manhandled as they see fit.”
“What if I want to be manhandled?” I ask seductively. Well, as seductively as I can, dressed in sweats and a hoodie.
“When you are fully recovered,” he chides me.
I huff out a breath. “For a man that has lived as long you have and only ever done it with me, you sure know how it rein it in,” I snap at him.
He glares at me, but it makes a smile tug at my lips. “Considering you were a virgin that first time you took me in the dream reality, you sure knew what you were doing,” I say smoothly, running my hand up his arm.
He hisses at me and looks away. “I should apologize for my actions. I don’t believe that I ever have. What I did to you was wrong.”
His mood has changed drastically, and it is only when I consider his words, I realize what he meant. The first time he ever took me in the dream reality, he was dressed up as Lance. And then Fraser.
“Yeah, it was,” I say, dropping my hand heavily, “but you have more than made up for it. Taking Delinda as your own, protecting her, siring me, protecting me. Doing everything that you can to make sure we are safe. I don’t even recognize you as the creature that did those things to me.”
He looks at me with such yearning it makes my heart ache. “I could never ask for your forgiveness but know that I am sorry for everything that I have put you through. If I had known then what I know now about us, I would never have tortured you as such.”
“You are forgiven,” I say, meaning it. “There has been too much pain and too much destruction and loss. We all need to move on now and look to the future.”
“Yes, I agree,” he says and bends down to kiss me on the lips. I take that as my cue to run my hands up his chest, but he pushes me away.
“Not in front of the dead body of my father, Aefre, please. Have some restraint,” he says with a small smile. “And thank you. It is more than I deserve.”