Exton

I sigh. I know K'thyri too well to think that I can talk her out of this. Besides, if this Viking really is Raina's brother, what kind of lover would I be to try to keep them apart?

"If you're leaving tomorrow, then we should get home right now." I take her elbow and steer her toward the door, but she jerks loose.

"What's the rush?"

"You're going to want to get a good night's sleep before you leave." I drop an eyelid in a slow wink. "Eventually…."

She grins right back and grabs my arm. "Why didn't you say so? Lead on."


Outside, we call our steeds and have a friendly race back to the Lodge. Ky wins - she almost always does - and we send the elvensteed back to their stable in the Unformed Plane, then let ourselves in and head to the bedroom.

It hurts now, thinking of how long it might be before I see her again. If I see her again… what if she doesn't come back? We undress in silence, get into bed and K'thyri twines herself around me.

"Gareth? What's wrong?"

"Am I that easy to read?"

"You are tonight. What's up, lover?"

"I'm going to miss you while you're gone, Ky. I guess what they say is true - you never appreciate what you have until you might lose it."

She captures my face, turns me to face her head-on. "You are not going to lose me. I'll be back as soon as I find Tannr, and then we can have a proper celebration. Besides, it's not like you'll be alone - you'll have Nick and Raina to keep your bed warm."

"And if keeping my bed warm was all that mattered, then it wouldn't matter. But Nick can't replace you, and neither can Raina - just like you can't replace either of them." I take a deep breath, hold her eyes with mine. Now or never…. "I love you, K'thyri."

It takes her by surprise. She freezes, eyes wide like a startled animal's; then her eyes go soft and her voice is almost a whisper.

"Really?" I nod, no words left. "Oh Gareth… I love you, too."

"You're not just saying that…."

"No!  I do love you, more than I know how to say it." She looks unusually solemn. "I've had crushes before… and I've had lots of lovers - but none of them ever made me feel like I feel when we're together. It's not the sex; that's really good, but… the look in your eyes when you're looking at me and you think I don't see; the way you feel next to me at night; the way you let me go my own way and don't try to control me. Goddess, do you have any idea how important that is to me? The other night, with Raina… you just watched. You didn't try to become a part of it." - she grins wickedly - "We had to bring you in afterwards - and that was fun, too!"

"I can't very well tell you to be faithful to me alone when I have Nick and Raina as well."

"Listen to yourself! Do you know how many guys want just that - for me to be faithful to them while they fuck anything that moves? You know about me and Keon, and you've never said a word against it, or me."

"The man was in pain. You helped him. It was no different than bandaging a wound, except that you had to give part of yourself. That's not something I can be critical of - I admire it."

"You see?" She shakes her head. "Gareth, you have no idea how special you are - but I'm going to show you." She takes my hand and suddenly I'm airborne, landing flat on my ass on the bed. She comes to kneel above me, grinning. "I'm going to show you all night long."

And she proceeds to do just that....