Exton

Gareth and Ky have slipped off somewhere. I suspect Ky is talking to Inari, and maybe Gareth is, too; they're not exactly strangers, after all… so for the moment I have Raina to myself. Her head snaps up when I tug her fingers and bring her hand to my lips. I rise to my feet and she comes with me. I sketch a bow, saying in my best Christopher Lee, "M'lady… would you care to cut a rug with me?"

Thank God we're both old enough to remember that one….

It starts out slow, the band playing September… Raina is pressed close to me, her cheek against mine, just moving to the beat. I tease my nails lightly down her bare back - I love halter tops - and she shivers and her body ripples against me. She looks up and our lips meet. This kiss speaks not so much of passion as of affection, of love that will continue after passion has cooled. "I love you." My voice is hoarse, rough like suede. We kiss again, this one longer, deeper, tongues playing lovingly. Raina's voice is shaky now. "I love you, Nick. Gods, who could have predicted this?"

"This?"

"That I'd fall head over heels in love with a vampire and have a couple of elves for lovers; that both of my long-lost brothers have resurfaced and that one of them is going to be the father of a prophesied warrior."

"Do you regret it?"

"No, never. Even when that bitch poisoned you and I thought you were going to die for real, I wouldn't have gone back to the way things were before. You've made my life so incredible, Nick; I'm not the kind to ever be monogamous, but I love you, no matter how many lovers I have - or how many you have, for that matter."

I take a deep breath, more force of habit than anything. "You've changed me, Raina, more than anyone has since I was Turned. Before, I had no one - and that was just fine with me. I was a predator and all I needed people for was for sustenance. Since I met you, my world has expanded and I have friends like Alise who don't care that I'm not human. I've opened up and now my life has purpose beyond just day-to-day survival. I'm never going to be monogamous, either - but I love you with all that there is within me… and I always will." I nuzzle her neck; she shivers and presses herself tighter against me.

"Nick", she says huskily. "once we see Adrian and Thea off, I want you to take me home. I want you so bad I'm aching."

"We could rent a room…."

"No, they might have to leave early, and I want to tell them goodbye. But as soon as that plane takes off, I want to get somewhere that has a bed - here or the Lodge, it doesn't matter - and I want to make love with you till just before dawn."

My lips meet hers in a fiery kiss. "Sounds like a plan to me…."