The Fire Within

Chapter Twelve

“How many for dinner tonight?” Samantha asked as she tossed a large green salad.

Darius stretched, loving the way she looked in his kitchen, in his house, in his life. “It’ll just be you and me, love. Cadmus is taking over at the bar for me fulltime. He thinks since I found you there, the place is lucky.”

She grinned. “It is. Make sure he spends a good amount of time in the basement. Who knows what he might find down there.”

“True,” he agreed in a husky voice, ready for another round of erotic play with his affai . It had been a month, but the more they touched and teased, the more they desired one another. Funny, but he never would have imagined it possible to be so satisfied and fulfilled outside of his homeworld.

His constant cravings for Tanselm no longer bothered him. Through Samantha he’d found an inner peace. He just hoped it hadn’t taken all the fire out of him. He’d never hear the end of it from his brothers if he turned into some kind of besotted moron.

“So Cadmus is working tonight. What about Marcus and Aerolus?”

“Marcus is working late again. I swear that woman he’s been working with has him in knots.” He grinned, recalling Marcus’ less than flattering comments about Tessa Sheridan. “I think he’s threatened by her.”

Samantha wiped her hands on a dishtowel. “Good. Marcus is too arrogant. You know yesterday he had the gall to tell me I didn’t dress ‘as befits a Storm Lord’s queen’?” she mimicked his haughtiness.

Knowing better than to agree with Marcus in front of his affai, Darius said nothing. Personally, he planned on buying her more extravagant gowns and silks when they journeyed to Tanselm. Jeans and T-shirts were fine for him here, but on her they were seriously wasted.

“I think it’s great a woman is giving Marcus a run for his money,” she continued, her eyes full of fire.

“Right, well, me too.” She beamed at him and he knew he wouldn’t have to wait long until they burned up the bedsheets. “Anyway, with Cadmus at the bar, Marcus at work and Aerolus holed up somewhere practicing the mystical arts, whatever the hell that is, it’s just you and me for dinner.”

She grinned and blew him a kiss from behind the kitchen counter. “Too bad. I wanted to talk to Cadmus again about how he controls his visions. I’m starting to get the hang of them.”

Thanks to Cadmus’ instruction, Samantha had begun strengthening her inborn gift. She’d been more than happy to resume using her extrasensory ability, having learned about Cadmus’ role in their rescue that fateful night near Golden Gardens. Only through one of Cadmus’ visions had he and Marcus known to arrive in time to save her and Darius from death and worse at the hands of the wraiths.

Thoughts of what might have happened still pained him.

“I love you.” He reminded her of that at least once a day and never failed to bask in the glow of her warm smile. She sent him a mental image, a scorching impression of bedplay that had him hard and ready at once. He wondered if they really had to eat dinner or if they might adjourn to the bedroom now…

A disgusted sigh sounded behind him and he whirled around to find Arim shaking his head.

“Can’t you think of anything else, Darius?” Arim asked in a mocking tone.

“Ever think of knocking, Uncle?” The anger he once would have felt for Arim didn’t appear, as enraptured as he was in thoughts of passion with Samantha. Despite no word on a return to Tanselm from the one man that could put them there, Darius smiled his welcome.

A pleased look appeared on his uncle’s face. “She’s made a true prince out of you.” Arim nodded. “Now it’s time to go.”

Darius blinked. He couldn’t mean…“Tanselm?” he croaked, not able to believe it.

“Well, I’m not here to whisk you off to Disneyland.” He turned to Samantha. “You’re ready?”

She nodded. “I packed yesterday when Aerolus told me you’d be coming.”

Darius blinked, shocked. “You didn’t tell me about it.” Anger stirred. “Neither did Aerolus.” When he found that grey-eyed traitor, he’d pound some sense into him.

Arim rolled his eyes. “It was too good to hope she might have permanently disabled that streak of rage within you.”

Samantha joined Darius in the living room, worming her way under his arm. “Now why would I do that, Arim? After all, it’s that spark of impatience that lights his fire.” Her eyes sparkled. “And we wouldn’t want that fire to go out now, would we?” She kissed him on the mouth with enough force to make him consider the merits of lovemaking on the couch, regardless of Arim.

“Save it,” Arim grumbled, a hint of humour tingeing his curling lips. “I’ve already informed your brothers of your departure. It’s best you leave now, while they attend to their affai.”

Both Darius and Samantha stared, openmouthed.

Darius was the first to regain his tongue. “You’re telling me they’ve each met their affai?”

“Yes.”

“Do they know?”

Arim’s brows rose. “Did you?”

“Well, I—”

“Exactly. Let them flounder on their own. You don’t need a Knowing Crystal to find love.” He smiled. “Of course, a small spell cast here and there to hasten love’s journey can’t hurt.”

“Arim!” Samantha looked shocked. “You can’t put a spell on someone and expect them to find love.”

“Why not? It worked on Darius. My spell only speeded the process. The love itself came from Darius. Ever wonder where that blue fire came from that tried to destroy you two?”

He turned to Darius. “Once you finally admitted to yourself deep down that you loved Samantha, the Wraith’s Kiss was unlocked within that tainted charm stone. It was you and Samantha all along. All I did was cast a spell to let fate find its way into your lives.”

Darius stared at his devious uncle in astonishment. “I thought you didn’t believe in interfering with free choice and all that bullshit.”

“Nicely said,” Samantha murmured under her breath.

A firm look from Arim had her biting her lip. “I haven’t impacted your choices. But with Tanselm hanging in the balance, do you really think I’d let you four Storm Lords dally with love? The women you choose and who choose you are out of my hands. The timing of your found mates, however, indicates how serious the situation with ’Sin Garu has grown.”

The laughter left them at mention of the evil one’s name.

“The spell I cast was designed so that the Storm Lords would find their mates in time to prevent a divergence of destiny. Apparently, ’Sin Garu has found that which he needs to retake Tanselm. Hence your sudden return to our world.”

Turning to face the window overlooking the mountains, Arim threw out his hands. He closed his eyes and began chanting, and soon a large black void appeared where the window had been.

“Are you sure, Samantha?” Darius had to know she felt comfortable with the move. He’d promised, and he meant it, that she came first with him, kingship or no.

She nodded. “I’ve said my goodbyes weeks ago. I’m ready to begin a new life.”

“Then step through the portal, hand in hand, and be ready to face an uncertain future,” Arim warned. “Aerolus will transport your bags when he returns to the house.”

“He can teleport things now?” Darius asked. His eyes widened. “Across dimensional space?”

“Yes. You’ll be surprised at how much all of you can accomplish with the aid of your affai.” Arim smiled, a dazzling grin that dazed Darius, and, he frowned to note, Samantha.

He hugged her to his side and she grinned slyly.

“Don’t worry,” she teased, “I’m not into tall, dark and handsome. I love you.”

“Very funny. Come on then.” He held her hand tightly and led her to the portal, Arim trailing them. “This is it, Samantha. This is the path to our future.”

She nodded. “To our future, and the future of Tanselm.”

He laughed suddenly. “I only wish I could be here to meet the woman made for Marcus.” He shook his head, grinning. “She’s got to be a doozy.”

Arim smirked. “You can say that again.”