"I don't even know your name," she said, through the tantalizing sweep of a tongue across his bottom lip.

"Ash," he provided as he licked the curve of her ear. "Lord Ash of the Illumi Kingdom."

"I love you, Lord Ash. I don't know if I believe that you are of the Illumi Kingdom. I don't know if I'l submit to you. All I know is that I love you, and I don't know how to stop."

Releasing her wrists, he braced himself on palms and looked down at her, watching a blush creep over her body. The rosy tinge melted away the golden splash from the log fire. For the first time he saw her without the dream veil. Yet he knew her by feel. He knew her legs were long, slender, and paler than cream. He knew her slim hips surrendered to a fragile waist and her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were just large enough to overflow his hands. Her nipples were pink and perfect to suckle. A pliable mouth beckoned in a way he had never experienced. Yet it was her eyes that held him. Emotions ranging from fear and desperation to undiluted love and unquenchable pa.s.sion nearly overwhelmed him.

"I love you, too, my Violet," he said, repeating the words from his dream.

Her eyes widened, and he knew she recognized the exact cadence in his tone. A small whimper slipped from somewhere down deep.

He stood. "I wed you in the dream. You surrendered to me then, love. Do you surrender now?"

She shook her head. "Nay."

He lifted and carried her to the bed of furs, feathers, and leaves. Her crimson gown remained parted, exposing every swell and dip to his ravishing gaze. He couldn't stop looking. He couldn't stop anything. It wasn't about keeping her safe from Darth. It wasn't even about sealing what the One had begun when he placed them in each other's dreams. It was about loving a woman with such totality that he no longer knew the difference between right and wrong. If she truly stopped him, would he? He didn't know.

Swallowing hard, he unfastened the leather ties of his tunic. A white, colorless shirt followed. "You know your protest won't stop me. Darth will come for you, and when he does we will need the strength of the nuptials behind us so he cannot take you outright."

"He purchased me."

Leather pants slid down muscle-hard legs. "It means nothing without consummation."

Her gaze followed his every movement. She remembered the feel of hair-matted flesh, but she didn't know it would look so good, or that she'd crave to touch the scars littering his side, his shoulder, and his upper thigh. She didn't understand how the masculine length of his sun-bronzed body would arouse her beyond anything in her dream world. She didn't comprehend how much she could love a man of darkness. How much she wanted him to take her. Even though her mouth protested, her body surrendered.

"To men of honor it does."

"Darth doesn't know honor. He killed your mother through torture."

"A dark lord did that, but not Darth. He is of the light. It is not right what we do."

When Ash was naked, he knelt and parted her thighs. A tawny, nearly invisible patch of hair covered her s.e.x. He slipped a finger up and down the moist slit. She gasped and arched against it.

"We don't have a choice. You don't have a choice. You are my wife in spirit. Now, I claim what is mine."

"Nay," she said, her mouth forming the word as she threw back her head and tossed her arms over her head in such obvious surrender, Ash couldn't help smiling.

"Nay," he repeated and closed a mouth over her turgid nipple, tugging, nipping as his fingers clenched her other breast and ma.s.saged. She moaned and thrashed beneath him, lifting her chest off the floor as if to give him better access.

"Nay," she whispered and combed his wild mane with her fingers.

He laughed softly as the flames within grew, as the ancient dance tantalized them to greater rhythm. He switched his mouth to her other breast. Her legs spread, knees bending. Her mouth found his, kissing him with total abandon. It was his turn to moan.

"Ash," she whispered without conscious volition. "My Ash."

Whatever reserve kept him in check, snapped. He knotted his fingers in her hair, yanked her to him, all gentleness gone as his hands slipped over her, testing flesh just moments before his mouth tasted it. Over her eyes, back to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, then down, further to her feet and legs and inner thighs, and finally into the dewy mist of her inner desire. Licking, thrusting with his tongue, bringing her to highs that didn't end.

"Nay!" she screamed as she felt the surrender of flesh, the invitation of her loins, the explosion as her inner walls pulsated and her c.l.i.toris throbbed in reaction.

"Oh, nay," he mouthed through every tender bite and succulent kiss. Saying it again, when she pulled him down to him so her hands and mouth could explore in the same way she had in the dream. She sucked him long and hard, but pulled away before he could climax. She teased and tormented, even as she kept denying each moment.

Finally, he pressed his shaft against her opening. "Nay?"

She throbbed and ached. She needed and wanted. More than any of that, she simply loved.

"Aye," she said on the wisp of a whimper.

With a loud groan, he thrust into her.

Pain splintered her senses, but it lasted only an instant as consummate pleasure ensued and she rocked against him, meeting his plunges without restraint. Her nails dug into his shoulders. Her hips kept lifting from the ground. His shaft moved in and out of her, slow at first, then with increasing insistence. He didn't know who was more lost to the moment. The dream joined with reality and it was more glorifying than either. As they reached higher, all barriers collapsed. They were the lovers of the dream. They were the strangers of the night. They were a man and a woman who knew the simplicity and complications of love. Mostly, they were in the moment. This singular moment which would be with them through eternity.

She reached the apex first, crying as it overtook her in throttles of sensation. He followed, emptying himself into the warmth of her, and knowing that she was truly now his, not just a dream, not just a spirit. They shuddered together. His tears mingled with hers and in the moment, Violet couldn't help wondering if all he had said was true.

He collapsed on her, held her tightly. "It is done."

"You are my husband."

"You are my wife."

They repeated the ceremonial words each were taught, but the emotion behind them had nothing to do

with ceremony and everything to do with love.

A slow smile lifted pink-tinged lips. One finger slipped through a lock of Ash's tumbling hair. "For good or evil, this has been done. Please, be of the sun."

Rather than answer, Ash slipped into her once again, taking her, possessing her, showing his love in the

ancient way.

The day slipped to twilight, and they both dozed between bouts of renewed joining. Now and then, Ash

used magic to keep the log fire fresh and glowing. Then exhaustion totally claimed them and they slept solidly until darkness captured the day.

The throaty growl of spider-wolves awakened them to a dim fire and Lord Darth's scowl.

Chapter Six.

"Knave!" Darth shouted from the cave's entrance. "How dare you defile my wife!"

Ash covered Violet with his discarded shirt before standing and tugging on his clothes. "By law, she is now mine. You didn't consummate the marriage."

"I will contest this, and in the meantime, she will be with me."

Violet didn't don Ash's shirt, but quickly fastened whatever ties were not torn beyond salvage. "It is too late, Lord Darth. To my shame, I did not protest. I gave in willingly. I am my mother's daughter after all it seems."

"But I am not like your father, la.s.s. I will reclaim what is mine. You are of the light as am I. You must now choose between the One and the Dark Master. It affects your eternity. Do not use your heart as a guide, use wisdom."

Taking a step closer to Ash, she looked up him, her face marred by anguish. "How do I choose? If it were just a matter of choosing between the two of you, I'd be yours for eternity. But the One is in my heart, in my soul. It is the One who saw me through every rough moment in the Seraglio, through every escape venture, through discovering my mother had chosen darkness over light."

"Ah, love, I am of the Illumi. Don't let him deceive you. The One gave us the dreams, that connection. I am not much older than you and the dreams started when we were children. I would not have had the power to seek you out and create such a connection. Think, and know I am of light. The choice is easy. Use wisdom, but do not disregard your heart."

Violet searched Ash's eyes. She felt herself falling into them, felt herself believing. Yet she knew her decision could not be made hastily, and she took a step back, turned toward Darth and examined the depths of his translucent gaze. Despite it being through dreams, she had known Ash for a lifetime and had never felt an iota of evil from him. What did she really know of Darth other than what he claimed?

"Enough of this!" Darth exploded. "You are too enamored to make a rational choice, la.s.s. You must leave it to others who know what is best for you."

Before Violet could react, Darth tossed a binding force around her, much as Ash had done earlier. Only, Darth's felt like biting whips, tightening around her flesh whereas Ash's had held without pain.

Almost instantaneously, Ash spoke a word that severed the binds. Without conscious volition she fled to his arms. He held her close. "It's okay. I won't let him have you."

Holding up a palm, he spoke several more words and rocks cascaded into the cave's opening, sealingthem in. "Soon, Daniore will return with my father's mages and warriors. We'll be safe then, and you'l see that...."

Before he could finish the rocks vanished, and Darth stepped into the cave. With a movement, he created another webbing of binding fibers. They tore Violet away from Ash. The same sort of fibers curled around Ash, stilling his movement.

"Violet, use your power. You can fight this!" Ash prompted, even as he unraveled his own trappings.

Closing her eyes, Violet concentrated and found that she had the power to escape the trap. It was strange that she hadn't even considered using that power against Ash's bindings. Still, the realization was invigorating and the instant the tendrils dissolved, she promptly added a spell of protection, being bold enough to contain Ash within its field.

Ash smiled. It was obvious that simply by fighting Darth, she had chosen. The mage added his spell of security to hers. Darth couldn't touch the double shielding. "Come here, love. We will simply wait it out."

"It is not as easy as that," Darth supplied and took another step into the cave. The spider-wolves snarled. A crack of lightning creased the sky. Thunder awakened a squall of night creatures into frenzy of sound. The log fire burst into an unexpected blaze at the same moment that Daniore stepped into view.

"You have returned with the legions so soon?" Ash asked in surprise.

"You should have known that your father would not do anything to help you. From the moment you chose to be of the dark caste, he had vowed you were no longer his son."

"What lies are you speaking?" Ash demanded.

"I'm sorry," Daniore said in a tattered tone, his gaze seeking Violet's. "I should never have been part of this, but Ash and I have been friends for so long, I couldn't deny him. My conscience would not allow me to be part of this deception a moment longer. Ash is a dark lord, Violet. If you choose to be with him, you choose to serve the Dark Master."

A scream of pure anguish tore from Violet as she pulled away from her husband and lover. "You serpent from h.e.l.l. How could I have been such a fool!"

Ash didn't deny the accusation. Only stared at Daniore. "Why are you doing this? Has Darth cast a spell?"

"You would sense the spell if he had," Daniore explained. "As would Violet. She has the power of discernment."

"Wait!" Ash said. "You haven't had enough time to get to my father's kingdom and back by now. You didn't even go."

Daniore grinned. It wasn't a smile of friendship. "Of course I did."

The obvious lie didn't penetrate Violet's misery. Her frail body collapsed as if she bore a weight too heavy for her slender shoulders. Sobs broke free as she curled into a fetal position. No one had ever broken her spirit before this, but now she felt broken, used and unable to even think coherently.

She didn't see the sudden explosion of force being enacted around her. Darth and Daniore positioned against Ash, binding him with dark tendrils, gagging him with spider-wolf webbing. She didn't see Ash's valiant efforts to defend them both, nor hear his cry of anguish as they stilled his voice and bound his power. She didn't know that Daniore wasn't a mage and didn't possess an ounce of power.

Ash knew, and realizing that Daniore hadn't betrayed him, but was possessed by a dark being was Ash's only speck of relief. That relief, though, evaporated under the certainty that he had failed Violet. He didn' t have the skill or force to save himself or the woman he loved. All he had left was regret, and the sudden urge to seek help from the One. Only Ash wasn't certain if he would be heard after a lifetime of leaning only on his own resources.

With no further use for Daniore, Amlet deserted his body. He dropped in an unconscious heap right beneath the spider-wolves jaws. They had brought the la.s.s that Darth hadn't yet tortured, and Amlet overtook her body without a peep of protest from the young one, for her spirit had retreated behind layers of terror. Darth might not have tormented the girl as yet, but he had planted his seed and it already begun to ripen. It was Amlet's price for her help. She'd take him to Violet in exchange for his seed. Now, she'd have a child of such darkness that it would eliminate all light from this world.

"My pets will feast on Daniore and we will be done with him as well," Darth offered as he moved from the cave into the starless night.

"And I have your word that you will never teach Violet the ways of darkness," she said, reminding him of the second condition he had agreed to.

Ebony eyes stared at her. Sensuous lips twisted into a feral grin. "As much as any dark lord can give his word. But do not fret, do you really think I'd bring to fruition a power that could destroy our Master?"

Amlet's smile matched his. "It is what I am counting on."

"What are your plans?"

"Same as always, to further the Master's bidding."

"I suspect you haven't been doing his bidding according to his directives."

She shrugged, straightening the quaint garments that belonged to her host. "Nevertheless, he will be pleased by my actions. Our son will terminate all light. It is a given, and it often surprises me that Master hadn't considered such an alliance."

"I think our Master likes the game, the ebb and flow of it, the challenge, and, of course, being a constant hindrance in the One's grand scheme."

"Perhaps, but I do not think he will be displeased by me. After all, it is for his honor alone I exist."

Darth nodded, eager to be done with the spirit and begin his exploitation of Violet. He didn't think he could hold out much longer in this guise of light. Oh what exquisite pleasure he will derive from that moment when she realizes she has been deceived.