"Mommy," Lucas says, tugging on the sleeve of my shirt, "what are we going to do today?"

The question catches me off guard. I had fully intended to take Malcolm back to our bedroom after we ate and have my way with him for the rest of the day and night, but our son seems to want us all to spend some quality time together.

"Lucas," Millie says kindly, "it's usually customary for the bride and groom to spend some time alone with one another after they wed. I would imagine your mommy and daddy would like to do that today."

Lucas' face falls in disappointment. I'm about to tell him that rules are meant to be broken when there's a good enough reason, but Jered speaks up before I get a chance to.

"Besides," Jered says to Lucas, "I thought you might like to come with me to Travis' place. He needs to do a check-up on Vala today to make sure she's functioning properly. Would you like to do that instead?"

And just like that, Lucas' frown disappears and he's happy again.

"Cool!" Lucas says. "I like it there. Do you think Travis could teach me some stuff too? Like how to fix things?"

Jered winks at Lucas. "I'm sure he will. But, before we leave, I would really like to give your mother her wedding gift from me."

"What did you get me?" I ask, curious to find out why I had to wait to see Jered's gift. All of the other Watchers gave me jewelry to wear at the wedding. Only Jered's gift was kept a secret.

"Why don't we take a walk and I'll show you," Jered suggests, standing from his seat at the table.

"I'll join you in a moment," Malcolm says to me. "I just have a little business to attend to."

"Oh, I would like to see what it is too," Vala says. "May I come?"

"Yes, of course," Jered says. "But we might want to leave the h.e.l.lhound behind. I wouldn't want to frighten her."

"Frighten her?" I ask, becoming even more intrigued by my surprise gift.

Jered smiles. "You'll see."

Millie takes charge of Luna while the rest of us walk out of the kitchen. Lucas holds my hand as we make our way out and Vala walks beside me. Jered and Giles lead the way, and I soon discover that we're heading towards the stables. When we draw near, Giles picks up his pace to get inside before us. Just as we all walk in, Giles is leading a horse out of one of the stalls. It's a beautiful dapple-grey mare with finely chiseled bone structure, an arched neck, and a high tail carriage. I instantly recognize the breed.

"An Arabian?" I ask Jered. "I thought the breed died out years ago."

"Modern technology has allowed for a comeback," Jered tells me. "While I was in Alto doing my reconnaissance, I learned that a group of scientists had genetically engineered the breed back into existence. Now, you have a horse just your size, my lady."

I giggle and let go of Lucas' hand to give Jered a hug.

"Thank you," I tell him. "She's beautiful."

"You're welcome," Jered says, hugging me back.

"We should take her out for a ride to stretch her legs," Malcolm says after he finally phases in to join us.

Our separation may have only lasted a quarter of an hour, but it felt like forever to me.

"I know the perfect place," I tell him.

We arrange for Giles to saddle our horses for us while Jered takes Lucas and Vala to Travis Stokes' workshop. Malcolm attempts to delay our departure by tempting me with his hands, but I stoutly refuse to have my plans for us that afternoon delayed. I tell Malcolm to dress in his overlord outfit, to which he just raises an eyebrow at me but doesn't protest. I dress in my white leather outfit and strap on my baldric and sword. I also grab one of my wedding gifts from Heaven, Caylin's paintbrush.

By the time we re-enter the stables, Giles has our horses saddled and ready for our departure.

"So where are we going?" Malcolm asks, mounting his mammoth steed while I take my seat on Jered's more appropriately proportioned gift to me.

I hold out my hand to Malcolm.

"You'll see," I tell him.

Malcolm doesn't ask any more questions. He simply slips his hand into mine, and I phase us to our next destination.

Chapter 13.

The sun shines brightly in the sky overhead and the squawk of seagulls fills the air around us. Waves crash against the sh.o.r.e spraying cold, foamy sea water up against the horses' legs, but they don't seem to scare easily even with the sudden change in their surroundings. I've phased us a good distance away from the little beach house. In fact, it's the spot where we came to sh.o.r.e the night of my wedding in Cirrus. It was right after Malcolm and the others rescued me from Levi and his ridiculous scheme to impregnate me.

"Which way is the beach house from here?" I ask Malcolm.

Malcolm turns his steed towards the north. "About a mile up that way."

"Wanna race?" I challenge, eager to see if the reputation of the Arabian horses' speed and agility are true. Up until now, I've only seen videos of them in action.

"My horse wasn't built for speed like yours," Malcolm tells me looking dubious about such a contest.

"Fine. I'll give you a ten-second head start. Will that even the odds?"

"Make it twenty and maybe," Malcolm chuckles, still not sounding too confident. "What does the winner get?"

"Oh, there won't necessarily be a winner," I tell him with a smile. "I feel confident we'll both come out victorious at the end of this race."

"Then start counting," Malcolm tells me urging his horse into a run up the sh.o.r.eline.

I count to twenty as I watch Malcolm's mount make long strides across the wet sand, kicking it up in large clumps behind him.

My horse moves anxiously beneath me, and I have to hold her back to prevent her from just running to join in the fun. Once I reach the twenty count in my head, I let her do what comes naturally. In no time at all, we catch up to Malcolm and his behemoth mount. As we pa.s.s them, I can't help but giggle and wave. Malcolm just shakes his head and laughs at me.

As expected, I reach the beach house first. I'm tying the reins of my horse to a post on the elevated back porch when Malcolm finally makes it over.

"Slow poke," I tease, walking around my horse to walk up the rickety wooden steps to the porch.

"Could be," Malcolm says suggestively with a cheesy grin on his face as he looks up at me from underneath his hood.

I just laugh and roll my eyes at his provocative phrasing as I make my way into the house. I unzip my jacket once I'm standing inside the familiar small living room, but I don't stay in it for very long. I find one of the other rooms, which looks like it used to be a bedroom once upon a time. I take my baldric off and prop my sword up alongside the wall behind me. I then pull the paintbrush Caylin gave me out of the waistband of my pants and try to remember what she told me to do to make it work.

I mentally picture the object of my desire and begin to paint its picture in the air. Malcolm walks into the room and stands silently beside me while I wield the magic of the paintbrush. Once I'm through, the image I painted materializes into a real piece of furniture in the middle of the room while the picture itself fades away.

"How the h.e.l.l did you do that?" Malcolm says in amazement.

I hold up the silver handled paintbrush in front of him.

"My wedding gift from Caylin," I tell him. "All I have to do is paint what I want and it magically appears. The only catch is it only lasts for a couple of hours."

Malcolm looks back over at the circular bed I conjured. It's seven feet in diameter and covered in pale blue silk sheets with two matching pillows.

"Then I guess we better not waste any time," he says, pulling me roughly up against him.

I smile sweetly at him before I push hard against his chest, causing him to stumble back a few feet into the nearest wall. I hear the crack of wood as he hits the wall and a small plume of dust billows out around him. I walk over to Malcolm with purpose and hold his arms down by his sides. He doesn't struggle against me, but it wouldn't have mattered if he did. I know I'm stronger than he is and so does he.

Malcolm watches me closely looking amused, but doesn't say anything as I keep him pinned to the wall.

"I loved your nice and gentle love making last night. It was exactly what I needed for my first time, and I'll want it again this evening. But right now, in this place, I want you to let go, Malcolm. Let down your guard and show me what it is you really want to do to me. I 'm not breakable. You don't always have to be so gentle."

I let go of Malcolm's arms and quickly find myself the one trapped up against the wall. Malcolm crushes his mouth down onto mine and presses his hips against me, proving that he's very ready and willing to satisfy all of my demands. But letting him have all the fun really wasn't what I had in mind. I grab the front of Malcolm's open overlord coat and push him back until he's lying flat on the floor in front of me.

He props his torso up on his elbows and watches me as I walk over to him shedding my jacket and t-shirt along the way, revealing that I'm not wearing anything else underneath.

"Are you just as naked beneath those pants?" Malcolm asks, his voice hoa.r.s.e as he looks me up and down.

When I reach him, I place one booted foot on his stomach.

"Only one way to find out," I tell him.

Without needing further instructions, Malcolm pulls down the zipper of the boot and slips it off my foot. We do the same for the other boot until both are off and tossed haphazardly onto the floor. Malcolm rises up onto his knees in front of me and releases the snap holding my waistband together. He yanks the tightly fitting leather pants down until they're around my ankles and helps me step out of them so I can stand completely naked in front of him.

"How strong do your legs feel, my love?" Malcolm asks, ma.s.saging the tops of my thighs in a slow circular motion with his hands, looking up at me.

"Very strong," I tell him. "What do you have in mind?"

Malcolm grins before lowering his head between my legs.

"Just try to remain standing," he tells me.

After that, I completely lose track of time. I feel lucky I remember my own name an hour later when we lie together on the bed cuddling against the chill in the room. The wintry temperature didn't bother me while we were otherwise engaged in more vigorous activities. In fact, I even managed to work up a sweat at one point during our lovemaking.

"Get your sword," Malcolm tells me, slapping me playfully on my bottom before rising from the bed. "There should still be a pile of firewood out in the other room from when we were here last."

I get up and grab my sword, lighting its flames. Malcolm places the pieces of dry wood in the fireplace in the bedroom, and I ignite it with my blade. We soon have a roaring fire that slowly brings warmth into the room. After we climb back into bed together, I watch the flames flicker while Malcolm holds me alongside him, gently caressing my body lovingly with one hand while he props his head up with the other one.

"I don't want to lose this," I tell him, not intending to feel the weight of the world on my shoulders in that moment, but unable to push my mission to the back of my mind any longer.

Malcolm is the love of my life. If I can't confide my worries to him, who else is there?

"We'll never lose this," he rea.s.sures me, knowing what's running through my mind without me having to spell it out for him. "We'll never lose each other. As long as we're together, Anna, my love will always protect you."

I turn onto my back and look up at him as his hand continues to glide up and down my body. The way he looks down at me with so much love makes me believe everything will be all right. I won't lose myself to the seals as long as the bond holding my soul to his is stronger than the ones tethering it to their power.

"I need to tell you something," I say, realizing it's time for me to let him know about Helena. If he's truly going to help me hold myself together in the days to come, he needs to know exactly what we're up against. I also need to tell him about Lucifer bringing my papa to see me before the wedding and his motive for doing such a thing.

After I finish my recount of the previous day's events, Malcolm brings me into his arms and just holds me. I don't sense that he's mad at me for not telling him sooner. I think he's just glad I didn't try to hold anything back and attempt to conceal the information I had from him so he wouldn't worry.

"I'm not sure if I'm more concerned about h.e.l.l taking on a human persona," he says, pulling back from me, "or Andre knowing I've had my way with his little girl."

I look at Malcolm and see true concern on his face. I begin to laugh at the absurdity of him worrying over my father's reaction to us having s.e.x just as much as h.e.l.l trying to make me it's new master.

"It's not funny," Malcolm says, though I hear a tinge of amus.e.m.e.nt in his voice like he's just now comparing the two. "I'm completely serious, Anna."

I wipe at the tears produced from my laughter and just smile up at him.

"Papa's fine with us being together. You don't have to worry about his reaction when you see him again. He knows you're my soulmate and that nothing could ever separate us."

"I'm glad you know that too," Malcolm says, leaning down to give me a light kiss on the lips. "Nothing, not even the power of the seals, will ever tear us apart, Anna. I will never let h.e.l.l, or Helena, whatever it wants to call itself, take you away from me. Especially after I went through all the trouble of teaching you how to pleasure me. I doubt I could find someone else who is such a quick study."

I roll Malcolm onto his back and hold his wrists above his head, pinning him into place while I lie on top of him.

"Do you honestly think I would ever let another woman touch you like I do?" I ask him.

"Do you honestly think I would ever want another woman to touch me the way you do?" He retorts.

"You better not," I warn. "I have a feeling I could be a very jealous woman, and you wouldn't like the consequences."

"Oh?" Malcolm says with a raised eyebrow. "Would you end up removing a very important part of my anatomy for such a transgression?"

"You're a.s.sumption is very astute," I tell him. "I have an extremely large sword, and I know how to wield it with precision."

"The possibility of me being unfaithful should never even cross your mind, my love," Malcolm tells me in all seriousness. "It would never cross mine. I can a.s.sure you of that."

"Lucifer tried to warn me otherwise," I say, remembering his attempts to throw doubt on Malcolm's ability to remain faithful.

Malcolm sighs heavily. "He would have said anything to prevent you from marrying me. I'm just glad you didn't listen to him."

"Of course I wouldn't listen to something so ludicrous. I know you, Malcolm. You're loyal to a fault, and I know you would never risk losing me just to bed another woman."

"I've had other women," Malcolm admits. "But I've never had a connection like ours with any of them, not even my first wife. You are everything to me, Anna. You are the sun my life revolves around now. Without you, I would live in total darkness."

As I look at Malcolm, I know I will do whatever it takes to make sure he doesn't lose me. Whatever pain I have to physically endure...whatever torment my soul has to suffer through, I will find a way to survive it all for the man looking at me as if he is completely exposing his heart and handing it to me to cherish for the rest of our lives.

"We have a little less than an hour left before this bed disappears," I tell Malcolm.

"Was that your subtle way of asking me to make love to you again?" Malcolm replies, moving his hands down to cup my bottom within his palms.

"Who was asking?" I say.

Malcolm grins as I bring my head down to his and meet his smiling lips with my own.