Vampire in Atlantis

Chapter 41

Daniel strode through the mansion that the royal family had given to him and Serai, nodding to anyone he passed but not stopping to talk. He held his surprise for Serai in his hands, finally, and wasn’t about to let anything deter him from reaching her.

She was sitting in her private garden, of course, among the flowers and in the fresh air. She still couldn’t bear to be trapped indoors for long.

“Are we packed? Ready to go find the final gem?”

She glanced up at him, startled at first, and then she smiled with so much love and welcome that he was amazed and humbled all over again that this woman was his. He figured he’d get past that feeling in a few hundred years or so.

“Ready to go as soon as we have a lead,” she said, rising to come toward him, her arms held out for a hug.

“Ah, but I can’t hug you. My hands are full,” he said, teasing. “A present that has waited eleven thousand years to find you.”

She tilted her head, still smiling. “I love presents.”

“And cake, or so I hear.”

She blushed as they both remembered the fascinating uses they’d made of frosting just the night before.

“For you, my lady. My princess. My love,” he said, and the power of the emotion surging through him left him unable to say anything else, so he simply held out his hands and presented his gifts.

She lifted the shimmering silver and orichalcum pendant on its delicate chain and gasped. “Oh, Daniel, this is so incredibly lovely. Did you design this yourself?”

“Yes, when I first met you. It took me this long to be able to fashion it for you, but as with everything else about us, time has only enhanced and polished the possibilities we first recognized so long ago,” he said, fastening the pendant around her neck.

She turned and threw her arms around him. “I love it. I love you.”

He kissed her for so long that he nearly forgot the second gift, hidden in his pocket.

Nearly. But not even her sweet, honeyed kisses could make him forget this.

He stepped back, removed the ring he’d finished crafting only an hour ago from his pocket, and knelt before her.

The tears began to stream down her face before he could even speak.

“Yes, Daniel. Oh, yes, of course I’ll marry you,” she said, and she threw herself into his arms so exuberantly she knocked them both over.

He laughed and slid the ring on her finger. “Make an honest man out of me, my one true love.”

She stared at the ring and its intricate but elegant design and gasped. “It’s the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen.”

“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, inside and out. You will marry me, then?”

She flashed a wicked smile at him. “How could I not? I’ve seen how good you are with cake.”

Daniel rolled over until she was underneath him and he captured her mouth in a searing kiss. “What do you say we retire to our rooms and affirm life for a while?”

She vanished, transforming into mist for long enough to escape him, and then she was back, standing next to him and grinning. “Race you!”

He caught her before she made it halfway to the house and carried her the rest of the way to the bedroom. On days like this, he still caught himself wondering if he’d made it to heaven after all.

“I love you, Daniel,” she said, staring up at him.“Forever.”

Forever had never sounded so good.