Even from here he could hear the increased beat of her heart, feel the joy that suffused her, along with the shy hesitance that she’d experienced briefly this morning when they’d awoken. He’d hoped it would be gone by now, but he had a feeling it had more to do with her brother, than being around him as she glanced nervously at William. Her brother looked between them; heat rose in his face as he released her and rose to his feet.

“You don’t have to go,” Braith informed him, hating to break them up, especially for the reasons that he had come for.

“Yes.” William glanced back at Aria who offered him a small smile and nodded briefly. Braith sensed there was more behind their look, but William was already turning back to him. “I do.”

William squeezed Aria’s shoulder briefly before moving around the bench and leaving the gardens. Braith walked around the bench and sat beside her. “Do you remember the first time you brought me here?” she inquired.

He stared at the fountain, clearly recalling that day. He hadn’t known what to make of her then, hadn’t known what to make of anything that was happening to him. She’d thrown him off balance, rattled him; confused him in a way that he’d never been confused before. She still did. He didn’t think he would ever get used to her, the way she made him feel; the way she could melt him, infuriate him, and drive him nearly to his knees all in the same moment.

“I do.”

“I was so uncertain of you before then.”

“You sure didn’t act like it,” he muttered.

She released a velvety laugh as she leaned against his side. He loved the way she looked at him like that, from under lowered lashes, playful and joyful. It almost made him believe that she wasn’t still aching inside, but even through the smile he saw the persistent torment in her eyes. It would be there for a long time to come. He took hold of her hand, pressing it gently between his as he placed it in his lap. “Well I couldn’t let you know I was a little scared of you, you’d take advantage of me then.”

He couldn’t stop the snort of laughter that escaped him. “Oh, I’m sure, as you’re just so easy to take advantage of,” he retorted dryly.

“Only with you.” Her cheeks colored even more, and he couldn’t help the increase of his laughter. It was so rare and fleeting to see her embarrassed or shy about anything.

“Even then you’re like a thorn.”

A burst of astonished laughter escaped her; she leaned over to press a brief kiss to his lips. He knew she’d only meant it to be chaste, a small show of affection, but the minute her lips touched his heat flashed through his body. He grabbed hold of her shoulders, holding her in place as memories of the night and morning burst hotly through him. He was shaken, for a brief moment he was unable to control the powerful wave of desire that swamped him. He’d most certainly never loved another woman before, but he’d also never been this enthralled or rattled by one either. He’d thought that possessing her would ease the need somewhat, he’d been wrong. It had only increased.

She was breathing rapidly, her face flushed with a different kind of heat when he regained enough control of himself to finally separate from her. Her eyes were wide with awe, her lips parted and swollen from the force of his kiss. He craved nothing more than to take her back upstairs and forget about everything as he lost himself to her, but there were things that had to be done. Things they had to settle between them. There was only so long they could push reality away, and though he would have liked a few more days, he knew it would only make things more difficult in the end.

“There is something I have to tell you Aria.”

Reality crashed over her as she straightened her shoulders and thrust her chin out. “There is something I have to tell you too.”

“Does it have to do with what has been between you and Jack recently?”

She paled visibly as she leaned away from him. “You knew?”

“I suspected something, I’m not a fool. You haven’t been the same since The Swamplands. I’m aware you were trying to put some distance between us; I suspected it was because you were nervous that one of us wouldn’t survive, but I’ve come to believe it was more than that, wasn’t it?”

“You’re going to be mad.”

He shifted uneasily, but he’d known that he would be. “I don’t doubt it for a minute.”

“Just please try and control your temper.”

His jaw clenched. “I’d never harm you.”

“I know that!” she cried. “But I do enjoy this garden, and that fountain, and I’d like to keep it all in one piece.”

He quirked an eyebrow at her. “It’s that bad?”

She shrugged, but there was no casualness to the gesture. “Depends on your point of view.”

“From my point of view?”

“You’re probably going to feel like breaking something, but for me, please don’t.”

He didn’t like the sound of that. “For you Aria, I can do just about anything.” He wasn’t going to promise her though, not when he didn’t know exactly what it was that she was going to tell him. He didn’t believe for even a moment that anything romantic had passed between her and his brother, but there were other things that might set his temper off.

She took a deep breath and blurted her words so fast that in the beginning he had a tough time trying to follow what she was saying. The faster she spoke though, and the more she spoke, the more anger and dread began to curl within his belly, through his chest, and into his outer extremities. He was struggling not to shake, trying hard not to clench down on the hand he held.

He’d suspected they were plotting something, he’d even suspected that it might have been something like this, but it did nothing to ease the acid he felt churning through his stomach. Nothing to ease the sense of betrayal he felt building through him. “I never meant to upset you Braith.”

“And leaving me again wouldn’t upset me?” he grated through clenched teeth.

She looked as if he’d slapped her as she recoiled from him. “It’s not what I wanted to do,” she whispered.

He released her hand and rose abruptly. His muscles trembled as he struggled against the urge to lift the bench on the other side and smash it into the ground. He fought for control, grappled to keep himself together in order to keep his half promise to her. “Jesus Aria.”

“I’m sorry, I truly am. But no matter how much I love you, and believe me I do love you more than I ever thought possible, my happiness, our happiness is not as important as the thousands upon thousands of lives that depend on you. Because of that I was willing to forfeit my happiness, my life…” She broke off abruptly, wincing as she seemed to realize she’d said too much.

“Your what!?” he barked. “Jack was going to… No, not Jack. Jack wouldn’t have the heart and neither would Ashby. Gideon,” he stated with dawning realization.

She wouldn’t look at him; her gaze was focused on something else within the garden. “They didn’t know. Jack and Ashby didn’t know, and Gideon, well I went to Gideon, he didn’t come to me.”

He wanted to scream at her, to shout and bellow and tear the garden apart. He had the urge to shake her until he rattled some sense into that thick skull of hers, but even as all of those urges slammed through him, he also felt a deflating of his spirit. He’d driven her to this; he’d driven them all to this. He’d been so determined to believe that he could walk away, that he wouldn’t be necessary here, and that he could bend the world and everyone in it to his will. He hadn’t stopped to think of anyone other than himself, and her. He’d only aspired to keep her safe and protected, he’d been insistent that he would leave with her as soon as the war was over, but by doing so he’d pushed her and the others into trying to find a way to make him stay.

He didn’t doubt for a minute that she would have sacrificed herself in order to make him lead. He ran his hands through his hair as he dropped onto the bench beside her.

“You’re angry with me,” she whispered.

“I am. I’m also angry with myself.”

“Just know that it was never what I wanted. I always wanted you. My heart.” She pressed a hand to her chest. “Would always have been yours, no matter how far I went, or how long we were apart.”

His head bowed, he folded his hands before him as he listened to the reassuring beat of her heart. “My blood is inside you Aria, Jack knows that means I can track you anywhere.”

“We were hoping that if it was diluted, if someone else’s blood…” He was unable to stop the low groan of anguish that escaped him at that thought. It was a stab to his heart that his father had done such a thing to her. He could no longer taste his father’s blood in her, but if he’d still been alive he would have been able to find her anywhere she went. “Perhaps it would lessen your ability to track me.”

“And if not, Gideon was the backup plan,” he growled.

She managed a small nod as her lower lip began to quiver. “Yes.”

“Aria,” he moaned as regret filled him. Pulling her against him he pressed a firm kiss against her forehead. “I would have found you, you know, diluted blood or not I would have found you. I’ll always find you.”

“I know.” Her fingers curled into his shirt as she pressed her face against his neck. “I think I always knew.”

“Gideon became your entire plan at one point.”

“Yes.”

“You should have come to me,” he broke off as he shook his head. “You couldn’t, I wouldn’t listen. Why did you change your mind? Why have you decided to tell me this?”

She pulled slightly away. “Because I couldn’t be that person anymore. I simply couldn’t leave you like that for a second time. I was trying to do what I felt was right by leaving now, but it was never going to be right, not in the end. It would have destroyed us; even if you found me things never would have been the same. No matter what, you would have brought me back here, and you would have resented me for the rest of my life for betraying you, even if you could have forgiven me. You’ve also come to realize we’re not the most important thing, not anymore. While I was in that dungeon I knew that you’d become the king.”

“I don’t understand.”

“The stubborn, determined, unwilling to bend Braith I knew would have stormed through those gates with no thought to reason and logic…”

“I came as soon as I could.”

She smiled as she rested her forehead against his; her fingers were as delicate as a butterfly’s wing against his face. “I know you did. But you restrained yourself, and you put the greater good ahead of me, and you.”

“I would give my life for yours Aria, never doubt that.”

She tilted her head to study him. “I know that, but you’re a king Braith, so many depend upon you, and I’m…”

“A queen if you agree to be.”

She closed her eyes, her hands stilled on his face. “I know they won’t accept me as a human.”

“They have agreed to.” Her eyes flew open as she leaned back. “They will accept you as a leader, as a human, and as a queen. They will recognize you.”

“Because of Caleb.”

“You may not want it for that reason, but you gained their respect for it, their admiration. I think they would have eventually agreed even if you hadn’t helped to take down Caleb. They are beginning to realize that if things are to be equal this is one of the things that will have to change. They accepted and respected human leaders in The Barrens, they’ll accept them here as well. You make me stronger Aria, and it will help gain the support of the humans if you are by my side. They will recognize you as my queen.”

“You had a meeting about this?”

“Yes.”

“And if we have children?”

His hand fell instinctively to her belly. “I will love our children no matter what, human or vampire. I never thought I’d say those words, never even thought I’d care for any progeny I had, but I will love our children as much as I love you.”

Tears shimmered in her eyes. “I know that Braith, but they will not be accepted if I stay human, will they?”

He swallowed heavily as he shook his head. “They have agreed that our oldest child will have a seat on the council, but if the child is human, he or she will not be accepted as my heir. It will have to be a vampire child of ours, and even if it doesn’t sound like it, that is a huge concession for them. Though, I don’t plan on stepping down for a very long time.”