And it shook her so deeply that she went wild, kissing him back fiercely, pushing him back to the floor, clambering on top of him, burying her hands in his hair. Kissing and kissing him, with weeks of grief and longing and need.

How their clothing came off, she had no idea, only knew that moments later they were both naked on the floor of her bedroom and she was beneath him, and he was pushing inside her.

And she was alive again. There was blood in her veins, not ice. There was a heart in her chest, not—

“Adam,” she gasped, stunned, “I can feel your heart beating.” She’d never felt it before. Even though he’d been human, not once had she ever felt the powerful thud of his heart beneath her palm, the throb of a pulse at his neck.

And she’d never even noted their absence until this moment, when she was feeling them.

He drew back, his darkly beautiful face taut with lust. “I know.” He flashed her a brilliant smile. Then he began moving inside her and she forgot all about a heartbeat she’d never felt before. Gave herself over to pure sensation. And the turret bedroom was filled with the wild, impassioned sounds of a woman and her Fae prince making love.

Later, Adam told her everything.

Well, nearly everything. He omitted that he’d almost taken her soul. And since she didn’t know that he’d tricked them to begin with, he didn’t bother mentioning that he’d told Circenn and Lisa the truth about the elixir of life, then taken them to the queen so she could restore them to their mortal state.

He’d made amends as best he could. He refused to be damned for wrongs righted, or for things he’d “almost” done. He wasn’t the man he’d once been.

He told her what had become of Darroc. He told her how time moved differently between the realms, and that he’d never meant to leave her alone for so long.

Speaking quietly, holding her close, he told her how he’d realized that there was no way he would be able to stand living with her and watching her die, as he’d done with Morganna.

The moment those words left his lips, Gabrielle tensed in his arms, jerked from his embrace, and shot straight up in bed. “Oh!” she hissed, eyes flashing furiously. “Then, what did you come back for? Are you telling me you’re leaving me again?”

He shook his head hastily, and explained that—although he’d believed he was human—he’d never been. That the queen had only made him think he was mortal to punish him. He told her what the queen had said about such a transformation being irreversible for a Tuatha Dé.

And he told her that he’d finally realized that, since he couldn’t bear to live without her, yet he couldn’t bear to watch her die, there was only one choice left to him.

“The reason you can feel my heartbeat, ka-lyrra, is because now I really am human. It’s for real this time.”

Gabby’s eyes widened and she stared at him, her lower lip trembling. “But you just said it’s irreversible.”

He nodded.

“You mean, you’re going to die?” she whispered.

Cupping her head in his hands, Adam pulled her down for a deep, possessive kiss. “No, ka-lyrra, I mean, I’m finally going to live. Here. Now. With you.” He drew a breath. “Marry me, Gabrielle. I’ll give you the life you’ve always wanted. I can now. I’m human, just like you. Let me be your husband and give you babies. Let me spend the rest of my life with you.”

“Oh, God,” Gabby breathed, tears welling up in her eyes, “you gave up your immortality for me?”

He caught her tears with his tongue as they slipped down her cheeks, kissing them away. “No tears, Gabrielle. I have no regrets. Not one.”

“How can you say that? You gave up everything! Immortality. Invincibility. All that it is to be a Tuatha Dé!”

He shook his head. “I gained everything. Or at least I’ll think so,” he growled, suddenly impatient, anxious, “when you give me a bloody answer to my bloody question. How many times are you going to make me ask you? Will you marry me, Gabrielle O’Callaghan? Yes or yes? And in case you’re still managing to miss the point, the correct answer is ‘yes.’ And, by the way, anytime you’d like to tell me you love me, I wouldn’t mind hearing it.”

She pounced on him delightedly, straddling him, slipped her hands into his hair, and kissed him. He luxuriated in the bliss of her sweet body, closing his arms around her, his tongue gliding deep, tangling with hers.

“I’m going to take this as a yes,” he purred, catching her lower lip, tugging playfully at it.