Hawk strode across the sand toward Silver, his ebony wings stretched wide. Before he reached her, he folded the wings away until they vanished.
He never paused in his stride. He was tall, powerful, each well-defined muscle rippling with strength. His long dark hair whipped in the wind around the strong curve of his jaw.
He no longer wore a cast, but he still had the pentagram at his throat. The one that matched her own.
When Hawk reached Silver, he scooped her up in his embrace, causing her to cry out in surprise. She wrapped her arms around his neck as if he might drop her.
He cradled her to his chest. “A thaisce,” he murmured and kissed the top of her head.
The feel of his arms around her, his clean scent of forest breezes and man—it was almost too much. It didn’t even seem real. She’d missed the feel of him, the power in his embrace, the scent of him, his touch.
No. No.
“Let me down,” she said quietly as his lips hovered over hers.
Hawk’s warm breath fanned her face as he shook his head. “I will not,” he murmured a moment before his lips touched hers.
His kiss was achingly slow and Silver couldn’t help but close her eyes and melt into it. How she’d missed this. How she’d missed him.
He gently moved his mouth over hers and his tongue darted out to taste her. When he nipped at her lower lip, she gave something between a sigh and a little cry, and he slipped his tongue into her mouth.
Hawk’s gut clenched at the incredible feel of Silver in his arms again. Gods, how he had missed her. How he had regretted their parting.
And how it had nearly driven him out of his mind not to be able to return to her sooner.
The Chieftains—they had taken long to consider, but had finally ruled that he remain a D’Danann Enforcer and could pass between worlds if he so had the aid.
Silver’s sweet scent flowed over him, filled his senses. And her taste, how he had missed everything about her.
A sigh of pleasure rose in Silver, and she couldn’t help herself. She relaxed against him, within his arms. As their tongues mated, he tasted so wonderful, of pure male—and she could almost swear he tasted of chocolate chip cookies, too.
She wanted to deepen the kiss, but Hawk pulled away from her and she found herself looking into his beautiful eyes.
“What are you doing here?” She brought one hand from his neck to cup his stubbled cheek. “You’re supposed to be in Otherworld with your daughter.”
“The Great Guardian let me through.” He hugged her tighter to him. “I have come to bring you home with me.”
Silver bit her lower lip and turned her face away. “Let me down.”
This time he released her, letting her slide down his length. She felt every inch of him through her jacket and jeans, from his powerful chest to his strong thighs.
Even though he set her on her booted feet, he held her close, and she knew he wouldn’t completely let her go. Not yet.
She couldn’t help the immediate awareness of him, and how much her body desired him. But her heart wanted more. Needed more.
Hawk took in his beautiful woman, from her shining silvery-blonde hair floating in the ocean breeze to her Elvin features and gray eyes.
Her supple body was clothed, hiding it from his view. How he wanted to strip her bare and take her now, to be inside her and claim her completely. To let her know she belonged to him.
The way she looked at him tugged at his heart. He had hurt her. It was in her eyes, in the slight tremble of her well-kissed lips.
He had ached just as much. He had known the minute he left that he’d been wrong in not telling her of his love.
He couldn’t have stayed—his only choice had been to return to his daughter and to face the Chieftains, yes. But he hadn’t admitted the truth before he left, not even to himself.
Silver pressed her palms against his chest and his gaze held hers. “I can’t go back with you,” she said.
Hawk’s heart twisted, but he shook his head. “I’m not taking no for an answer.”
With amazement in her eyes, she stared up at his determined features. “There’s no way I’m going with you.”
“Why?” He didn’t allow his determined expression to waver.
“Because—because you don’t love me, for one. And you said you never will.” The words spilled out faster than Silver could think to hold them back. “And I have to help the D’Danann and the other gray witches rid San Francisco of the remaining Fomorii.”
And I have to see if I can help my sister, no matter that Father says she must find her own way.
“You’re wrong.” Hawk took a handful of her long hair and pulled their faces closer together as his words spilled out in that Irish brogue of his that made her melt. “I do love you, Silver. I didn’t realize it until I lost you. I thought I could never love again. Until you.”
Silver’s blood heated, warming her from head to toe. She could barely speak. “Honestly?”
“I would have come sooner if I could have.” His grip tightened in her hair and she welcomed the feeling that grounded her in the moment. “I can’t imagine life without you. Please come home with me and be my forever-mate.”
Her head reeled and she hardly knew what to think. What to do.
But he had told her he couldn’t love her because of his love for his dead wife.
Did he really and truly love her?
Time. I need time. Right?
Silver clutched his shirt tight with her fingers as her heart somersaulted at his words. “I—I can’t leave the Fomorii to take over my city and the ones I love. Like I said, I’ve already been gone too long.”
Hawk smiled and more heat flushed over her. “You are part Elvin through your mother, and you may pass between worlds at your will, as she could have. The Great Guardian will teach you how, and then you will be able to take me across with you.”
He went on. “Others in your Coven with Elvin blood will be taught to cross over. Rhiannon and Mackenzie may be part Elvin as well, although I cannot be certain.”
“I knew Cassia was, but Rhiannon and Mackenzie, too?” she said in surprise.
He nodded. “It is a strong possibility.”
The idea of crossing back with Hawk seemed too simple, but so right. The ache in Silver’s chest lessened, but still she shook her head. “No.”
“I love you, Silver. I cannot live without you.” He cupped her face within his palms. “By all the gods, I swear I would never return to Otherworld, if only to live a life here with you. But I have Shayla, and I can’t take her from her home, from all that she’s known.”
“What would your daughter think of me?” Silver asked.
“It may take time,” he said, and she appreciated his honesty. “But I believe she will come to love you as much as I do. I have already told her of you and she is anxious to meet you.”
For a long moment Silver looked up at him. She had memorized the line of his jaw, his firm lips, his intense amber eyes, the way his dark hair brushed his shoulders. But seeing him now—it was as if she were falling in love with him all over again. “You truly do love me?”
He gave a slow nod. “With all my heart.”
I love him. He loves me.
Silver took a deep breath. Images of her life flashed by. The good times. The sad times. The horror.
And her love for Hawk. How badly she had missed him, needed him.
Silver relaxed her hold on his shirt. “If what you say is true—”
His mouth curved into that sexy grin that made her heart dissolve into goo. “Trust me.”
With a grin she said, “How could I not?” She rose and brushed her lips against his. “I love you.”
Hawk gripped her shoulders as he pressed his mouth to hers, fiercely. Possessive. Dominating. A warrior staking his claim.
She responded with as much fervor, just as much intensity. Staking her own claim. Her fingers made their way up his chest to his hair and she tangled them in the silky strands. He felt so good, so right.
Yes. This is right.
“My sweet little witch,” he murmured against her lips, “I love you.”
Silver smiled, such joy and happiness filling her that she felt as if fireworks sparked throughout her. “My warrior, my heart.”
