by Opal Carew
Her eyes flickered with emotion. She shrugged.
“Not really. My mother has a lot of money since she married her current husband, but she certainly isn’t happy. And I have a sister, Helen. Her husband makes a bundle with his computer software company. They live in a big house, drive fancy cars, and wear expensive clothes. Helen can buy whatever she wants. Except happiness.”
He felt lost in the depths of her sadness. He wanted to draw her into his arms, to caress away her pain. The reason for her wariness around men was tied to the unhappiness of her sister and mother. He could feel it. If only he could help her move beyond the wounds of her past.
He leaned toward her.
“Celeste, think about this. What do you want most in life? What is your heart’s desire?”
He hoped she would find what she was looking for. If a wish he granted would help her find that, he would feel fulfilled as never before.
“There is something, but….”
He took her hands and cradled them in the warmth of his own. “Tell me.”
She shook her head and drew her hands away, then stared into her tea. “No, I’m not sure.”
“Look at me, Celeste.”
She met his gaze, and he could see it clearly in her eyes. Hope. Need. Almost desperation. Whatever it was she wanted, it connected to the core of her soul. It had to be right.
He knelt in front of her, resting his hands on her shoulders.
“Go ahead, Celeste. Take a chance. Tell me what would make you happy.”
She gazed at him uncertainly, but seemed to draw strength from his closeness. “I wish….”
His heart ached, knowing she was delving into a dark, unknown place—a place she feared to tread.
“Yes, go on,” he encouraged.
She shifted uneasily, then glanced at him, her large eyes mirror-bright.
“Just say it,” he said in a soft, insistent voice.
She trembled and he took her hands in his, squeezing them reassuringly. He seized her gaze and locked onto it, willing her strength. She straightened in her chair, pulling her shoulders back.
“I wish that I would find a man….”
A man. Pain slashed through him, but he ignored it. Celeste needed to find her happiness.
Her voice trailed off, too hoarse to continue. She cleared her throat as he nodded in encouragement.
“A man who would love me forever. A man I would love back.” Her voice became strong and clear. “True love, not the kind that fades. My true soul mate.”
He nodded and forced his mouth to expand into a broad smile. Yes, that’s what she needed. Still, sadness sifted through him, because a part of him didn’t want her to love someone else, to be loved by someone else.
But there was no future for him and Celeste. As much as he might like her, love was out of the question. He was imprisoned in a crystal, destined to live his life three days at a time, serving different masters throughout eternity.
Anyway, he reminded himself that he didn’t trust women. All women could be enchanting at the beginning, but could turn controlling and needy. He had seen all too clearly how cruel a woman could be to someone she professed to love. Atia had made that abundantly clear. Why should he believe Celeste would be any different?
“Wait.” Celeste stood up and grabbed her jeans, then tugged them on. “Before you grant my wish, please take us back to my apartment.”
“Of course.”
He took her hand because he wanted to touch her for a little while longer, not because he needed to in order to take her back. He drew them through space, felt it ripple through them as they travelled. Her living room appeared around them.
“Thank you.” Celeste paced across the room. “Now that I’ve made the wish, I’m kind of nervous. Is it too late to take it back?”
“Yes, but don’t worry, Celeste. It’s the right wish for you.” He wanted to hold her in his arms. To reassure her like a parent would a child. He wanted to protect her and keep her safe.
She turned to face him.
“Will he appear right here? Or will things just change so I’ll meet him sometime during regular life?” She rocked from foot to foot, nervous energy emanating from her. “If so, how will I know?”
Jealousy swarmed through him, but he tamped it down.
“I don’t know how the wish will manifest, but I do know that it will be very clear to you he is the one.”
She smiled. “Thank you.”
She stepped up to him and kissed him, a light peck on the cheek. “And thank you for last night. It was the best night of my life.”
The delicate contact of her lips filled him with an overwhelming urge to sweep her into his arms and run away with her. To keep her with him always and never let another man touch her. If he’d had the freedom to do so, he probably would have followed that desire, but Atia had closed the door on freedom long ago.
Still, he wrapped both arms around her and crushed her to him, kissing her. Deeply. Firmly. Showing her how much she’d meant to him. When their lips parted, she was breathless.
“Thank you, Celeste. I will cherish the memories of our time together.”
For eternity. A long, lonely eternity.
Her hand stroked his cheek, lingering, delicate. “You’re welcome. And thank you. You’ve given me so much”
He couldn’t stand the sweetness of her touch any longer. He drew her hand from his face, kissing her palm before releasing it.
“Are you ready for your wish now?” he asked.
“I don’t think I’ll ever be ready, but go ahead.”
He extended his arms in front of him, his palms facing each other, expanding his consciousness and reaching out for the power woven through the fabric of the universe. Tendrils of energy spiraled around him, coalescing into a sphere of energy captured within his hands. He gathered and spun the energy until the ball glowed brightly.
Celeste watched him. He knew she could not see the energy, but she would feel the electrical residue filling the room. The air felt dense and charged.
He closed his eyes and imagined Celeste smiling in exuberant happiness. He released the sphere and directed it to settle around her. She glowed with a golden light as the sphere surrounded her, filled her, then disappeared inside her.
Chapter 7
Celeste watched Zurvan, deep in concentration, his hands extended. The air felt charged, just like it had when he’d first appeared.
Zurvan held his hands about a foot apart, as though holding something, then released it. A few brief moments passed. Then an incredible feeling of well-being filled her, along with a deep sense of happiness.
Her eyelids fell closed and she sank deep within herself. It felt as though some kind of energy poured over her, like a waterfall rushing over her head. It seemed to seep into her and wash through her. Her neck and jaw relaxed—she hadn’t even realized they’d been tense—and the tightness in her shoulders eased. Every muscle in her body relaxed. Her whole body felt wonderfully alive.
Her heart felt open and vibrant. A wondrous feeling of vitality and enthusiasm rushed through her. Love. It rippled through every part of her, encompassed every cell. She was delightfully, wholeheartedly in love. The completeness of the feeling, the way it made her feel whole, astonished her.
If this was love, how could she ever have denied it? And the man she loved… how could she not have realized it? Slowly, she opened her eyes.
Zurvan.
He stood before her, the most incredible sight she’d ever seen. She saw him with new eyes that knew the meaning of love, and with a heart that didn’t hide from it. Before, she had thought the feeling was mere sexual attraction. Lust. But she had been cocooned in a numbness to block out pain. She would never have allowed herself to feel this wonderful gift of life. Love, a depth of feeling anchored deep within her, secured to her very soul.
Zurvan. He was the one. He was her soul mate.
As soon as Celeste opened her eyes, Zurvan knew he was in trouble. So
mething opened deep within him, and he shuddered as feelings crashed through him like a tsunami.
A memory, deeply buried, burst through him in waves. A woman with long blonde hair and glowing blue eyes filled with love. Stroking him. Loving him. He could feel her skin, the soft silk of her hair, the gentle caress of her lips.
Yana. His heart’s deepest desire. The woman he would love forever. The woman he had loved for three thousand years. The woman he had lost forever.
He stumbled sideways, clutching the wall for support, all the time staring at her.
Yana. Celeste. They were the same woman. His beloved. Celeste had been Yana in a previous life.
By the love of the Great Ones, Celeste was the reason Atia had imprisoned him. Atia had loved him, but she’d known he would never return her love because of Yana, so she’d imprisoned him in her private domain. When he still didn’t love her, she’d stolen his memories of Yana and cast him into the crystal to be a slave forever—three days at a time.
Yana’s—Celeste’s—wish had brought back his memories.
He had been trapped in Atia’s prison, knowing Yana suffered a horrible existence, finally dying in misery. Atia had allowed him to watch, killing him inside. He fell to his knees and wept as the intense feelings overcame him.
For so many centuries, he had longed for something beyond his comprehension—yearned for it with a dire desperation—but he had not known what it was. He had been left a hollow shell, empty of feeling. Hatred and anger filled that hole, directed toward Atia.
Those feelings had softened when he met Celeste, and he hadn’t understood why. They had been a part of him for so long. He hadn’t remembered her, yet his soul knew her. His body knew her. Atia hadn’t been able to totally steal her away from him.
Tears streamed from his face, cradled in his hands, as the flood of emotions swept through him. He had lost so much, and he still stood to lose so much. Two more days was all he had with her. How would he survive eternity without her? Now that he remembered her, his imprisonment would be unbearable. His heart would surely collapse.
Yet he would never willingly give up the memory of her.
Soft fingers stroked through his hair. He opened his eyes as Celeste sank before him, tears streaming from her eyes, too.
“Zurvan?” Fear colored her watery eyes. She stroked his cheek, her delicate touch threading through him.
“The wish. It worked, I think.” She sucked in a breath. “You’re the one I love, but if you don’t love me….”
The vulnerability in her eyes, the vivid pain coloring those beautiful rippling pools of life, tore his heart in two. He tugged her into his arms and held her. Tight. Close to his heart. Their heartbeats in sync.
Ah, Great Ones, but he loved her. His heart ached with it.
“I do love you, Celeste. With all my heart.”
He eased her back, capturing her gaze and holding it steady.
“Believe me.” He kissed her. Ferocious. Passionate. Loving.
She stared at him, as though not daring to believe.
“For a minute I thought….” Her gaze dropped from his.
He cupped her sweet face in his hands and lifted it until their gazes locked.
“You thought I would reject you.”
She nodded.
“I would never reject you. I love you more than life itself.”
“Me, too. Oh, God, Zurvan. It’s so strong it hurts.”
He stroked her hair. “I don’t want to hurt you, Celeste. Ever.”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t mean that. It’s just that it’s so powerful. I’m just afraid it’s not real.”
He dragged her into another kiss. Sparks flared through them both.
Celeste had been terrified when she saw Zurvan fall to his knees, consumed by wracking sobs. After the intense feelings of love, and the absolute belief that love was real, seeing him respond that way had shaken her to the foundation of her being, certain it had all been a cosmic joke on her and love really was as elusive as she’d always feared.
Now, in his arms, heat flaring between them, she knew she’d never doubt love again.
His mouth, warm and demanding, drew her eager response. She slid her arms around him and held him tightly, intending never to let him go. His lips wandered down her throat and settled in the moist hollow of her neck, dragging ragged whimpers from her.
God, she loved this man.
She grabbed the bottom of her T-shirt and tugged it over her head, impatient to feel his lips on her breasts. Then she ran her fingers under the edge of his T-shirt and pushed it upward, her hands sliding over his hard-muscled torso to his neck, the echo of that contact vibrating through her soul. Her lips followed, flickering over his heated skin with white-hot desire. She shoved the shirt over his head.
He trailed a path along the side of her cheek with his tongue until his lips touched hers, featherlike. His mouth moved over hers with exquisite tenderness. His deep, achingly sweet exploration of her mouth triggered a throbbing need within her.
She parted her lips in invitation, and with a slow, sensuous movement his tongue slid inside and caressed the inner walls of her mouth. Their tongues entwined and danced in silent melody.
Her hands roamed down his neck, over his chest, finding his hard nipples. Delicately, she pinched them. He moaned into her mouth. He eased back, his dark green eyes smoldering with desire.
He reached for the clasp on her bra, fumbled. She snapped it open and let it fall. His mouth covered one nipple, then the other, drawing them to rigid peaks. He settled on one nipple and tenderly drew it into his mouth, lavishing it with loving attention. She stroked long strands of his glossy, black hair behind his ear as shafts of icy heat spiked through her.
“Zurvan, that feels so good.”
He smiled against her breast, then laid a path of butterfly kisses along her chest as he moved to her other nipple.
She felt his love in the poignant adoration of his touch. In the compelling need she felt to touch him. He eased her onto the bed and stripped off her tiny lace thong, his fingers skimming along her thighs, triggering a powerful desire.
Blatant need radiated from the dark depths of his eyes.
His jeans glistened, then disappeared, leaving him naked. His erection stood tall and thick. She reached for it, loving the feel of his rock-hard cock cradled in her hands. A tiny clear drop glistened on the tip, and she leaned forward and licked it.
He groaned as she drew him into her mouth, tucking her lips around the lower ridge of the head. Her tongue lapped back and forth over the head, then she swallowed him deep into her throat.
She cupped his balls and stroked them, feeling the weight in her hands. She tightened her lips around his delicious cock, moving her mouth up and down, loving the feel of the hard contours of his penis stroking her tongue and the moist, inside walls of her cheeks.
She squeezed and sucked mercilessly, on and on, until she felt him tense. Then she squeezed and sucked harder, moved faster. He started to protest, but she waved it away, intent on pleasuring him.
After one wild gasp, all of the air expelled from his lungs and she felt his release. His cock swelled and warmth flooded her mouth. She swallowed and slowly released him.
He settled beside her on the bed and drew her into an intense kiss. His hands roamed her body, sending an electric burst of need across her nerve endings. With every touch, every caress, her insides fluttered with vibrant awareness of their sweet, poignant love.
His lips found her nipples and she arched upward, thrusting deeper into his mouth. She thought she would climax at the intensity of pleasure he gave. His fingers trailed downward and stroked her inner thighs. She opened and his fingers entered her, stroking her moist vagina with feather-light strokes.
“Oh, Zurvan, that’s wonderful.”
She kissed the top of his head, running her fingers through the long, silken strands of his hair, holding herself still in the face of intensifying desire, wanting to pro
long the sweet agony.
His lips left her breasts and followed a hot trail down her belly to her soft folds. He parted them and dabbed at her clitoris with the tip of his tongue. He licked lightly, then stroked inside her.
She cried out, primed for release, close to flying over the edge.
“Zurvan, that feels amazing, but I want you inside me.”
He smiled and shifted forward to kiss her on the lips, a delicate, lingering kiss. She opened her legs wide, wanting him, needing him inside her. To know the bliss of joining in love. To become one with her soul mate.
He moved over her and she felt the tip of his rigid cock press against her, then ease inside.
“Oh, God, Zurvan.”
Waves of joy spiraled through her. He thrust inside, hard and deep. She cried out at the intense, spiking pleasure.
“More, Zurvan,” she cried. “Harder.”
He pulled back and thrust again. Impossibly, the pleasure increased. She wailed louder, then gasped for air. He thrust again and again, sending her careening higher and higher, shooting her to a realm of pure ecstasy. In her mind’s eye, she saw sparks of light washing over her.
I’m here, Celeste.
She glanced around and saw a ghostly figure floating beside her in this ethereal plane, reaching for her. Zurvan.
She took his outstretched hand and together they rode the wave of passion, conscious of the burning heat of their physical connection, until they shot off the end of a rainbow and flew across space and time, landing together inside their bodies, entwined and panting, fully replete.
She tightened her vaginal muscles around him, holding his wonderful cock inside her. He spiraled his hips slightly, sending echoes of pleasure trembling through her.
“Zurvan, that was the most incredible experience of my life.”
He smiled and kissed her. Thoroughly and completely.
“Until next time,” he promised.
Zurvan held Celeste close as she fell into a deep sleep. He watched the rise and fall of her chest, entranced by the fact that she was alive and in his arms once again. His sweet Yana. His wonderful Celeste.
