Sea Haven 02 - Spirit Bound

bordered on arrogance. He knew he had wrapped her around his little finger. She wouldn’t say no to kisses—or sex—with him. Ever. It didn’t take much persuasion on his part and her body belonged to him. She lost herself there in his kiss, in the heat of his mouth, the taste of passion and love. She had to come up for breath before she simply drowned in him.
    “Hot chocolate,” he announced. “I would have made tea, but you need to sleep if you’re going to work tomorrow.”
    She took the hot mug and licked at the dollop of whipped cream on top. “You’re my savior. I was just thinking chocolate would revive me, but I didn’t have the strength to go get it.”
    “I read your mind,” he admitted, toeing another chair around to sit beside her. “You don’t have to work tomorrow. We can take another day.”
    “I wouldn’t survive another day,” Judith admitted, laughing. Happiness danced in the air around, small threads of silver and gold that sparkled with the stars. “And Airiana definitely would do me in if you didn’t—in a completely different way, of course. She’s covered for me at the shop, but she can’t keep it up.”
    “I suppose I have to share you with the world,” he said. “I’ll go with you to Sea Haven tomorrow and go over the books at the gallery.”
    “You’re really thinking of buying it?”
    He shrugged. “I’ve got plenty of money, but I wouldn’t enjoy doing nothing. I spend a lot of my time going to galleries all over the world and maybe in the back of my head I always considered what I’d do with one.”
    “This is a small town, Stefan.”
    “Thomas. Stefan Prakenskii doesn’t exist. There’s no photograph of him and no fingerprints. I doubt if a birth certificate exists. I’m a ghost, Judith. Sorbacov has never heard of Thomas Vincent, the American businessman. All of us develop numerous covers we can disappear into when needed and Vincent’s cover is solid. He’s going to settle here with you, make kaleidoscopes, own an art gallery and make babies.”
    She laughed, taking a cautious sip of the hot chocolate. She should have known it would be the perfect temperature. Stefan saw to little details, she was learning that about him. He always saw to her comfort, running a bath, carrying her to it after they’d made crazy, wild love, wrapping her in blankets or handing her a sweater almost before she knew she was cold. He would never have served her chocolate that would scorch her mouth.
    “You’re obsessed with babies.”
    He grinned at her. “With making babies,” he corrected. “I’m practicing until I get it right.”
    “If you get any better at it, Stefan . . . Thomas, I’ll be dead. I’m getting schizophrenic just thinking about this. So you’ll be Thomas Vincent.”
    “And you’ll be Mrs. Thomas Vincent.”
    “Is that even legal?”
    “I have all the credentials to prove it. It’s more legal than Prakenskii. In any case, when it’s all done, we’ll have someone we trust do the ceremony in my native language using the name my father gave me.” His eyes met hers. “It’s important to me that you carry my given name even if we can’t use it.”
    Love flooded her. She pressed trembling fingers to her mouth to keep from making a big deal out of his declaration. He couldn’t hide sincerity from her, there was no way. He wanted to marry her using his father’s name and it meant the world to her that he would try to find a way even if they lived under another name.
    When she looked at him, sometimes she couldn’t breathe with the intensity of her emotions. “You surprised me with the way you pay such close attention to what matters to me.” It was more than paying close attention, he focused so completely on her, observing everything, her smallest expressions, every nuance. She would never be able to hide anything from Stefan.
    He reached out to take strands of her long hair between his fingers. She noticed he did that quite often, at the oddest times.
    “I’ll always pay attention to what matters to you,” he said, his voice that low, almost velvet tone she’d come to love. “When a man has nothing in his life worth anything and he finds a treasure, he guards her with everything he is. I’m a man of many talents, angel, and keeping you happy will be my first priority.”
    She regarded him over the chocolate. His face was back in the shadows. She realized he often sat in the shadows and probably always would. There was