CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

Sage rolled over on her beach towel and sighed as the warmth of the sun heated her skin. Beside her lay Ari, looking like the Adonis god he was. His natural olive skin was now tanned dark. She loved him so damn much.

They were on their honeymoon in... in... where were they?

A beach somewhere. It was hot. So damn hot.

There was sand... wasn’t there sand?

She was hot.

So hot.

Fire.

There was fire in her veins.

“Sage.” Ari yelled out to her and she turned. He was no longer on the beach with her.

“Ari,” Sage called, sitting up and scrambling to get to her feet. “Ari!”

“Sage, baby. I’m here,” he said, but she couldn’t see him. She’d lost him.

She couldn’t lose him. She loved him.

Tears poured from her eyes.

“Ari!” she cried.

“Sage. Open your eyes,” Ari demanded fiercely, and she felt him lower her back on the... not sand. It was a bed. Slowly, she opened her eyes and blinked to clear them. It was bright. Her hand flew up to cover her eyes and she bashed herself in the head.

Jesus.

She croaked out an ouch .

“Easy tiger. There is a lot to adjust to,” Ari said and, as her eyes cleared, she saw he looked drawn and tired.

“Are you okay?” she asked, her voice still dry.

“Me?” He let out a little laugh. “Yes, gorgeous. I am fine now you are awake. Here, drink this.”

She half sat and took a few sips of water and lay back down. The room was weird. All the colors were bright and stark, as if she were looking through one of those unrealistic Instagram filters.

“How do you feel?” Ari asked, gently brushing the hair from her face.

“Was it the drugs? What did they do?” she asked, and Ari just stared at her.

Nope.

Nope.

Nope.

Sage was determined to ignore the memory knocking on her mind. She couldn’t look at it. She knew if she did, she’d hate him.

She didn’t want to hate him.

She loved Ari.

How? How could he do this to her?

Tears fell one by one until she was sobbing.

Ari lifted her into his arms, and she let him. In fact, she clung to him.

“That’s how I did it, mia stellina. Because I cannot live without you, just as you cannot be without me,” Ari said. “In time, I will earn your forgiveness. For now, it is enough that I know you love me, and you are alive and safe.” He kissed her head and lay her back down.

Sage closed her eyes and rolled away from him, crying.

ARI BUSIED HIMSELF for two weeks while Sage refused to talk to him. He contacted her bank and paid her mortgage. His money was her money now.

He hadn’t sold the house because he knew she loved it, and she could decide what to do with it when she was ready.

He ensured Tony moved out and sent cleaners around to tidy it.

More complicated, he’d visited her mother and manipulated her mind, so she thought Ari and Sage were on holiday together. A romantic holiday which thrilled her mother, who only wanted to see her daughter happily married.

Oliver had taken care of Piper and they hadn’t heard anything more from her in the past two weeks.

Willow and Brianna had taken turns to go and sit with Sage, telling her about their experiences turning vampire from human.

Sage wouldn’t speak to anyone, but he knew she listened.

During the daylight hours, when the blinds were shut, he climbed into bed and wrapped around her. She would nestle into him and cry, but recently the tears had stopped. One night he had kissed her, and she had responded, then pulled away.

Ari walked into their bedroom and found Sage sitting in bed dressed in one of his t-shirts. He stared at her, wondering if it meant anything, but she glanced away.

He showered, brushed his teeth, and then climbed into bed. Turning off the lamp, he reached for her just as he always did, and she came to him. His lips found hers and this time, she didn’t pull away.

His need for her was growing, but he’d never force her. He wanted Sage to give herself to him. That was the only way it would work for him.

“Are you being pleasured by other women?” Sage asked, surprising the hell out of him. It was the first time he’d heard her voice in weeks.

He pulled back and gripped her face. “No,” Ari replied, his voice thick. “Never. You are it for me. Forever, Sage.” His heart thumped against his chest. “Can you ever forgive me? Please mia stellina. ”

“Kiss me again,” Sage replied, and Ari gently took her mouth.

Sage responded hungrily, their tongues dancing as he ran his hands down her body. Her thigh lifted over his and he found her bare and wet.

“God.” He murmured against her mouth. “Tell me you forgive me, Sage.”

“I...”

“Let me inside you. Forgive me,” Ari begged.

“I need you,” Sage breathed, her eyes opening and looking at him for the first time in weeks. “I can’t be without you anymore. Take me.”

“Say the words, mia stellina , and we are one forever.”

“Yes, yes, I forgive you,” she cried. “Forever, I am yours.”

Ari pressed inside her pussy and thrust. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and he lifted her hips to get every inch of himself in her. God, it was incredible to feel her wrapped around his cock once again.

“Mine.” Ari growled as he spilled his seed into her.

One day he hoped his seed would produce the first of a new line of vampires, but for now, Ari was beyond joyful to have Sage’s forgiveness and love.

“And you are mine.” Sage said, as tears ran down her face.

THEY LAY IN THE DARK , wrapped around each other after making love for hours.

“I can never say I’m sorry and mean it in the way you want, but I am sorry for what I’ve taken from you,” Ari said, kissing her gently. “I was once human.”

“You were?” Sage said, surprised.

“Yes.” Ari nodded, feeling like the stars were finally aligning. He’d waited all his life to have this conversation with someone he loved and trusted. “I was human, and there was no such thing as vampires. My brother and I were the first.”

Sage sat up and leaned over him, her fingers pressed into his chest. “How is that possible?”

So he told her.

He told her his entire life story. After all, she was now a Moretti with his blood running through her veins. His powerful original blood.

“So you’re the only original left alive?” Sage asked. “What does that mean?”

“I am.” He smiled. “I’m not interested in being a king, but I am not hiding anymore. We will be known as the House of Moretti and create a family of our own.”

“Wow. That’s a big deal, Ari,” Sage said, letting out a long breath of air.

“It is, but we will do it together. How we fit into the royal family will be up to all of us. There are many discussions to be had in years to come, mate of mine.”

“I want to have a wedding,” Sage suddenly announced. “I don’t get a beach honeymoon, so I want a wedding. I need to do something on my damn Life List .”

Ah, the Life List . Piper had told him about it, so he knew it was important to Sage. Ari kissed her on the lips with force. “Then a wedding we shall have, my love.”

He closed his eyes and pulled her down onto his chest, smiling as Sage listed all the things they would have at their wedding.

He’d give her the world, the moon, and the stars if he could.

She was his everything.

His stellina.

His little star.