24. Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four

Sunlight danced across her eyelids. The warm kiss of the Hawaiian rays heated her skin, and the sensation of the cool sheets around her legs and torso made her smile.

Eden couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this good. There was no trace of the pressure inside her skull, and the usual, low-key headache that accompanied her every waking moment was nearly absent.

Her eyes flew open in the shock of memory as she jerked upright. A man sat in the corner of the room, his head in his hands.

Light beamed in from the window beside him, casting him in a peaceful nimbus. It contrasted with the dread barreling through their ghostly mating bond.

There was no doubt in her mind that he knew. Despite her best intentions, her condition had exposed her before she could reveal the truth. Eden had waited too long, and now, it was too late.

"Nero?"

Looking up, the Raeth made no move to close the distance between them. "You're awake."

His tone was devoid of joy. Those eyes, once filled with laughter and mirth, were dull and stamped with distress. Eden knew that the man opposite her had somehow discovered her curse.

"I'm not in a hospital?"

"No. When you collapsed, I called a healer. Your symptoms have been healed, but not the underlying issue. Given that you were resting comfortably, I decided to keep you here instead of taking you somewhere else."

Her chest tightened, the overwhelming feeling of guilt stabbing at her. It spurred her into action.

"I need you to know I never intended to drag you into this mess that's my life. You just appeared, when I least expected it. You were kind and generous. Funny. Too good to be true even before the supernatural revelations. Honestly, who takes a girl they just met to Hawaii and showers her with everything she's ever wanted?"

A flare of exasperation sparked in Nero. "You're my mate, Eden. I'd give you the world if you asked."

"I know you would. After speaking with Aidan yesterday, I'd planned to tell you this morning. Life just … caught up with me. I'm sorry. I didn't realize the enormity of everything until I saw your studio."

Eden hated that she'd hurt him. Her life had simply been one heartbreaking decision to the next. At the echo of defeat and sorrow in their bond, Eden made her choice. Withholding information now wouldn't help anymore.

"Nero, I was diagnosed with glioblastoma. They're malignant brain tumors that are fast growing and malicious. Inoperable, for the most part. Meds occasionally help with symptoms, but not always."

"And the treatment? Shouldn't you be doing radiation or chemotherapy?"

"No." She pinched the comforter beneath her hands. "There is no chance of a cure. I didn't want to spend the time I had left being miserable and puking. I decided to fill it with worthwhile things instead." A ghost of a smile curved her lips. "When they told me, I'd just found out I was getting published. Same day. I didn't know whether to be happy or sad, so I ended up just sitting in silence for hours."

"How long, Eden?" he asked. "How long did they give you?"

"Four months ago, they estimated I had about nine months."

Under his breath, Nero cursed on a strangled sob. He began to pace the floor, tension rolling through his muscular frame.

"Nero, you're the best thing that's happened to me since I was diagnosed. It all seemed like a drug-induced dream, and I didn't want to shake myself awake. The selfish part of me wanted to ignore my condition, and enjoy the time that we had together. But I knew it wouldn't last. That this—what we had—was rapidly coming to an end."

A withering sob escaped from the man at the foot of the bed. Eden had visited the stages of grief so often herself that she recognized exactly what he was going through.

"Nero, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I should have—no matter the consequences."

He seemed to weigh her words, his eyes speaking volumes about his devastation.

"I can tell you, it hasn't all been bad. I've lived every day like it might be my last. And you know what? It was so freeing. I've learned to cherish every moment, and not take the little things for granted. To enjoy the smell of both burnt toast and brownies, savor the mornings when I can sleep in and when I have to wake up at five a.m. I've learned to cherish a frothy cappuccino from Starbucks or a plain mug of black coffee so cold it's almost bitter. And I've rolled the dice and decided to trust a handsome man who keeps saving me."

Reaching out, she traced the tattoos on his perfectly sculpted arm, stopping when he opened his fingers and threaded them through hers.

"Even though I'm dying, I haven't withdrawn. Instead of planning for an unknown future, I've set boundaries and goals for things that are attainable. In a sense, I've discovered strength I didn't realize I had."

Nero's fingers squeezed hers. "But Eden, you've barely lived your life."

Taking comfort in the warmth of his skin, she sighed and spoke the truth she'd come to understand four months ago: "Not all of us get our happy endings, Nero."

"What about your dad? When we visited him, he didn't act as if he was aware of your diagnosis."

Her tone became even more bittersweet. "He's enjoying life where he is, and I didn't want to burden him. If he wasn't living with dementia, maybe, but now? Thanks to you, I got to see him and make a happy last memory for both of us. His caretakers know, and they'll make sure he thinks I'm okay until he passes. Worrying isn't good for his health."

"And what about your health?"

"I've made my peace with it."

Now that her secret had been revealed, it amounted to what she'd feared: his pity, reticence and disillusionment. She'd never wanted those things between them. They were even harder to navigate with Nero, because he had come to mean so much to her.

"Will you kiss me, Nero?"

Gently pulling his hand toward her, she saw reluctance shadow his features.

"Eden, you collapsed this morning. You had a seizure in my arms, and I thought you were going to die."

"So kiss me, Nero! Kiss me like it might be my last night on earth. And then, we'll eat fatty foods, and candy, and popcorn, and watch a Hallmark movie on the couch and pretend like nothing's wrong. That's what I want, Coffee Shop. What do you want?"

"For so long, all I ever wanted was you. I wanted you beside me. I wanted to know you, to walk into eternity together. But now that you're here, it's so much more than that.

"What I want is for you to be happy, Eden. I want you to be safe. I don't care what it takes for that to happen; that is my only goal. My one desire. It doesn't matter if I'm there to see it or not: I want you to live the life that you dreamed of living."

And then he kissed her.

When their lips crushed together, their connection pulsed with a vibrancy neither of them expected. All their fears, hopes and passion combined in a fervent need that drove them into each other's arms.

Nero snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her into him, demanding she yield everything to him. Cradled against him, the spark that lit between them burned brightly. Every kiss seared against her skin, and the desire that drove her into his arms was a drumbeat within her soul. Nero was flame she had no hope of extinguishing—an eternal fire that'd never stop blazing.

A growl tumbled from this throat. " Mine ."

"Yours."

Out of breath, she let him maneuver her on the bed and drop her against silk sheets. His lips were on her skin the next instant, kissing a trail along the slender column of her neck. The simple act of intimacy made her shiver, her hands going up to stroke the perfectly sculpted abs below his cotton T-shirt.

"Take this off," she demanded, needing his skin.

The cotton landed in a disheveled heap on the floor. As if starved for her, his mouth reclaimed hers. She surrendered to the sweetness of his claim.

Eden arched up into him, her hands tracing along his body, exploring, begging him to continue his ministrations. Lost in the sensation and the man above her, she whispered, "I love you, Nero."

Such intensity filled his gaze it made Eden shudder.

"I've always loved you, Eden."