Chapter Forty-four
HARMONY couldn’t believe that the mighty King had apologized.
“I am an ass for hurting you. I know that.”
When Morgan and Aiden enthusiastically agreed, King laughed with them . . . at himself, which also surprised her.
Then King put an arm around her and drew her to the fire, though she walked slow to match his pace.
She wasn’t sure she wanted to be with him. If Morgan, Aiden, and her sisters weren’t there, she’d say no. She would. “I didn’t think you’d make it through the procession, never mind the entire celebration,” she said, as he pulled her down beside him.
“Neither did I. My feet are killing me after stepping on all those rocks.”
“Grow thick soles, why don’t you?”
“Plus I felt like an ass.”
“For taking part in the revelry, or for being yourself?”
“For being the only one who wasn’t enjoying himself.”
Harmony knocked shoulders with him. “What made you stick with it?”
“You, being such an angel to my grandson.”
“Jake’s easy to love.”
“Not like his Grampa, hey?”
Breaking waves filled the awkward silence.
King cleared his throat. “I didn’t mean—”
“I’m sure you didn’t.”
“How could I not follow along with Jake beating those drums, the sound of his laughter reaching me at the tail end of the parade?”
“So what made you come back from Boston?”
“Reggie practically told me to grow up. Get a life. Get a belief system.”
“As in, have faith in something?”
“Pretty much. Turns out faith is what got her here.”
“She’s a smart girl, and she didn’t think she needed protecting from all this, huh?”
“All she wanted was to get back here, and she was coming with or without me.”
“Maybe you were projecting your own need for emotional protection on her and Jake?”
King tilted his head and gave her a noncommittal shrug. “Crazier things have happened.”
“You know, Paxton, you might be growing up. Care to give me a demonstration?”
Harmony caught the sudden stillness of his body, as if all systems went on alert. The intensity of his gaze in fire-light made her shiver. “What kind of demonstration?” he asked.
“Stay with me. Hold me by the fire until dawn while I meditate in preparation for the ritual tomorrow. I need to visualize the negativity leaving the castle.”
King stared into the fire, dealing with some inner struggle of his own, and though she could no longer discern its nature, she knew she was asking for something a great deal more intimate than sex. She understood his self-protective instinct. She’d never felt about anyone the way she felt about him, and before she fell any deeper in love, she needed to know what King Paxton was really made of.
He stood as if he was leaving, and her hope plummeted, but he put wood on the fire, sat in the sand behind her, and wrapped his arms around her. He nosed her hair aside, let his lips roam from her shoulder to her ear. “You’re naked under this robe, aren’t you?”
“Mmhmm.”
“Is this a test?”
“Mmhmm.”
“Visualize,” he whispered. “And when you’re ready to sleep, use me as your pillow.”
Harmony visualized . . . and woke with a start. Use him as her pillow? She’d used him as her mattress. King, Aiden, and Morgan were still asleep, but her sisters had left the fire.
Harmony got up, careful not to wake King, and went inside to prepare the ritual.
“Harmony, wait,” King called a minute later.
She stopped. “I thought you’d sleep a little longer.”
He took her hand and laced their fingers together. “My front got cold.”
She leaned into him. “First time your front ever wakes up cold.”
He kissed her neck. “There’s a difference between cold and ready.”
She pulled his head down and blew into his ear. “I noticed.”
Inside, Destiny and Storm were setting up the altar.
“Harmony,” Destiny said. “We were just going to wake you. Is our high priestess ready to lead us?”
King stopped. “High priestess?”