Rhapsodic (The Bargainer, #1)

by Laura Thalassa

One, I can run away and give up the life I’ve made for myself. Two, I can call the officer back, go in for questioning, and hope for the best. Or three, I can contact the Bargainer and have him fix this. Only this time, I’d owe him a debt.

One, I can run away and give up the life I’ve made for myself. Two, I can call the officer back, go in for questioning, and hope for the best. Or three, I can contact the Bargainer and have him fix this. Only this time, I’d owe him a debt.

For better or for worse, I’d chosen him. And I still don’t regret it.

He’s the highlight of my evenings. Scratch that—he’s the highlight of my life.

He takes my hand and presses it against his chest. Beneath my palm, I feel his heartbeat racing. My eyes move from his chest to his face. “It does that whenever I’m around you,” he says.

“Lucky girl,” I say, pushing away from the wall and him along with it. I feel Des’s eyes on me as I cross through his room. “No,” he corrects. “She won’t be the lucky one. I’ll be.”

My heart’s in my throat, and I can’t swallow it back down. I feel bare in the most exquisite way, and I’m not sure why that is. He begins to smile. “Would you, Callypso Lillis, take me to the May Day Ball?”

But as the song goes on, I get more comfortable. I decide to peek up at Des. I’m not prepared to see the tormented expression on his face. “What’s wrong?” “Everything, cherub,” he says. “Everything.”

His wings spread fully out, the span of them stretching across his living room. The things are huge. “A fairy doesn’t show his wings to his betrothed.” He slides his hand behind my neck, his thumb stroking my skin. “A fairy shows them to his soul mate.”

I slide my arms around his waist, feeling like I’m holding on for dear life. Every part of me fits perfectly against every part of him.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “It was never supposed to happen like this. I should’ve waited. I’d intended to wait.”

It’s a goodbye. And I don’t understand any of it. His voice drops. “Don’t cry.” “You don’t have to go,” I say. “Everything can go back to the way it was. We can just…pretend tonight never happened.” I practically choke the words out. I don’t want to pretend any of this away.

“How long are you going to be gone?” I ask. In the last year, I’d never gone more than a few days without seeing him. His lips press together. “Long enough to figure out what I want and what you deserve.”

“From flame to ashes, dawn to dusk, for the rest of our lives, be mine always, Desmond Flynn.”

“But you left,” I say softly. He stays rigidly in place. “I did,” he says, his eyes sad. “But I never meant to stay away.”

“You were so damn young,” he says quietly, his eyes searching my face. “And you’d been abused. And my heart chose you. I felt it that first night, but I didn’t believe it, not until the feeling grew until it couldn’t be ignored. I couldn’t stay away. I could barely resist you at all, but I didn’t want to push you into something. Not when you’d just escaped a man who took and took. I didn’t want you to think that was all men were good for.”

“That final wish of yours,” he continues, “it was bigger than either of us. You wanted me, I was falling for you, and it wasn’t right, Callie. I knew it wasn’t right. Not when you were still recovering from what your stepfather had done. But I could be patient. For my little siren, my mate, I could.”

“Callie, I love you. I’ve loved you from the beginning. And I will love you long after the last star dies. I will love you until the end of darkness itself.” “You love me,” I say, letting that sink in. “I love you, Callypso Lillis,” he repeats.

“And mountains may rise and fall, and the sun might wither away, and the sea claim the land and swallow the sky. But you will always be mine.” He runs his knuckles over my cheekbone. “And the stars might fall from the heavens, and night might cloak the earth, but until darkness dies, I will always be yours.”

Soul mates. He is mine, and I am his.

“My mate,” I say wondrously. “Your mate,” he repeats.

Words that normally taunt and tease and coax. Words that have seduced me over and over again. Tonight they’re the sweetest serenade.

The stupidest things make me smile, like the way the sunlight shines in through the windows or the sight of yesterday’s bag of macarons.