He was still there.
He would always be there.
I clung to him, refusing to allow a breath between us. He kissed my head. Cleared his throat. “This place,” he said, his voice quiet. “Some says it’s magical. Supposedly, people come here to find out if love is true.”
“This makes complete sense. I feel…” My fingers danced up and down his arm, and he shivered at my touch, goosebumps rising. “If anyone tried to take you from me, I would go feral.”
“Like a piece of fruit from your fruit platter.”
I turned to him and grinned. However, it was the opposite of what was going on inside of me. I felt feral at the thought of losing him. “How do you feel,Marito mio?”
“I would rip someone’s throat out if they even thought about taking you from me.” He kissed over my heart and said, “Mine.”
“This is…” I breathed out. “I do not know if it is normal or not, what exists between us. It is too strong for even me to hold, and it is inside of me, yet I could not live without the weight of it. It keeps me rooted here when I feel as though I could fly… I, ah…” I made a frustrated noise, attempting to explain it.
“I got you, Annie,” he said.
“Yes, but I want to explain this…somehow. Put it into words.”
“Some things don’t need words,” he said. “They just are.”
“This is life’s mysteries,” I said.
“Yeah.” He leaned down and set his lips on mine. The kiss was light, airy, but soul branding. “They need no explanation, as long as we understand they exist.”
“I like that,” I whispered. “I love that.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “As much as you love me?”
“This is another mystery,” I whispered. “I do not understand how one heart can hold the amount of love I have for you. It keeps…stretching inside of my chest to accommodate it, yet, at times, I fear it might burst.”
“Same, Annie.” He sighed, setting a hand over his heart, rubbing it against his chest. “Fucking same.”
I fixed his hair, all the pieces that had gone rogue, and as we held each other close, the light in the cave started to change. It was bright white, at first, but as the sun began to soften, it seemed to melt into the waterfall and become a kaleidoscope of colors, the most prominent gold. I lifted my hands, allowing the tender light to play on all three of my rings. The diamonds glimmered against the gold bands. The red diamond sparked like fire.
“Always,” I whispered as I drifted off into a cloud of dreams.
When my eyes fluttered open, the light in the cave had changed again. It was glowing, the rose-gold color almost neon. I could tell evening was upon us. The edges of the cave were starting to bruise with purple before complete darkness took over.
“Time to go, Annie,” Mariano said to me, slipping the shirt I had packed for him over my head.
I tucked my arms in and yawned. He had already collected our things. He swung my beach bag over his shoulder, then picked me up, carrying me down the rocks.
All I could do was stare at his face. When his eyes met mine, I grinned. Then I pointed toward the pool as we left it behind.
“My suit!”
“No fucking worries,” he said, his grin much darker than mine. “Guerriero the water horse ate it. It was barely even a snack. It was a fucking tease.”
I exploded with laughter, laughing all the way back to ourbure, until he kissed me again and I faded into… him, as the sun fades into the darkness.
Chapter 46
Sistine
After our day at thecascata, it seemed as if our entire beings were on island time. Which meant, time still did not touch us. I did not study the clock. I was able to gauge the time by the sun and its many phases and colors. The world would turn different shades when it was time for breakfast, lunch, or dinner—then dessert, as my husband referred to me.
“You are fucking delicious,” he said one morning, his head between my thighs, his eyes lowered, his pupils dilated. “Just the fucking right temperature too. Warmed just for me.”
