He looked down at the material stretched across his broad chest. “It’s buttoned fine, and while we’re on the subject, you look beautiful in that dress.”
“You should see what’s underneath it.” Her eyes widened as though she hadn’t meant to let those words slip from her mouth.
He ate up the distance between them and grabbed the side of her neck, ghosting his thumb across her jaw. “I will.”
A smile almost appeared on her pretty face before she remembered herself and pressed him back. “This is serious. What is a soulscape?”
“A soulscape is where our souls meet when we’re apart,” he explained. “We meet here when we are both asleep.” He watched her absorb the information and added, “We’ve been meeting in the soulscape since you turned twenty-one, but neither of us remembered them. Mates don’t remember their soulscapes until they solidify the bond.”
Rory scanned the room, distracted by the decorations. “Did you do all of this?” When he nodded, she reached up and ran her finger over a strand of low-hanging lights. “Why are we dressed up, Caius?”
“You’re not in Vincula to attend our Plenilune ball.” He strode to the music box and cranked the volume a little higher. “I made us our own.”
“Plenilune ball? What is that?”
“You don’t know what the Plenilune is?” he teased. “I thought the education system in Erdikoa was top-notch.”
“I know what the Plenilune is,” she said through clenched teeth. “But we don’t have Pleniluneballsin Erdikoa.”
Caius knew this because there was nothing special about the Plenilune there. In Vincula, it was the one night a month when they could see the stars and full moon that revolved around the Vincula sun. He never understood the anomaly, but it was beautiful and something to be celebrated.“We do in Vincula.”
He saw the moment of recognition in her eyes and the look of concentration as she chased the memory. “You’ve done this for me before?”
“I have,” he confirmed with a soft chuckle. “But instead of surprising you, you barged into the room in a murderous rage.”
She eyed him curiously. “Why was I mad?”
He shrugged. “You were always mad at me for one thing or another.” Two flutes of champagne sat on the table, and he handed her one. “You were planning my murder when we met.”
After taking a long drink, she licked her lips. “Because I thought you killed Cora.”
He nodded. “I won you over then, Miss Raven, and I will do it again.”
“Oh? And how do you plan on doing that?” Her voice held a challenge he was happy to accept.
Tracing his eyes down the length of her, he slowly unbuttoned his shirt, savoring how her eyes darkened with desire. “Sleep with me.”
Champagne spewed from her mouth. “No. You can’t go around asking people to fuck you. What is wrong with you?”
The smooth fabric of his shirt slid off his shoulders and onto the floor. “I didn’t ask you to fuck me, Miss Raven. I asked you to sleep with me, but if you’d like me to, I’d be happy to make you come before I hold you.”
Her mouth moved wordlessly as he unbuckled his pants. There would be no dancing tonight, and some of his favorite memories with Rory were the nights they lay awake, talking.
He folded the comforter back, grabbed one of her old shifts from her dresser drawer, and moved across the room toward her. Never breaking eye contact, he kneeled and grabbed the hem of her dress, dragging it up, but she stopped him.
“There’s a zipper,” she said softly, setting her glass down.
His fingers trailed down her legs as he lowered the hem of her dress. Goosebumps cascaded across her skin, and when he stood to unzip her, he couldn’t help but place a kiss on the nape of her neck.
He reached for the shift and held it out to her without looking. He knew her body as well as his own, but she didn’t know that yet.
While he held out the garment, he heard the bed dip and glanced over to see her tucking herself in. The shift slipped from his fingers without a second thought as he slid into bed beside her.
Was she naked under the blanket, or was she wearing a bra and panties? Had there been a bra when he unzipped her? He couldn’t remember, and it was all he could think about.
Flipping onto her side, she stuck her hands under her head and watched him do the same. “It’s strange,” she murmured. “To have no memory of someone you love.”
His breath caught in his throat. “How do you know you love me?”
