I turned my attention to my angel and declared her to be my woman, knowing full-well what that would mean. As she agreed that she belonged to me, our fates were sealed.
When I looked into her deep blue eyes, the heavens opened up. I saw the sun, the moon, and the stars. Through her eyes, I could see the oceans, the rivers, the mountains, and the forests. I could see every sunrise and every sunset. I saw her floating in the air, her arms outstretched, touching the clouds, as her aura turned from white light to pure golden light. She reached out to me, inviting me into her arms, her heart, and her soul.
When I captured her mouth with mine, my heart poured into her. Everything that I was, everything that I am, and everything that I ever will be was given to her through that kiss.
I could tell from her kiss that she felt the same fires and passion that I felt. Through that kiss, I felt her heart and soul reach out and become one with mine. Throughout eternity, we always had been and always will be one.
I had completely forgotten about the angry little troll that I had thrown away like the garbage that he was. However, his nasally, tinny voice brought me back to reality.
It enraged me to hear him speaking to Luka in such an insulting manner. My blood began to boil, and my hands clenched into tight fists. He was going to wish that he had never been born. I was going to destroy this man.
I could feel my anger begin my transformation. My only desire was to turn into a bear and rip this man to shreds. The only thing that kept me from shifting at that moment was that I did not want to scare the woman beside me.
She felt the anger in me rising, too. Because we were one, she was able to feel my emotions. She knew me well enough to help me control my temper. She was able to cool my increasing rage by placing her hand on my chest. No one had ever been able to do that before. That she felt my anger and was able to soothe it was further proof she was my destiny.
I was amazed and proud at how calmly she was able to talk to the goblin who raged in front of her. She banished him with her words, although I was certain he would make good on his threat to come back.
I hadn’t meant to kiss her when she looked up at me. I hadn’t even thought of kissing her. I was going to introduce myself and take things from there. My instincts and body had other ideas.
Those liquid blue eyes, so full of conflicted and questioning emotions, focused on my face and took my breath away. Her full, red lips were so inviting. Her chest was heaving, and I could feel her anxiety and stress. The kiss was simply a natural reaction. It could say more than our words could ever communicate.
Our kiss was phenomenal. I had kissed many women in my lifetime. However, there was never a kiss that could transform time and space like hers did. When the kiss ended, she stared at me, her eyes full of wonder and questions. Her fingers went to her lips, as though she were checking to make sure they were still there and that they still belonged to her.
Her arm dropped, and she bit her lower lip and chewed on it for a minute, her eyes never leaving my face.
It got cold quickly on this mountain when the sun went down. The wind picked up, and Luka began to shiver from the chill in the air. She told me her name was Luka, and I told her I was Gage. The introduction seemed trivial after the kiss. I led her inside and started a fire—in the fireplace this time.
Once we were inside and she started to warm up, I could see that she was looking at me with her eyes instead of her soul. I simply waited in silence. She needed to wrap her mind around all the events that occurred in such a short space of time. I wasn’t sure what I would say to her, anyway.
Although I knew she and I were destined to be together, I hoped that she wasn’t intimidated by my size. Some people took a look at me and walked in another direction. My people and I tended to be quite a bit larger than most other humans. Even our women were quite a bit bigger than the average woman. We stood at least a foot taller than others and were quite muscular because of how much bulk it took to function in our bear form.
Luka didn’t seem to be daunted by my size. As her eyes traveled my body, she never once flinched. She simply seemed to be taking everything in.
I could almost see the gears turning in her brain, processing me, what she had seen, what she had experienced, and what she had felt. She considered each bit of information and then put the puzzle pieces together. Finally, she had most of a complete picture. She only needed a few more pieces.
After several minutes of comfortable silence, she asked me how I knew she needed help.
I wasn’t sure how to explain it, so I decided to go with how I experienced it. I explained to her that I heard her need and felt her anger and fear. It was as though I could hear her voice in the back of my mind like she was standing behind me and softly speaking.
She thought about that for a second.
Then, I asked her if she believed in soulmates and destiny. She slowly nodded and seemed to understand that I was asking her this question because I thought that we were soulmates and had been destined for each other since the beginning of time.
She was quiet for a while. She seemed to be a kind of person who had to absorb information and then process it before she could go any further. That was a quality that I admired. I had a bad habit of not always thinking through my decisions before acting. More than once, that had got me into big trouble.
When she finally put all the pieces together and had a complete picture in front of her, she smiled at me. It was as though the sun had risen in the morning, and warmth spread through the universe.
“You came to my rescue because you felt, in your heart, that I needed you. It was as though my soul sent a secret message to yours telling you to come.”
I nodded.
She twirled a strand of her hair around her finger. “You believe that we are soulmates. Meant to be together.”
I nodded again.
She looked at herself and then looked at me. “You are an incredibly sexy man. You could have any supermodel or celebrity or rich heiress in the world. Why me, out of all the women in the world?”
“You are beautiful, physically and spiritually. Your curvy body is perfect. You look like a real woman instead of a fence post. You have a gorgeous face, and almost everything that I ever wanted in a woman. Spiritually, I think you are kind, loyal, and brave. And I pretty much know by now that you are intelligent.”