“I need you to finish for me,” Lexi said firmly. “If you finish for me, I will stay with you. I will stay with you forever, Rao.”
Rao wasn’t sure he heard her correctly or if he was actually dreaming. He leaned against the bed, pressing his shoulder into hers with an inquisitive look.
“You believe you’re my mate?” he said, trying to be serious. “You know that it means forever, right? Literally?”
Lexi’s beautiful smile entranced Rao, filling the room with a light he could never properly describe again. She lifted his hands and placed the flute there, then slowly kissed each cheek.
“I know, Rao,” she whispered. “I love you, and I want to be with you. So please, play for me.”
Rao wanted to kiss her and take her breath away, but he lifted the flute to his mouth while she leaned back on the bed, smiling from ear to ear.
Rao felt any and every fear he’d ever had lifted from his body as he began to play the final song of the night. It was one that his mother had taught him during a particularly chaotic storm, one where all of the lights had gone out, and all that had remained was him and his parents.
He had shaken in the dark as a boy, but his mother encouraged him, as always. “Go on, honey,” she had said. “Play on through the dark. That’s when we need it the most.”
And that was what he did as Lexi sat there, listening and breathing as the song sang through the night. She closed her eyes as he went on, playing with a joy and fervor he had never felt in his life.
The storm reached a climax, thunderclaps fading away like faint symbols while streams of lightning dissipated to calm. Lexi opened her eyes as Rao’s tune came to a close. Her skin had broken out in goosebumps.
Her still look grew into a lovely smile. Rao placed the flute down, then climbed on top of Lexi as she lowered onto her back on the bed. He hovered up over her face, gazing down at her beautiful face adoringly.
“You want to be with me?” he asked.
She wrapped her hands around his head, pulling him in for a kiss. “You are my mate, and I love you more than anything in the entire world. I will never stop wanting you, Rao,” she whispered against his lips.
They kissed with a mad passion and made love in Rao’s room as the storm disappeared into the night. Rao could feel himself becoming one with her as Lexi’s walls crumbled, opening herself even more to him and being vulnerable with her heart, soul, and body.
Falling asleep that night with Lexi in his arms was sheer bliss. He watched her breathing for a long time, her chest moving up and down softly, her hair spread out upon the pillow like a saintly halo.
Rao knew that he would never feel the agony of loss again.
CHAPTERNINETEEN
LEXI
“If you do not stand still, we are going to be late!” Trull exclaimed.
Lexi giggled. “It’s not like they can start without me, Trull,” Lexi said.
“It’s still awfully bad manners to leave the groom standing at the altar waiting for you,” Trull shot back.
Lexi sighed. “Oh, I don’t think he’ll mind.”
“I might,” Lexi’s mother snapped from behind her. “You were gorgeous an hour ago. God knows what we’re still doing here.”
“Oh, lighten up,” Gerri said lazily. “I think everyone needs a bit more champagne.”
Lexi smiled as she looked into the mirror, amazed by her own reflection. Peeking over her shoulders, she could see Trull and her mother checking her front view. Gerri was farther back in the room, reclining on the sofa as she sipped champagne. She caught Lexi’s eye and grinned, blowing her a little air kiss.
“It’s your day, sweetheart,” Gerri said. “Take all the time you need.”
“I cannot bear a moment more in these shoes!” Lexi’s mother said.
Gerri rolled her eyes. “They are Nova Aurora shoes, Natalie. Convert them to flats for a while and put the heels back on when you get to the ceremony.”
“Oh.” Natalie looked at her toes. “How do I do that?”
“Tap twice,” Gerri said. “From the base of the heel.”