Her eyes widened. "Yes!" Then to Marc's surprise, she frowned. "We will stay with my family?"
He gave her a smile he knew was smug. "I've bought us a house, cher."
"Husband, you are most definitely in need of a reward." Her smile was sultry in the dark.
He wanted far more than just sex from his wife, but he'd take what he could get. Yet it hurt that she still saw him as such a shallow man, to be "rewarded" with her body, not allowing him to share in that indefinable something that made her such a unique individual. "Yeah?"
"I will sing for you." She pushed at his chest. He blinked. "Sing?" He hadn't known she could sing. "Why haven't I heard you before?"
"Because I didn't like you as much as I do now." Her answer was as honest as always, and for that reason it touched him in a place even the scars couldn't reach.
"So how much do you like me now?" She leaned up and kissed his nose in a playful way that startled him. "A whole lot. And not because of the ring but because of the reason behind it."
"I did good, huh?" He tried to make light of the heavy weight of emotion clogging his throat.
Pushing him off her, she sat up. Then without warning, she sang to him. An exotic, alien song in the language of her homeland; a beautiful language that seemed to sway like the trees and roll like the sea. He had no idea of the meaning of her words, but he knew that whatever it was, it was powerful and utterly beautiful. Her voice was crystal clear, with just a hint of sultriness.
Sexy innocence.
Just like his wife.
He lay there in the moonlight and let the purity of her voice wash over him. His chest filled with the power of her gift. For the first time in their married life, he felt as though she'd truly accepted him as her man.
"Husband, are you asleep?" She sounded offended.
In answer, he hauled her down to his body and captured her lips in a kiss that was far more than a mere fusion of mouths. Unable to say what he felt, he tried to show her how important she was to him, how very, very important. The kiss accelerated, and the next time he came up for air he found her lying below him, her body holding him deep within her. The naked emotion in her eyes almost tore him to pieces.
And he knew.
They'd gone beyond sex, beyond lust, beyond desire, into a realm he'd never before explored. In this place there was joy beyond compare and stunning pleasure that touched the heart before the body.
He couldn't fight the tumbling of his internal walls, couldn't fight that strange, wild, unknown emotion that clawed its way into his heart and refused to leave. Barely able to breathe, he stroked her cheek once.
Then, as moonlight washed over her beautiful face, he moved inside her. Her hands closed over his shoulders and her exotic eyes went blind with passion so intense it refused to allow him to separate himself. Somehow he was able to focus his mind for the moment it took to watch her go over the edge. Only when she was crying out did he allow the madness of that inexplicable emotion to overwhelm him.
Nine
They were almost ready to leave for Zulheil two days later, when Marc got a call that changed all their plans.
"Becky's been found," he told her.
Heart in her throat, Hira went with him to see the child, who'd been admitted to a hospital in Lafayette. Becky's new adoptive parents were there as well, out of their mind with worry for their baby girl.
"Mr. and Mrs. Keller?" Marc's voice was gentle. She could almost see him rethinking his ideas about how to reunite Brian and Becky. The woman sitting there with red eyes looked as if she hadn't eaten for days, and her husband's face was haunted.
"Yes?" Mr. Keller looked up, hope lighting up his eyes for a second. "Are you a doctor? Did she wake up?"
"No. But I might be able to help."
Mrs. Keller's eyes were bleak. "How could you? I know who you are, Mr. Bordeaux, but your wealth can't help us. She's wasting away and no specialist can tell us why. God, my poor baby. She's so tiny, so fragile."
Hira moved to sit on a hard plastic chair beside Mrs. Keller and took her hand. "You must not worry. My husband can indeed help. Tell them, Marc."
He pulled up a chair to face the Kellers, his jaw taut. "This may come as a shock, but when Becky was placed in the orphanage from which you adopted her, she was separated from her twin, a little boy. It was the first time they'd ever been parted from each other."
Mrs. Keller gasped, the hand in Hira's suddenly bruisingly strong. "No, no! Dear Lord. She never said a word. Not once."
"Brian lives in an orphanage that we have a connection to," Marc continued, voice low and deep. If Hira hadn't known him, she'd have thought him utterly calm. But because she did know him, she could see the worry weighing down his heart. "And he's almost as bad as Becky. They need to be together."
There was no hesitation. "Anything. Do anything," Mrs. Keller said. "If you have to take her away to live with Brian, you can even do that. Just save my baby." Her husband nodded. "Please, just save her. Please."
Hira felt tears prick her eyes. There was no question in her mind that these people loved their child. Looking at Marc, she knew he understood that, too. While she sat with the Kellers, he left the hospital. When he returned, Brian's thin arms were wrapped trustingly around his neck, that small body cradled in a protective embrace.
The Kellers took one look at that sweet face and love whispered across their expressions.
"They look so alike," Mrs. Keller whispered. "He's a bit healthier than her. Someone's managed to make him eat."
"I'll give you recipes for some things he likes," Hira offered.
"Me?" The woman's smile trembled. "You'll let us keep them both?"
"It's my husband's decision, but he loves Brian. He won't do anything to harm him." Her faith in the goodness of the man she'd married was absolute.
Marc walked straight into the hospital room. He emerged moments later without Brian. "He crawled into the bed, took her hand and started telling her to wake up."
Mr. and Mrs. Keller went to look through the glass partition into the room, unwilling to disturb the reunited twins, but clearly needing to be nearby.
Once they were out of earshot, Hira found herself in the odd position of having to comfort her aloof husband. He'd sat down on one of the plastic chairs, his strong body in a defeated posture, while she was standing.
"It's all right, husband." Hesitantly she dared to touch his bent head in a light caress. "You got to Becky in time."
You saved two children's hearts, she thought, emotion choking her throat.
Marc didn't shrug off her hand but stared ahead at the white hospital wall in front of them, "She's in critical condition," His voice was flat, without emotion.
Biting her lip, Hira moved to stand right beside him, her hand on his shoulder. "But she's alive. That's what you must concentrate on. In my land, the old healers believe that the spirits of the injured can hear the prayers of the living. We must call out and bring her home."
Marc raised his head. "Do you truly believe that?"
"With all my heart and soul."
To her surprise, he wrapped one arm around her body and laid his head against her stomach. "Brian will die with her if she doesn't wake." His acceptance of her care shook all of her beliefs about their union.
"He believes she'll live." Hira stroked his head, praying both for the children and for Marc. Her husband was a good man. He didn't deserve such suffering.
"He's a child."
"Perhaps that is so. But he has a connection with her that we can't doubt after seeing them. There are those who say twins are not two people but two pieces of the same soul. If that's true, we must double the strength of our prayers." The warm weight of him leaning against her gave her the strength to be his hope. For once someone needed her for more than her face and body.