Fire & Ice

I stared at him in shock. That couldn't be true.

"Don't shake your head at me, Ian. I killed her. We had sex, my powers manifested, and she died."

His face was so serious and his eyes so incredibly sad I couldn't stand it. I wrapped my arms around him.

"Paolo... she didn't deserve to die, but you didn't murder her. You didn't kill anybody, baby."

His arms slid around my waist and we held each other in the ruins of the kiln. We were still standing there, nude, streaked with grime and covered in dust when Michael opened the door five minutes later.

"You two good?"

Paolo looked at me. "Will you join the Strakos Clan? Marry me?"

My heart fluttered and my stomach turned over. Sure, it was quick, and the few friends I had would flip out, but I knew given what just happened that nobody else in the world would ever make me feel like Paolo Strakos. I nodded.

"Yes. I will."

He turned to Michael, that mischievous half-smile pulling at the left side of his mouth.

"Gather up my cousins and clear out this rubble. We're not anywhere close to being done tonight."

Michael's laughter followed him from the kiln as I pressed my lips to Paolo's, breathing my icy breath into the fire of his mouth for the sweetest kiss of my life.