Eternal Fire (28 page)

“
Thank you. It’s a boy.”

He shook his head, as if gathering his thoughts. “I-I can’t believe it.”

“
I know. I’m still quite stunned myself.”

“
You’re the most caring woman I know. You’ll make a fantastic mother.”

“
I hope so. Things went haywire on the other side of the portal. The Immortals tried to kill us, and Ethano will stop at nothing to get his hands on my baby. That’s why we’re here.”

“
That bastard tried to poison you, and now he wants your baby?”

Technically, he’d tried to poison Victor, but he was hoping to end me too, since we were connected by the ring. Ethano had left me to die. At the time, I’d been quite shocked, but after everything Ethano had put me through since, I wouldn’t have put anything past the jerk. He was one psychopath I hope to never see again.

“
Why does he want your son?” he asked again when I didn’t answer straightaway.

“
The baby is destined to fulfill a great prophecy, and…” I trailed off, unable to say the words. The thought of somebody wanting to take my baby away from me was too much to bear.

He wrapped his arms around me. “It’s okay. You don’t have to talk about it right now.”

I nodded.

“
I wish I could hold you like this forever,” he whispered. “It feels so real, so right.”

“
I’m a married woman now—very happily, I might add.”

He stared deeply into my eyes. “You’re not really married to him, you know. We were just scamming him to get that ring on your finger.”

“
Oh, Frank…” Being with him churned up so many old feelings. Somewhere in the corner of my heart, there were feelings for Frank that I’d always keep tucked away.

“
Sarah, we could run away somewhere, and he’ll never find us. I can raise the baby as my own, and I’ll love him because he’s part of you. That’s how much I love you.”

“
Don’t ask me to leave the love of my life, Frank. Twice now, I’ve thought I lost Victor, and I will not go through that pain again. It’s never gonna happen.”

He didn’t speak, so I knew he was getting the message. My heart ached. I knew for the first time that he truly loved me, but it was too late. My heart belonged to Victor, and I would never love anyone but him. We connected on a level I couldn’t even convey to Frank.

Frank softly stroked my hair. “Where did I go wrong? The biggest mistake I’ve ever made is losing you. If I could go back in time, I’d change everything.”

“
When we were together, I loved you with everything I had,” I said softly.

“
Then how do you just turn off those feelings like a water spicket?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but he placed a strand of hair behind my ear and continued.

“
If I hadn’t asked you to marry King Victor to get us out of that mess, you’d be in my arms this very second.”

The wind tousled his brown hair as I gazed into his green eyes. “Life doesn’t always turn out the way we expect it to, Frank. I’m happy now, and if you care about me like you say you do, that’s all that should matter to you.”

His gaze narrowed. “The marriage wasn’t supposed to be real.”

“
Maybe not in the beginning, but it’s very real now. Love shows up in the most unusual places. I love him so much that I was willing to sacrifice everything to be with him, including giving up my world.” Then I said the words I knew he’d dread to hear. “I love him, Frank. I love him with all my heart, and now we’re going to have a family.”

“
You never got over that fight we had at Susan’s party. That was the night we were really over, and we both know it.”

“
You broke my heart,” I whispered, my voice wavering.

“
I’d been drinking and never meant to say those hurtful things.”

“
Let’s face it,” I snapped. “You were embarrassed to be seen with me because of my job.”

He ran a hand through his hair. “I was an idiot, but I don’t care about any of that anymore.”

“
It’s a little late for that now.”

He nodded. “It’s never too late.” Looking deep into my eyes he said, “It’s hard to tell your mind to stop loving someone when your heart still does.” When I didn’t say anything, he let out a long breath. “Answer one question for me.”

“
What?”

“
Were you happy? When we were together, did I make you happy?”

“
Yes, until the end. In the beginning, you swept me off my feet. I’d never been happier.”

He smiled. “I just needed to know that.”

I cupped his face. “I’ll never forget you, Frank.”

“
Please don’t give me the lame goodbye speech. I’m not very good at that crap anyway. As cliché as it sounds, hell, I just hope we can still be friends.”

“
Definitely.”

He hugged me tightly. “Stop by and see Beth in the hospital if you can. She misses you like crazy.”

“
Count on it.” I smiled at him, and he smiled back. “Liz and Charles are here too,” I said.

“
It’s great that you have your sister back. Tell them I said hello.”

“
I will.”

“
I still have the same phone number. Call me for
anything,
day or night.”

I grinned. “I’ll do that.”

He kissed my forehead softly. “You’re truly an amazing woman. I’ll let you go because I want you to be happy, but I’ll always be here for you, Sarah—always.”

As I watched him walk off, part of me wanted to call out to him, but I knew that would accomplish nothing. There was a good reason that Frank was my ex, and I had to remember that. I had fallen out of love with him and into love with Victor, my true love and soulmate.

Chapter 17

“
These were your sleeping quarters?” Victor asked.

“
Yeah. Don’t you just love the pink paint? When I was a teenager, it was my favorite color.” I laughed. “I have no idea why. Now I love bright colors.”

My room was furnished with a canopy
bed,
large windows, lace curtains with draped valances, a floral-print sofa, an oak dresser, a bedside table with a lace tablecloth, an antique clock, and fresh flowers that my mom had bought from the grocery store.

Victor stripped off his shirt, and I couldn’t help but stare at his beautiful body. My gaze drifted from his broad chest to his hard stomach, those rippled washboard abs.

“
Try this one,” I said, handing Victor another one of my dad’s shirts. I had pulled tons of them out of my father’s closet, but none would fit. I watched him stretch the white material over his broad chest. “Dang it. Two sizes too small. None of my dad’s stuff really fits you.”

He folded his muscular arms across his chest, his eye twinkling in the sunlight that shining directly on his face. “How many more must I try?”

I looked him up and down. “Black pants and a white t-shirt with a beer logo. This will have to work for now. I guess we’ll go shopping right after we visit Beth in the hospital.”

“
Every country in the world has its own customs,” he said, fumbling with the button on the pants, “but this clothing is very strange.”

I smoothed out my hands across his chest to flatten the wrinkles. “That’s because it’s my dad’s, and he has no taste whatsoever.”

He smirked as I smiled widely.

“
It’ll take a while to get used to,” I said, “but you and Charles need to make an effort to blend in. We don’t need to attract any unwanted attention.”

Staring in the mirror, he said, “Your father says I need a haircut.” His long, midnight hair spilled over muscled shoulders.

I wrapped my arms around him from behind. “You’re perfect just the way you are. A lot of guys in my world wear their hair that way.” When he turned to look at me, I met his intense gaze. “This is the first moment we’ve had alone,” I said. “I’ve been dying to catch up with you. I have so much to tell you.”

We both shared our gut-wrenching stories with each other. I listened intently as he told me about Ethano’s men capturing and imprisoning him. Reliving the pain, I told him all about that dark night when I saw him murdered before my very eyes and the events that followed. I also told him every single detail about Helena, my new gift, and the cave drawings. Victor was troubled at the thought of our son being used by such a sinister fiend for such sinister purposes. Because of that, he was willing to stay in my world for a little while; I only hoped I could stretch his stay to at least eighteen years so we could be a real family.

“
So you can tell the future?” he asked.

“
I wasn’t sure I believed her when she first told me I’d have the gift of sight, but then I saw a tiny glimpse.”

His eyes widened. “You actually saw into the future?”

“
When I touched the wall, I saw our son’s first birthday.” I grinned widely. “You and I were so happy, singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to him and everything.”

“
Will our son look like me?” Victor asked, anxiously awaiting my answer.

“
Yes. He will have your amazing blue eyes,” I said.

Victor smiled. “I can’t wait to meet him.” He put his hand on my stomach, knelt down, and kissed my belly. “Do you have any idea how much your mother and father love you, little one?”

My heart about melted when he spoke into my tummy. “I’m sure he can sense it, and talking to the baby is good. He’ll know your voice when he’s born.” I glanced down. “We need to come up with a name, and I might have the perfect suggestion.”

He cocked a brow. “Which is?”

“
My grandfather was my hero, and I’d love to name our son after him, Alexander.”

“
Alexander Fesque.” Victor stood, and his face was beaming. “Sarah, it’s perfect.”

“
It means ‘helper and defender of mankind’, and I think that’s the exact opposite of what Ethano wants him for.”

“
You never cease to amaze me, my love.” He stroked a strand of hair from my eyes. “Alexander it shall be, in honor of a great man and chosen by a wonderful mother.”

“
Thank you. That means the world to me. We’ll call him Alex for short.” I gazed into Victor’s big, beautiful eyes. “So much has happened in the last month, but no matter what happens, I’ll always love you with all my heart.”

“
Do you know how long I’ve waited to kiss your lips? To tell you that you are my world, my life? To let you know I never want to live without you ever again?”

I gripped his hands. “I feel exactly the same way.” We loved each other with an eternal fire that burned deep down inside our souls.

“
When I was in that dungeon, I thought I might never see you again. Ethano told me he had sacrificed you. I didn’t know if he was lying or telling the truth. If he had killed you, Sarah, I don’t know how I would have gone on. I just—”

I touched his face, stopping him from thinking those dark thoughts. “When I thought you were dead, my world was shattered. My dead heart knew nothing but darkness, grief, and pain. I wept and sobbed a million tears.” Tears welled up in my eyes. “Seeing you in that dungeon resurrected my heart.”

“
I’ve slain dragons and won wars, but it means nothing if I don’t have you at my side.” He cupped my face. “I shall never let you go.”

His lips crashed into mine, and we shared a hot, hungry kiss. I could have spent an eternity kissing the man. His hands roamed my body as he dragged me down to the white, shag carpet. He lifted my hands over my head and gently pinned them to the floor as he hovered over me. He kissed me deeply, just as sensual as the first time we met. I moaned and called out his name.