“Aye, lass, now you’re truly mine,” he said fiercely. “Forever.”

“You married me that day in the heather?” Chloe shouted. “And you didn’t tell me? Ooh! We are going to have to have a serious talk about how we communicate!” She scowled up at him. “And while we’re on that subject, we still haven’t discussed you leaving that night without telling me!”

“After the loving, lass,” Dageus purred, lowering his dark head to hers. “There will be plenty of time to speak of such things then.”

And the loving, he vowed, as he slipped her sweater over her head, was going to take a very, very long time.

He was no longer dark; time was no longer his enemy. He’d claimed his mate, and the future loomed ahead of them, resplendent with promise.