Read Online More Than a Fantasy by Bernadette Gardner - Free Book Online

searched his eyes, hoping to see a hint of mischief, wishing he were playing a trick. His expression was earnest and his eyes didn’t lie. He truly had no choice.
    She kissed him through salty tears and wrapped herself around him, reveling in the warmth of his skin, the taste and feel of him.
    They made love without words, first tenderly, then savagely. This time, Mara left Tiran sleeping and walked along their little beach. The foamy waves washed over her feet and gently drew her deeper into the embrace of the sea until she floated on the shallow breakers, lost in a perfect dream. She would have stayed there forever, buoyed by the water, but Tiran found her. He carried her back to shore, where he helped her put on the robe he’d made for her, then swept her up in a sparkling whirlwind and whisked her back to her father’s compound.
    Tiran didn’t materialize with her. He hovered around her like a soft breeze as she walked up her secluded beach and took the path through the dunes. The moment she approached the buildings of the compound, the alarms began to sound. Within seconds, the security force surrounded her. Though they looked relieved to see her, they treated her suspiciously. They refused to lower their weapons until Thanatos arrived, breathless and pale, and ordered them to stand down.
    Mara held out her hand to her father. Although the guards remained vigilant, they stepped back to allow him to take her hand.
    “Did they hurt you?” he asked, his voice whispery and weak. The creases around his eyes and mouth seemed deeper than she remembered, and his silver hair was uncombed.
    “No, Papa. I’m fine. And I’m always going to be fine. I’m going away so that you don’t have to worry about me anymore.”
    He dropped his hand from hers and sighed. “I’ll have you taken back to New York immediately, if that’s what you want. I’ll assign a security force to stay with you there and keep you safe.”
    “I don’t want that. I’m going away where you won’t have to worry about me. I’ll contact you when I’ve settled. I’ll change my name and no one will know who I am. I promise, I’ll be safe.”
    Mara hoped it were true. Without Tiran by her side, she wondered if she would be able to build the life she wanted. A warm breeze stirred between her and her father, and in it, she felt Tiran’s gentle touch.
    “Mara, you know I’ll do anything to keep you safe. You don’t have to be alone.” The desperation in her father’s voice chipped away at her resolve. The gray cast to his skin, and the thinness of his lips, belied that fear for her safety had nearly destroyed his health. He would never stop trying to protect her from the world, and the stress would eventually kill him.
    “Papa, I won’t be alone. I promise. I’ll be safe and happy, and if you ever need me, I’ll come. But I can’t live in your gilded cage anymore. This life is killing us both.”
    He bowed his head.
    Mara put her hand on his shoulder. “I promise I’ll be all right.” She hugged him and kissed his cheek, then stepped back and melted away into Tiran’s prismatic embrace.
    Together they surged over the sand and out to sea, leaving Thanatos Zander surrounded by his bewildered security guards, tears glistening in his dark eyes.

Epilogue
     
    Tubes of blue paint lay in a semi-circle on the workbench next to Mara’s latest canvas. An arch of ivory sand divided the cerulean sky from the white-capped waves below , and the whole scene looked more like a photograph than a painting. Bathed in crystalline rays of light, a man with eyes the color of the sky stood at the edge of the surf, his gaze focused on a point in the distance where the faint outline of a woman’s face seemed to melt into a bank of cumulous clouds.
    Mara surveyed her work and decided the scene needed something that she couldn’t see from the back of her o ceanside bungalow. Maybe during her usual afternoon stroll along the marina, she’d take a few