sweat on their skin. He loved the odor of their lovemaking. "It should always be exactly like this, Lola... spontaneous and passionate."
"I couldn't agree more, my handsome, sexy husband," Lola said as she ran her fingers through his short hair. She kissed the top of his head then raised his chin. He was looking relaxed now. And she was glad. "Why don't you come back to bed, sweetheart? It's still way too early to be up."
"You're right," he agreed. "I'll be there in a minute. After that workout, I think I can sleep a little more now."
She giggled like a schoolgirl but she never looked more beautiful to Marcus. He pulled her head back to him and kissed her deeply and hotly before he let her go.
"Don't be too long," Lola reminded him as she crawled off of his lap. “I don't want to be away from you too long."
"I won't be too long because that's exactly how I felt, too, darling," he said.
She left him with a sweet smile before she went back to their bed.
MARCUS STARED into the flames that were cozily blazing away in the fireplace. He would not tell Lola what his true dream was just yet. There were things that he had to figure out first.
In the dream, he had seen his own face, only it was older. The part that had bothered him the most was the absolute evil that he had seen in those eyes.
Marcus knew that he was not an evil person, so what did that dream mean?
Was he going to become an evil entity in the future? Was he going to murder innocent witches and warlocks and other helpless magical creatures? His heart thudded painfully inside his chest.
If that was true, he could not allow it to happen. He needed to understand his dream and he needed to do it soon. It was sickening that he might be the evil that was coming to attack the magical world. Lola, with her gift of sight, had seen more than he did, and what she had seen made her feel so horrible it brought her to tears.
That was simply not something that he could accept — that he would do those things and hurt the one who mattered most to him.
"Marcus? Are you coming?" Lola called from the bed.
"Yes, sweetheart, I'm on my way," he said, and went quickly to join his wife. He needed to feel her in his arms, to hold her close to him.
Their skin touched under the blankets and instantly brought comfort to him.
He had this much love, this much light in his life.
And what could fight the coming darkness more that those two things that bring life?
His dream meant something else; he believed that to be true.
Darkness couldn't touch him when he had his Soul Mate as his light.
NICHOLAS SMILED in the darkness as he pulled himself back from Marcus's dream.
There , he thought with some satisfaction. That should worry the new ruling magical king a bit. If he thinks he's destined to be a part of the huge evil that's coming, he might make some decisions that will open some very important doors.
Adair had long been asleep, leaving him to his own devices for setting his master plan into motion.
She had been very helpful up to now. He almost hoped that he did not have to eliminate her at some point. The problem with Adair was that she was too ambitious. She did not understand the need to be careful with him.
Looking down into the crystal ball that sat on the table before him, he was able to see Marcus and Lola as they lay cuddled together in their huge bed in that ridiculous castle Marcus had bought for his new bride.
Such an extravagant gesture might give them a bit of an advantage in the coming days. That, too, would need to be dealt with. Nicholas could easily keep watch over these two as long as they did not realize they were being observed.
In this way, he would know exactly what they were planning, and thus could act accordingly so his plans would not go awry.
Smiling evilly, he continued to watch them as they slept, blissfully unaware of the danger that was headed their way.
Chapter Four
"SO, Augusta, what are your sources
Denise Swanson
Heather Atkinson
Dan Gutman
Bathroom Readers’ Institute
Mia McKenzie
Sam Ferguson
Devon Monk
Ulf Wolf
Kristin Naca
Sylvie Fox