I stopped his words with a shake of my head. “I’m not giving up on love, but I’m not going to cry anymore when it’s over.” Liar, liar, pants on fire.

Distressed, he said, “I’m not going to leave you.”

A shiver went through me, and though we sat poised on a new beginning, I looked at our past and what he had done: taken another man’s body to be alive, learned black magic and used it openly, tried to kill Al. He had great power, was as black as me, and he thought he loved me? He hardly knew me. “Pierce, you will.”

“But staying with you is what I wish to do,” he said earnestly, his hand brushing my skin.

A slow smile curved over my face, and I leaned down over him. “No,” I said. “Wishes are lies. Tell me you’re going to leave. Tell me you’re not going to stay. Tell me that it’s only for a while so I can enjoy today,” I whispered in his ear, as if saying it louder would break me. “And when you go, don’t think me cold when I don’t cry. I can’t cry anymore, Pierce. It hurts too much.”

He pulled me closer, and I shifted to lay beside him, his arms twined around me. “I cannot stay,” he lied for me, eyes averted. “I’m only going to be here for a time, then leave you.” His gaze met mine. “And I will cry when I go, because I could love you forever.”

My eyes were wet, and he brushed my hair from my face, wiping the tears from me as I heard in his voice that he didn’t believe anything he had said but the last bit. I searched his gaze, emotionally spent, though nothing had happened. His eyes closed and he leaned in. His mouth met mine, and he delved deep, his tongue finding mine in a way I’d never imagined from him.

I will cry when I go echoed in my thoughts, and I tightened my hold on him. Because I could love you forever.

It was what I was down to. It was all I could accept, all I could give.

So I gave myself to the now, to the only thing I had. I moved suggestively against him, and his hand found my hip, the other sliding upward to cup a breast. Oh God, he was leaving tingles everywhere, his fingertips raising gooseflesh as he created a ley-line imbalance between us. “Pierce,” I said breathlessly as he pulled me closer and gently kissed my neck.

He was touching me, running his hands on my back, but he wasn’t moving forward with what I really wanted to do. “Pierce!” I said more urgently as he found my breasts again.

“What,” he said, clearly preoccupied, but if he didn’t do more, I was going to scream.