“When I finally held you, there was this force of energy that swept through our bodies. I’ll never forget it, Gwen. It gave me the strength to endure, and I think it started your heart anew. It couldn’t have beaten so long without air. Not for the time it took me to find you and reach the shore.”

“But it was beating?”

“Aye, barely.” He rubbed his fingers through his hair, as if willing the feelings away. “I gave you breath till the water released from your lungs. ’Tis a wonder your ribs didn’t break from the pressure I used.”

“How did you know what to do?”

“Logic. And I swore they’d not have you,” he said, grabbing her shoulders. “I brought you back myself.” He was lost again in emotions from that night. “Your life, your very spirit, I fought for as never before—and ’tis forever mine, Gwendolyn.” He must have realized he was gripping her out of fear and anger, and he pulled her back into his arms.

Gwen leaned against him. “How did this happen, Greylen?”

“I’ve no answer, Gwen,” he said, shaking his head. “I only know, I’ve waited years to have you.”

“I used to dream about you, Greylen,” she whispered. “Every night, I had the same dream over and over again. I couldn’t make out your features in the shadows. I couldn’t feel the heat of your lips or body. I couldn’t even hear the sounds we made. You made love to me again and again, but I never felt what I feel now. I always woke up with this giant ache that never went away.”

“I suffered the same, Gwen,” he whispered.

“You had the dream too?” she asked, wiping her eyes.

“Aye.”

“They started on my twenty-third birthday, Greylen. How old were you?”

“Eight and twenty, on the eve of my birth as well.”

“That was five years ago for both of us. Why do you think it happened at the same time?”

“My mother told me of the prophecy when I was three and twenty,” he explained. “I always repeated the words in my head, but one morning as I watched the sunrise, I recited them. The dream started that night.”

She smiled. “You unlocked the dream.”

“Aye, I suppose I did.”

“You stole my heart and body, Greylen, even then.”

He pushed the hair from her eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me, Gwen?” he asked. “I never would have—”

She pressed her hand against his lips as her face heated profusely. “I wouldn’t change the way you made love to me for anything, Greylen,” she said, cutting him off. She so did not want to have this conversation. Ever.

He didn’t press her further, then Greylen gave her a squeeze. “Let’s go to the shore. ’Tis almost dawn.”

“Race ya,” she said, smiling as she pulled away.

He grinned. “You haven’t a chance.”