Somehow, without conscious thought, he had moved away from the foot of the bed and was standing at the window. Italy had not changed as much as people seemed to believe. It was very much the same as it had been that day long ago when he had first met the woman destined to be his mate.

It was still crowded, noisy, and with the exception of the exhaust from vehicles, it even seemed to smell the same, but if one looked past the outskirts of the city, to the rolling hills covered in fields, it seemed even less different. Staring out there, time seemed to have stopped.

He remembered running through fields of wild grass located in the outskirts Rome, much like those he stared at now, that day long ago. He had followed her there without thinking. She could have taken him to the gates of Hades itself and he would not have given it a second thought.

Truth was, he had not even bothered to check where they were going and had only stopped and pondered that question when she stopped in the middle of a field of wildflowers with nothing else in sight.

His eyes had only left hers for a brief moment. “Where are we?”

Her laugh had filled the air around him, eyes twinkling and she said nothing and just sat, tugging at his arm so he would follow suit. Although she had no hope of actually drawing him down, he sat next to her in a graceful, fluid motion. Then, it was her turn to stare.

Sitting still as a statue, he just let her take in his appearance. Truth was he looked like a figure carved out of stone as he waited for her to do or say something, not that he was in a hurry. Several minutes passed before she reached out with her delicate fingers and tentatively reached for his cheek, but at the last minute, she drew her hand back and smiled a bit sheepishly at him.

“May I?”

He had laughed at her hesitation since it was something she had not displayed up to this point. “Of course.”

For a moment he wondered if she would feel revulsion at the cold feel of his hard skin. Yes, she had held his hand, but allowing her free-range to touch his face was a different story. When her fingers rested against his cold, hard cheek, he closed his eyes and let out a soft breath. Her smell was intoxicating.