To Eternity by Daisy Banks

pebbles.
    â€œSometimes you manage to take me quite far away,” he said.
    â€œGood. You need to get out of the house more.”
    He laughed and linked his arm through hers. “Shall we dine?”

Chapter 8
    Languid after their extensive meal, they nestled in the back of the car on the short drive to the cricket club. Magnus, his arm around Sian, caught a few smiles in the rearview mirror from the taciturn mechanic, Monty.
    Perhaps he should speak with his few staff regarding their speculation. They appeared to have become a group of romantics. He smiled as he helped Sian out of the car.
    â€œThere’s the gate. Here, I’ll pay the entrance fee tonight,” Sian said.
    â€œIf you so wish.” He glanced at the tall bonfire, and after she paid the donation, accepted her arm laced through his.
    â€œWe can get a glass of mulled wine, sweet toffee popcorn if you want. The fireworks are due to begin in about five minutes.”
    Her infectious excitement raised his smile. “I haven’t tasted mulled wine in an age.”
    Sian led him through the scent of wood smoke from the bonfire. Beyond the fire, the aroma from the hot dog van grew stronger, the smell of fried onions, too, and farther on, a stall selling cinnamon doughnuts laced the air with toasted sugar.
    â€œOh, Magnus, look. Candy floss.” Sian pointed to a stall where the bright pink confection on sticks shuddered in the breeze.
    â€œWould you like some?”
    Her smile curved her cheeks. “Please. Don’t you like it?”
    He shook his head. “I’d prefer to buy it for you. We’ll get some in a bag, rather than on a stick, so it doesn’t blow away, and then we’ll find a spot to stand to get a good view of the fireworks.”
    They did. Ten minutes later, as Sian finished the last of the fluffy, pink candy, and he sipped a glass of warm mulled wine, the first rocket soared into a clear, dark night sky as though it wanted to reach the farthest stars.
    The small crowd of on-lookers responded to each element of the display, children yelled and their parents exclaimed. Sian stood with her back pressed against him, close in his embrace. He rested his chin on her shoulder. A contentment of sharing this experience with her mellowed his usual concerns at being at such a public event.
    The other people offered no sidelong glances and asked no questions. Here, no one knew or guessed his name and lineage. Perhaps Sian was right, and he should take the opportunity to leave the house more frequently. The world had changed a great deal. Rumor of what he was might no longer provoke a threatening mob as it had in his youth.
    He relaxed. Together, he and Sian stood in the same way many couples did, cuddled close, arms entwined, their heads together as the fireworks crackled into the cold night. He’d no doubt the couples around them loved, old or young, newly-wed, or those who’d been together for years. They loved with the knowledge they were free to do so.
    A freedom denied to him and the woman he wanted. He could offer her a snip of happiness, followed by the bitter taste of increasing loneliness if she became like him. Any attempt at an ordinary existence could only be doomed to failure. If he did as she wanted and shared the werewolf curse with her, he would condemn her to days as a she-wolf. Such an existence would hurt her, destroy her joy in life, and it would all be his fault. If she accepted an eternity with him, her friends and colleagues would age, fade and die, but she would remain untouched by the years. Yet each month, she’d suffer the torment of the moon’s savage spell. How could he offer her such a thing?
    He inhaled Sian’s subtle fragrance. A fierce need for her bloomed, not just for this night, or the next, but for all the nights there were or could ever be. This was his woman, his mate. He squeezed her tighter and met her gaze as she tilted her head.
    The whoosh of a