Serpent Kings Dream, Too

                                    

                                          
Post-book/late addition. Please enjoy this previously unpublished chapter, which I wrote from Salazar's POV.
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We are dressed formally, though not in any fashion from my time
Nor of hers
And where are we? 
I couldn't begin to guess ...
We've hopped back and forth so many times, if I stop to think about it, my head will spin
The furnishings of the room we presently find ourselves in - a small study - perfectly match us in formality and elegance
Having shut the door behind us and locked it, she now turns to me and smiles knowingly, "... Missed me, haven't you?"
And because I simply can't help myself, I pull her into my arms, my own hands finding their way around her and onto the ties of her gown, "You simply have no idea ..."
You don't
You really don't
I've spent an eternity missing you
Laughing into my neck, I feel her hands tug my shirt up and out of my trousers, which she now quickly unfastens, "I hate old clothing -"
Smiling against her, I quip back, "I hate new clothing -"
Because
What's old for her, new for me
That never changes
Both laughing now, we begin to kiss quickly, impatiently 
A thousand years makes you impatient, after all
Particularly when the Devil makes you replay it half a dozen or more times
... That's over six thousand years I've waited in total, if one's keeping track
But I'm not complaining
I'd do it all over again
Just as I know I'll keep doing it
She and I
Together and apart, together and apart
Until I draw my final breath
Call me 'the man who runs forever forward'
Because she's what's forward
She's my forever
My everything
Feeling giddy and eager to tease, I murmur to her, my lips pressed against her collarbone, "Tell me ..."
"Mmm?"
"Tell me what you hate about old clothing ..."
I already know the answer, of course
I've heard it from her lips time and time again:
... The long gowns ...
But still I ask
Because what's familiar to me, unknown to her -
And I live for hearing her say anything
"The long gowns," she sighs into my jaw, shaking her head as she does so
"What's wrong with long, Maitia?"