“How you Look doesn't matter to me!" He assured her fervently, trying to speak to the true presence he could feel around him rather than the dreamt illusion before him. "So long as you are truly the woman I have come to know you as, nothing else matters to me.”

She did not sound convinced.

“You say that now but..."

“I mean it! Please, understand I do not place you under some idle illusion of perfection! Your forceful nature, how stubborn you can be, they only make me love you more! If I can't be your husband, if whatever race you belong to does not practice that rite, I will accept that, so Long as you Let me be a part of your Life! Please-" his voice cracked and he felt some shame for pleading like this, but his ego was far from a current priority. Rather the silence that ensued worried him, as he realized that referring to her as forceful and stubborn may not have been the best way of proposing to her.

Her laugh finally eased his tension.

“Be careful darling, compliments like that could make me want to punish you in all sorts of ways," she accented with the wry, sexy tone she liked to use when teasing him, before her voice turned warmer, "I know I have been stubborn tonight with all these questions, but truly... my greatest desire from the start has been to have you say these things to me, and to make you all mine..."

He wasn't sure if she meant as a husband, lover, or sex toy, but he really didn't care either. So long as she loved him and stayed with him, it was enough.

“And I assure you..."

He felt a pleasant tingle as her voice seemed to get closer.

“While I am the woman you know, I am also much more, especially when it comes to making Love. You see for women like me, marriage is taken more seriously than it is by most humans. The greatest of my passions are reserved for my husband, my mate, alone."

“For women... like you?" He repeated, the indication of how much she had been holding back during these trysts both exciting and intimidating him a bit.

“Come to me, and see for yourself. If you truly wish to know me, if you burn for me as I burn for you, come and I will reveal to you everything..."

Her sweet, beautiful voice now lulled his mind into a stupor, but her words still embedded themselves firmly into his memory.

“Leave the village by morning, and travel south along the main road and then into the forest until you reach the border of the Great

Labyrinths. I will wait for you there. It's only about half a day's journey there but be sure to pack enough for staying the night.”

Her instructions caused a sudden panic to pull him out of the mental daze she had placed him in. "B-but h-how will I find you? And why there? That area is huge, and it's a maze of canyons, streams and caverns. Plus there's the forest, how-"

He felt a finger on his lips and her sweet titter filled his ears.

"Shh, just trust me, Like a good little boy," she teased, then added with a hungered longing, “I will find you, I will answer your questions, and then we will be mated. Here there are too many people around us, I want to be assured that there are no interruptions. To do that I must make sure our rendezvous site is ready by warning away anyone who might cause either of us problems. Now return to your dreams my pet, you will need to be rested for what's to come.”

She kissed him once more and with that she was gone. The mental image he had made of the beautiful woman remained, but no longer were the sensations of her body so intense, and no more did he feel her presence as he had when Serafina was voicing the vision.

She had left him once again, and he was stunned at the feelings of loss and loneliness that filled him. He had told her he loved her, maybe he hadn't worded it in the best of ways but still she had said she loved him too hadn't she?! So why did she have to leave? Why did they have to meet out in the wilderness?! And why did she refer to him as "little boy"?!