Terena swallowed, her teeth chattering as her chin trembled. “Daris.”
He slammed his lips back on hers, the long kiss almost painful, snatching her breath. Her fingers dug into his arm and she panicked at the lack of air in her lungs before he pulled back and dropped his forehead to hers.
“I missed you, Ren. So fucking much.”
Daris didn’t give her a chance to respond before he kissed her again, and Terena was grateful for it. Her head spun as heat tore through her body.
“I guess she missed you, too.”
The laughter that followed broke through the haze of Terena’s lust. She pulled back, savoring the desire on Daris’s face before glancing around at the audience they’d drawn.
She dropped her feet to the ground, still holding on to Daris. His hands fell to her waist, tightening his grip, and stared at her as if he could not look away. Terena flushed as she looked around at the leering soldiers, her eyes landing on Hermes, who scowled.
“You’ve got some explaining to do,” she ground out, her fury at the god burning through her desire.
“Well, if you can tear yourself away from the commander long enough for a conversation?—”
Terena sprang forward, ready to launch herself at the god, but Daris’s arm froze her in place. Hermes’s smirk darkened as he arched an eyebrow at her before turning to stalk away. Some of his men followed, others dispersing as Daris shouted out orders.
Terena stepped out of his arms, but he kept one hand on her hip. A shout caught her attention, and she turned, grinning as Melanos came up to her, grabbing her away from Daris as they spun, hugging and laughing.
After setting her down, Terena took a deep breath, wiping her hands down the leather of her breeches. Opening her mouth to launch a thousand questions at the god, she caught movement at her periphery and turned to see Rydon jogging over, Gabriol and Migela at his side.
“Croak’s here, too. They came with Hermes.” The mercenary said as he and the others hugged her in turn.
“Where?” Terena asked, her eyes searching behind them. Rydon and Gabriol exchanged greetings with Daris and Melanos. “Is he all right?”
“He’s fine,” Gabriol grunted, jabbing a thumb behind him. “He’s at the tree line with Orry and Cassandra.”
“Why are they here? How?—”
“Hermes made us come,” Melanos said with a scowl. “We were at Lethe, with Sonah?—”
“Sonah!” Terena cried, grabbing Melanos’s arms. “You found her?”
“Aye,” Melanos said wryly. “She found us. And more besides. We’ve much to catch up on.”
“Is she here? Did you bring her?”
Melanos shook his head. “No, she stayed behind and awaits you. With my Bethana.”
Furrowing her brow, Terena tilted her head. “Bethana?”
“As I said, we’ve much to catch up on.”
Rydon lifted an eyebrow at her, motioning to Daris with a tilt of his head. She felt the heat creep up her neck once more and she scowled.
“Come,” Daris said, slipping his hand into hers and tugged her to follow. “Hermes is heading into the city.”
“Wait,” Terena said, digging in her heels. Daris turned to her impatiently. “I left Nyx across the field,” she added with a scoff. “Let me go?—”
“Rydon,” Daris called over her shoulder. “Have someone?—”
“Oh, no,” Terena huffed a laugh. “No, I’ll be riding on my own.”
Daris gave her a look she was sure he used to intimidate his enemies, but she refused to be cowed. She might be in love with him, despite everything, but he still owed her an explanation. For a lot of things.
The last thing she was going to do, now that she’d gotten her fear and desperation to see him out of the way, was ride off into the sunset with him on his horse.
