Yelena laughed softly. "The servants shouldn't be too much longer with food. Thank you for coming."
"Thank you for inviting me. It stopped me from charging up here and being an ass again just to get your attention," he said and looked around the room. The piles of books had changed places, and pieces of paper were scattered over her large desk.
"I'm rather tired of us fighting, Valentine. Is there something I can do to fix that?" she asked, straight to the point. "Or do you need to yell at me some more?"
Valentine's throat tightened, and he forced himself to swallow. "You don't need to do anything. In fact, I have made you something as my way of apologizing."
"Apologizing for what part?" Yelena asked, raising a brow.
Valentine sighed. "All of it. I'm not good at apologies. I think actions speak louder than words anyway, so this is... Here."
He held out the bundle of silk to her, and Yelena took it.
"Is this the mysterious project you have been working on since you rescued us?" She carried the bundle over to her desk and set it down.
"It's been a good way to keep the dragon and my magic busy." Valentine followed her carefully, not wanting to crowd her, but needing to see what she thought of the gift. "I got it as far as I could without your help."
"Now, you have me intrigued," she said and began to unwrap the silk. When the hand was finally revealed, she exhaled a soft, "Oh." She rested her good hand on her chest, and nervous sweattrickled down Valentine's spine. "It's so beautiful. You really made this? For me?"
Valentine nodded. "Yes. I...I thought about the story of Nuada and his silver hand and how your magic might be changed from losing yours. Ah, these sketches under it, they are some of the designs I have been working on."
He spread out the sheaves of paper in front of her. "I would have to tattoo it over your wrist, and then the magic will help bond the hand so it will be able to work as a real one would. I need your help perfecting them because your magic needs to be threaded through the sigil to flow properly through the silver. You always make my spells work better anyway."
Valentine froze as Yelena pulled him into a hug. His nose was flooded with her scent, and the hot press of her body up against him made him dizzy. It didn't stop him from putting his arms around her.
"Thank you, Valentine. I've never seen anything so lovely," she said, her words warm against his neck.
I have, he thought, and breathed in the scent of her hair.
"It seemed like a fair deal to make you a new hand after costing you your last one," he said, his long fingers stroking the length of her spine. He usually hated hugs that lasted longer than ten seconds, but he didn't have the compulsion to let someone go for the first time in his life. Something about Yelena's energy wasn't intrusive like everyone else's was.
"I know you think I didn't trust you after my vision, but the opposite is true," Yelena whispered. "I went willingly into that trap because I knew you would come for me. I had to trust that you didn't hate me as much as it seemed, and that it wouldn't matter how angry you were, that you would find Avallach and me."
Valentine's hand stilled on her back. It was like the knife that had been lodged in his chest for weeks was finally pulled all theway out. He buried his face into her neck and dragged her up against him.
"Thank you for telling me. I thought that you didn't trust me at all, and that I would hand everyone over to Midir. I jumped to the worst possible conclusion, like always," he said.
Gods, she smelled so good he wanted to just breathe and breathe and breathe.
"You are one of theonlypeople I have ever trusted. Please, let's not fight anymore unless it's about magic. Then I imagine we will fight and argue quite a bit," she replied, her hand tracing his lower back.
He fought the urge to arch like a cat against the light caress. His dragon surged to the surface, and she halted the touch, sensing the change in him.
"Why do you always smell so good? I can smell the wild on you, dragon," he growled. He dragged his teeth up her soft neck, making her whimper.
"I only smell power on you," she whispered. "Magic is seeping out around you, making the air taste of spice and stone."
Valentine's tongue brushed against the flickering pulse of her jaw, the taste of her making him hard. He needed to step away, to take his hands off her. He had almost lost her before he knew what he had, and now he couldn't let her go. "Tell me to stop."
"I don't want you to stop," Yelena said, scraping her teeth against the scar she’d made on his throat. "I want to break you apart and see what's inside."
Valentine's fingers tightened in the weave of her braid, and he pulled her head back so he could stare into her brilliant diamond eyes.
"Only if you show me what's inside of you, Yelena Caelan. How is it that a dragon, a creature of pure fire, can create ice like you do? How could you freeze your body and not die?"
Yelena's eyes turned silvery white with magic. She laughed, and it wasn't the tinkling bright sound Valentine had heard from her before. It was husky and deep, and it slithered over his skin, making his hands on her tighten.
"You are going to have to earn some of those answers, sorcerer," she purred.
