“Is it?” Aydra teased, head tilting. “You told me earlier you enjoyed talking to her… Look me in the eyes and tell me you’re not already falling for her,” she said, and Nadir stilled.
“Tell me that the thought of leaving her tomorrow doesn’t make your heart hurt,” she went on. “That you will go back to your home and not think about her again.”
Nadir’s throat bobbed as he toyed with the fabric, and Aydra smiled softly in response.
“Broken hearts aren’t just for women,” she said. “Careful, Commander.” She started to turn, her hand slipping into Draven’s—
“Why tell me to stay away from her?” Nadir wondered aloud.
Aydra paused, and she met Draven’s gaze for a single moment, before turning back to Nadir. “Because I fear what this war could do to you both.” She nodded at him slowly. “Goodnight, Commander.” Her gaze landed on Dorian who hadn’t moved from the floor.
“Try to behave tonight?” she asked of him.
He scoffed and raised his pipe to his lips. “When do I not?”
Draven’s hand glided over Aydra’s waist, and she shook her head at him as the pair left out of the room.
Nadir clapped his hands in front of him, almost nervously, as though he was expecting Dorian to say something about his going back to Nyssa.
It delighted Dorian to see him squirming.
“Yeah, I’ll… I’ll just be going…” Nadir fumbled, avoiding Dorian’s eyes as he started toward the door.
“Hey, Naddi?” Dorian called out.
Nadir swiveled on his heel, hand on the door knob. “Yeah?”
Dorian moved to his feet, taking his pipe with him. “You don’t seem like the type of man my sister usually consorts with,” he commented. “At least you know what it means to be a true leader, and maybe that’s worth something, especially for the man who might one day stand at my sister’s side. But you should know…” Dorian paused, stepping toward the fireplace. He picked up the poker and began prodding at the wood. “…The last man that broke my sister’s heart ended up paralyzed from the waist down after I threw him from this very window,” he said, pointing to the one by the servants’ entrance.
Nadir stared at him, eyes narrowing. “Is that your attempt to scare me into not going back to her?”
Dorian chuckled. “Fuck no,” he replied. “By all means, you’re the first being to make her scream. Please, enjoy her while you’re here.” He stuffed the poker back into its holder. “I was just letting you know what happens if you fuck with us.”
A slow smile spread on the Commander’s lips. “I cannot wait to get you into this war, Prince.”
“Neither can I,” Dorian agreed. “Night, Commander.”
Nadir nodded, clapped the doorway twice, and then left the room.
CHAPTER THIRTY
“WHERE ARE YOU taking me, Princess?” Nadir asked as he followed Nyssa through the halls.
“It’s my favorite place to watch the sunset,” she said as she tugged on his hand. “Figured you’re only here for the one day. You may as well see the most beautiful sunset in Haerland while you’re here.”
“Debatable,” he said. “I would argue the most beautiful sunset is at the Edge.”
She smirked back at him and met his softened eyes watching her instead of where they were going. “Fairy tales, Commander,” she teased.
They passed around the corner into a darkened hallway then, and suddenly, he pulled her backward into his arms. The wall met her back, and his mouth sank onto hers. She practically melted into his grasp at the tantalizing way his tongue slid against hers, and how his hand tugged just so on the roots of the hair at her neck.
She was lost for countless moments before they parted. She had to blink a few times just to bring herself to the present. His fingers brushed her cheek, and he pushed her hair back.
“Every time you smile at me like that, I want to be inside you,” he whispered. “I want to hear that catch in your throat and your soft whimper when you’re trying to stop yourself from falling apart.”
She didn’t know what to say. No one had ever talked to her as he did—as though he needed her like he needed to live. The dilation in his gaze made her lungs cave. She grasped his shirt in her fists, lifted her chin, and stood on her toes until she reached his face.
“Inside me then,” she whispered against his lips.
