“Eira…” Olivin chuckled low. “You may pick the path, and I will beat down any who stand in your way. If you are mine, I will do everything in my power to ensure nothing will work against you.”
She exhaled a soft noise that sounded like relief. It eased her back to him and Eira kissed him gently. Slowly and with purpose. No longer did she feel the need to rush. This wasn’t the last time, but the start of many. His chest expanded to press against hers as he inhaled deeply—as if he were breathing in her worries. Taking them so she no longer had to carry them.
“When I am with you,” she uttered against his lips, “I can’t think of anything else. At first, I thought you would be nothing more than a distraction. An escape.”
“I can be that, if it is all I’m meant to be.”
“But…perhaps…I want more.”
“Say the word, and I will give you it all.” He kissed her again, pulling her lower lip between his teeth and biting gently. A moan escaped her. Loud enough that it brought the world around them back into focus. Even though it was night, there were still others not far.
“This is hardly the time or place.”
A low growl rose in his throat, one he stopped, but it made her want to press her hips against his even further. His hand flew to the back of her head, gripping her hair. “When, then?”
“I don’t know, but soon,” she whispered breathlessly. “Very soon.” The wanting would tear her apart. Knowing he desired her as much as she did him—that this fire was a mutual flame—would make their every interaction torture.
“Andhim?”
The cold of theStormfrostreached her. The chill that permeated the air around it sent a shiver up her spine that had nothing to do with desire, or passion.Him. Cullen. The man she’d once fallen in love with. The man who Eira, for a blissful moment, had seen every day of her future with. A fantasy that now seemed like little more than the musings of a naive girl. And yet…
Yet…
Her heart couldn’t let go of him. He was the measure of her. He was where the compass stopped spinning and she found a heading. Where Olivin was untamed, unending possibility, Cullen was order and purpose. They both held a piece of her that she didn’t want them to give back.
“I’m not ready to let him go yet—I don’t know if I want to,” she admitted. Lying was going to get her nowhere. “I’m still learning who I am, and until I know that, I cannot tell either of you who or what I want.”
“It’s all right.” He leaned up to plant an almost chaste kiss on her lips. If such a thing were possible, given how tightly her legs were wrapped around his hips. “I can share for a while longer.”
“Are you sure?” she murmured, fingers trailing over his face, wondering how she’d struck such luck.
“These emotions are complicated. This decision is important—when you make it, I want you to be certain.” Olivin locked eyes with hers. There was no doubt. If anything, understanding. As if he, too, had experienced young and great loves. As if he knew the confusion and enthusiasm of passion beyond just her. Relief flooded her at the understanding.
“Thank you.”
He nodded. “All I need from you, is to still know you need me. All I want is your time, your smiles, your kisses whenever you might grant them to me.” Olivin ran his fingertips lazily up and down her spine. “I don’t need your forever. Not yet. Maybe someday we will be in a place where I would come to expect it—when I have earned you being mine, wholly mine. But, for now, just grant me tomorrow. Each day, I will show you why you should grant me the next day…and the day after that…”
“I think that much I can do.”
“Good.” He leveled his eyes with her. “Then, may I kiss you until dawn?”
A sly smirk curled one corner of her mouth. She repeated, this time far more coy, “I think that much I can do.”
28
The next morning, Adela didn’t summon them for training. The day started almost leisurely. Eira had hardly slept more than a wink. But, oddly, she didn’t feel tired. She expected she should have. Especially given all the events of the previous day—how exhausted she was following the battle with the lutenz of Carsovia.
But Olivin’s hands—his mouth had given her life. The energy she’d lost had been restored to her and then some. Her skin still tingled from where he touched her. Even as the others began moving, she lounged in her hammock, blinking lazily into the morning’s first light.
Her breath hitched when they locked eyes. Olivin gave her a slight smirk and said nothing, starting for the galley. Eira wore a smile of her own as she finally roused. It was as if she had a delightful secret meant for only her.
She spent most of the day on deck. When it was clear that Adela wasn’t going to lead them in morning training, Eira took charge and guided her friends through their usual paces. No one seemed to question her stepping up to the task. Everyone did exactly as she told them.
After lunch, they continued along with regular tasks they’d been helping with. Eira was beginning to learn the ins and outs of theStormfost. She was familiar with how the riggings sounded when the winds shifted and either the sails or magic guiding them needed to be adjusted. She could almost feel the slight groan, deep within the ship, as if it were in her own stomach, when the rudder met resistance from unexpected currents. Without thought, instruction, or permission, Eira exerted a little bit of magic to influence the seas beneath them and get the vessel back on course.
The day was sunny. Beautiful, really. The air out at sea was crisp and clean. The horizon seemed to whisper possibility no matter where one looked.
Yet…one significant piece was missing to it all.Adela.
