“Never.” He presses his forehead to mine, our lips so close. “I won’t forsake you, Emma.”
I want to believe that so badly, but still, I don’t know if I can bring myself to give him a glimpse of all that pain. The times I hated Solano so badly it hurt. The times I took Eraldon’s blood. The times he touched me, held me, made empty promises I was desperate to believe.
“This burden is too heavy for you to carry alone.” Solano’s so alive, so strong and warm. So very different than the bleak image Eraldon tried to force into my mind. That’s … exactly what he did. He forced me. A wave of nausea hits me, and I lean over, folding myself in half as Solano keeps me safe in his arms.
“Everything he did was a violation.” Solano keeps his tone level, but I can still feel sparks of his fury. He’s trying to keep it hidden.
“You don’t have to hide it. I feel it, too.” It’s all inside—fury, rage, an anger that will never be satisfied until Eraldon is sent to the Spires. I can’t keep it contained, not when I think back to how he turned me, how he kept me close and poisoned my mind and body again and again.
“Shh.” It takes the stroke of Solano’s hand down my back to bring me out of it, to make me realize I’m sobbing in his arms. “I was so weak.” I can barely get the words out. “There was this small part of me that kept trying to tell me about you. It burrowed so deep that I couldn’t get rid of it. I thought it was a lie, a false memory or perhaps some sort of a spell. But all along it wasme.” I wanted to kill that little voice, that niggling feeling. I wanted to rip it out and tear it to pieces with my fangs. But it was me all along. Me. I don’t know why that hits me so hard, but it does. Eraldon corrupted me so badly that I didn’t recognize myself.
“But I recognized you.” Solano rubs my back, one of his hands trailing along my wing. “You haven’t changed into something I don’t love, Emma.”
“I gave in.” I sit up and catch his golden gaze. “I didn’t fight hard enough. I’m weak.”
“You are forged from the heart of Arin.” He cups my cheeks. “A changeling, a witch, a seeker—has there ever been a fiercer creature in all of this world?”
I blink, sending a freshet of tears cascading down. “Dragons seem pretty mean, to be honest.”
He smiles. “There’s my queen. My beautiful mate with her amusing tongue.”
“Just amusing?”
“I’ve found it to be quite wicked, as well.” He leans closer to me and kisses me softly.
“Can we wait?”
“Of course.” He backs off.
“No.” I grip his shoulders and pull him back to me. “Not on this. I don’t want to wait for this.” I move my hips and feel how hard he is beneath my thighs. “I mean, can we wait on me showing you what happened?”
“Of course.” He looks around, as if seeing his chambers for the first time. “It might be best if we do it somewhere else. The last time I was here, I got—” He wrinkles his brow and looks up, as if trying to think of the right word. “Let’s say ‘upset’, and I sort of torched the entire room. Dilrubin put it back to rights, but I probably shouldn’t make him do it all again.”
“Definitely not.” I sigh with relief. “I rather like Dilly, so let’s be nice.”
“I’d like to be nice to you, mate, if you’ll allow it.” He kisses me again, this time with a bit more urgency. But not pushy. No, Solano always seems to know how to kiss me just right.
I welcome his touch. Reveling in his warmth, I return his kiss, my arms wrapping around his neck as we reacquaint ourselves with each other. It should be awkward, strange, even impossible, but it isn’t. Being with Solano is like breathing. Necessary and safe.
“What a lovely thought.” He turns and lays me on the bed, my wings tucked beneath me. “Like breathing, am I?”
“Don’t get cocky.” I pull him down, needing to feel all of him against me.This is real, I tell myself and try to shut out the dark memories.
“Very real.” He nestles between my thighs, his hard length snug against my sex.
I want to stay like this, just the two of us, forever. No war, no judgment. Only peace. But I know that the peace I seek can only be found after we deal with Eraldon and his horde. Fighting is the only way forward.
“That will wait. All of it can wait, Emma.” His words are gentle as he stares down at me with nothing short of adoration in his eyes. “This is about us. The two of us and our bond.”
I nod. “I want this. You. Always.”
“Forever.” He claims my lips again, his fangs lengthening as we kiss.
Before long, I’m tearing at his clothes, needing to see every inch of his golden skin. He removes my shift, then prowls between my thighs and pulls my panties down slowly.
“Solano, please,” I whimper. “I need you.”
“Not as much as I need you.” He tosses my panties aside and looks me over, his gaze like a touch on my skin. “Flawless, my queen.”
