“No. But he knows that Olympia and I aren’t exactly the best of friends. He might think I don’t care or, because of you, he might assume I already know,” I told him, and he nodded, staring at his hands. “Dante, if you need to go to her…”
“I’m where I need to be,” he replied.
His hand found mine and our fingers entwined as we gazed up at the stars above. We sat in silence for a moment, then he reached inside his jacket with his other hand and removed a package wrapped in glittering green. A golden bow was tied beautifully across it. It sparkled in the starlight as he handed it to me.
“For you,” he told me.
“You didn’t have to—“
“Open it.”
Biting my lip, I let go of his hand and tore into the package. Inside was a small, leather-bound book. I pressed my hand against the cover, tracing the rivets of the letters engraved there.
“Prima’s Journal,” I breathed. “How did you—“
“I’ve had half a dozen acolytes working on it for weeks now,” he told me. “Now you can find even more boring passages to assault my subconscious with next time we spar.”
He’d meant it as a joke but I could see the effort this had taken. He’d had to lie to several of the most pious members of society,for one thing. He’d probably told them I needed it for the Trials or that Cosmo had ordered this edition made for me. But really, he’d simply thought I would like it. He’d noticed the time I spent studying legends and histories with Milo, the interest I’d shown in the passages from Prima’s journal in particular. Maybe he’d even been listening one of the times I’d complained about having to visit Cosmo to actually read the thing. So he’d done this. For me.
I inhaled sharply, unexpected tears pricking my eyes as I turned away from him.
“Shit. I knew it wasn’t a good idea,” he cursed. “Is it still too complicated? Bria said you’ve been doing better and, with how much time you were spending with Milo, I thought—“
I whirled back around and threw my arms around him. He froze, every muscle in his body going rigid in surprise. Then he relaxed into it and embraced me back. I reveled in the feeling of being held in his strong arms for a moment too long and, when I pulled back, the look in his eyes made me breathless.
“Adrian,” he whispered my name and my lips parted.
He lifted a hand and pushed a stray hazel lock away from my face, tucking it behind my ear.
“We never talked about it,” I breathed.
His jaw tensed. I didn’t have to explain what I meant. He knew.
“Do you want to?” His hand lingered on my neck.
“I-we probably should. Right?”
“We could talk,” he drawled, sliding his hand around to the back of my neck and cupping me there. “Or…”
Or…
He leaned forward. I moved to meet him. Then our lips were crashing together. I slid closer to him so that our knees were touching and angled my head so that my hair cascaded over my shoulder. His mouth worked expertly against mine, applyingpressure to the top, sucking on the bottom. I opened for him and felt his tongue slither inside. I sighed as I wrapped my arms around his neck and he lifted me off the deck. He settled me onto his lap where I straddled him, leaning in to press my lips more fervently against his. After a few minutes of feverish kissing, I pulled away to take a breath. My chest heaved against his own as I looked down at green eyes glazed over with desire.
“So,” he started. The slow creep of his perfectly deep voice slithered over my body as I leaned shamelessly closer. “You liked the book.”
I barked out a laugh, throwing my head back as he held my waist.
“I loved the book,” I told him. “Thank you.”
I met his gaze again, still straddling him.
“As much as I’d love to give you your second birthday gift right here on this porch, your brothers are inside,” he whispered as he nuzzled my neck.
I bit my lip, trying to stifle the sigh working its way to my lips.
“They probably couldn’t actually kick your ass,” I told him. “But they’d definitely try.”
He chuckled against my neck and I shivered against him. He groaned.
