And she needs to say it. Because he needs to hear it. Desperately. And it’s true. Every part of her longs to shout it to the forest below. Somewhere along the way, this broody elven prince stole her heart.
A smile slips over her face as the urge to laugh fills her. His eyes brim with confusion, and she gives in to her mirth, dropping her head back and letting laughter bubble forth.
He tilts his head slightly. “I don’t under—”
“Cerian.” She finds his eyes again. Latches on to his gaze. Those beautiful emerald eyes of his. His heart thunders a comforting thrum in her own chest. That heartbeat that’s been hers since before she understood what it was. “Cerian,” she murmurs again as she clutches the leather over his chest and presses her hand to her own heart. “Yourheart. It was always here. You were always here. Waiting for me. For us. And I—”
“I love you.” The words fly from him, and she gasps.
“You...but...” She shakes her head.
At her response, his eyes darken, and he pulls away, but she holds fast to his leathers.
“Wait. That’s what I was trying to tell you. I love you. Desperately. I think...I think part of me always has. I just didn’t know—”
But before she can finish, he slides his hands along her jaw and crushes his lips to hers. Her heart pounds, and so does his, and if there’s any separation between the beating in their chests, it’s impossible to tell.
And he’s all sparks and berries and...and passion. Kissing her with an aching hunger that leaves every inch of her body buzzing with longing for his kisses. His touch. The sweetness of his plant magic and the heat of his fire.
As if a floodgate has been opened or an inferno has raged to life inside him, he leans into her, into the kiss, until her back presses against the solid trunk of the tree.
She couldn’t move if she wanted to. And she doesn’t want to. She never wants to. This, here, with him—as his kiss leaves her breathless and his warmth sets her whole body shivering—it’s everything. More than everything.
All these layers he’s hidden beneath. She’s fallen in love with each hidden facet. Every strength. Every weakness. Every part of him. Even his scowls.
And that simmering passion he hides.
It’s not simmering anymore. His warm hands slide along her jaw. Dig into her hair. The heat flows from him like a blazing fire that could keep her warm for the rest of her life.
Every second, he grows warmer. Soon, he’ll be too hot to touch. But not yet. For now, he’s hers, and she wants to get lost in him. In his fire and his passion.
Cerian. Always Cerian.
It could never be anyone else.
Don’t Be Afraid
Episode 51
Thiswasnotwhathe had planned. There was supposed to be water.
And then all his walls just crumbled—torn down, little by little, until what remained fell in a heap of rubble and ashes at her feet.
Arisanna.
His human princess.
If a blade could pierce his armor, she alone could wield it.
As she slides her hands along his chest over his leathers, he bites back a moan. He digs his fingers into her hair—the silken bronze threads he’s longed to bury his hands in since...was there ever a time he didn’t? He touched it in the heartlanding, but not like this.
Her perfect rosy lips give way eagerly as he deepens the kiss, and she clings to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing herself against him. His hands slip to her lower back as he draws her even closer.
When her fingers graze his ears, his knees nearly buckle.
Whistling wind. She flicked his ear this morning and rendered him speechless, but her touch now as she pressesagainst him threatens to undo him completely. He can barely think straight.
He can barely think at all.
