Rominy frowns. “They still live?”
“As far as I know. In Celesta. They don’t approve of my mother.”
Rominy lets that sink in. “Why?”
“She’s low born.” Elowyn shrugs. “Grandmera hasn’t spoken to them since my mother was an elfling. They hada falling out when my grandparents took Mother in as their own.”
“That...is horrible.”
“It is. But I don’t wish to dwell on that this morning. Today is a day for being sickeningly sentimental and obsessed with each other.”
Rominy laughs. “I’m pretty sure that describes me every day I spend with you.”
“Then kiss me, my love. Before we go quietly exploring this pebbled beach of yours.”
“The cottage,” he whispers against her lips. “I promised nothing else.”
She sighs. “It was worth a try.”
Fighting a smile, he closes the distance between them as he kisses her with a quiet, slow-burning passion that leaves her warm toes and feet tangling with his beneath their mound of blankets.
It feels good to just let himself love her without guilt filling him, even when her growing heat makes him pull away. “Save that thought for later, all right, love?” he whispers as he presses his forehead to hers. “You need a little more time than that to recover.”
She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. She’s all smoke and waterfalls again. “Show me the cottage?”
“I would love to.”
Anything to distract her from the waiting.
She stretches before pushing back the covers, and his eyes sweep over her. He doesn’t even try to hide it. He has no reason to hide it.
“I definitely want you waking up in my bed like this every morning,” he says. “And I’m pretty sure I flung your clothes in the ocean last night. I would say I’m sorry, but the heartbinding won’t let me.”
The look she gives him, full of contentment and affection as her silver hair hangs in a disheveled mess downher back, warms him to his core. He’ll spend all his days keeping that happiness in her eyes.
Or at least he’ll try.
WhenArisannawakeswithher head on Cerian’s lap on their train as usual, a smile slips across her face. Especially when he looks down at her with his own lips tilting into the sort of smile that harbors shared memories between them. Secrets they’ll never tell anyone else.
“You look happy,” she says softly.
“I am happy.”
“And to think you glared daggers at me the day we met.”
“I don’t know what I was thinking. I should have fallen at your feet right there on the street and begged you to never leave me.”
His words draw out her laughter, as he clearly intended. “Can you imagine if you had actually done that?”
“I believe I would have scared you off worse than I did.”
“You would have.”
“You’re too far away down there,” he says as he runs his thumb over her ear.
After considering his words, she pushes herself to a sitting position and straddles his lap, draping her arms over his shoulders. “Is this better?”
“So much better.”
