She groaned, sitting up and pushing him off her. He hopped onto the blankets beside her and lay down.
Eva paused in the midst of stretching. "Wait. You're supposed to be with Caden. If you're here—"
Excitement darted through her as Eva searched the shadows. She threw the blanket off her, the fire fox jumping out of the way and letting out a yip as if to chide her for being rude.
Eva ignored him, her gaze bypassing and then locking on a section of the tent that was just a bit darker than the rest.
Eva caught the curve of his shoulder first. Then the hilt of one of the many weapons she knew he kept on him at all times.
There was a reason Caden and his subordinates were often called ghosts by the rest of the Trateri. They had a talent for going unnoticed—at least until they made themselves seen.
Caden was their commander. The best of the bunch.
Eva would never have spotted him if he hadn't made a slight shift, the movement drawing her attention like a magnet.
His stillness made her question how long he'd been there, watching her sleep. Would he have stayed there until morning if the fire fox hadn't woken her?
The fire fox hopped off the upraised pallet made from rugs and thick blankets stacked one on top of another that comprised Eva's bed. He trotted toward Caden, barking once before bypassing the entrance in favor of worming under the wall.
Eva waited until the tip of his tails disappeared before returning her attention to Caden. Her gaze caressed the lines of his shape, the yearning she'd buried over the past few days filling her chest.
She'd missed him. The steady comfort of his company. His warmth beside her at night. That way he had of looking at her, like now, as if she was his moon and stars. The reason for his existence.
"Did you have fun?" Eva's voice was low in the dark.
Caden was a man used to action. It couldn't have been easy wasting his time away in the valley. Peace was bound to get boring after a while.
Sometimes she feared she was being selfish asking him to remain with her. That one day he'd look at her and regret all the things he'd given up.
It was something that haunted her. An inner demon that tried to chip away at her anytime she grew careless.
Caden crossed the short distance to stand by her bed, his features cast in shadows. Eva didn't need light to know her lover. She'd recognize him even in the complete darkness that only existed in the bowels of the earth.
He had an aura that was uniquely his. A presence in her mind that couldn't be mistaken for anyone else.
Eva didn't know if what the Kyren had done to save Caden from death had changed him in some way or if her abilities had grown. But for her, he carried the same signature as a mythological.
Caden stayed silent as he brushed his hand across the blankets toward Eva, stopping only when the tips of his fingertips skimmed the skin of her knee.
Eva closed her eyes, corralling the pulse of desire that wanted to overtake her.
Passion wasn't only about the physical. Sometimes it started in the mind, fed and grown by each small action until finally a simple touch or look ignited it.
"I would have preferred to be with you." Caden's voice penetrated the dark and Eva got the sense he was watching her in much the same way a fox would a mouse it wanted to devour.
Her breath was shaky as she licked her lips. She needed to focus. There were things they needed to discuss and that wouldn't happen if she gave into the magnetic pull humming between them.
"Find out anything interesting?" Eva asked.
A sigh came. One that spoke of weariness and frustration.
Eva shifted so Caden could take a seat. His shoulder brushed hers, the warm press of his skin threatening to sidetrack her again.
"I don't know what we found," he said.
Eva waited, knowing it was pointless to rush him. He'd speak when he was ready.
Sensing his fatigue, Eva maneuvered until she was kneeling behind him. She reached up and dug her fingers into his shoulders.
