“What do you intend, after I retrieve it?” I found myself asking.
She hesitated.
“I’ve already given my word I will not attempt to take it from you.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
She stepped inside.
“Retrieving the Stone of Mor’Vallis is essential if balance is to be restored.”
“Also not what I asked.”
I closed the distance between us. I considered grabbing a fistful of Lyra’s hair, holding her head in place, and crushing her lips with a kiss so consuming it would leave no doubt who in this chamber wanted the other.
Instead, I waited for her to take the next step toward me.
Say it, Lyra. Tell me why you’re really here.
She either thought so little of my intelligence that Lyra had no notion I’d worked out her true purpose, or she couldn’t bring herself to say it aloud.
Her gaze dipped just slightly to my mouth.
“If you mean to distract me from my question?—”
“I mean nothing of the sort,” she quipped. “Your closeness is simply… distracting.”
Just one touch.
I reached up, brushing my knuckles along her cheek. “When I did this before, how did it make you feel?”
Her cheek was so very smooth.
Lyra swallowed.
“Tell me,” I said, the question in my tone replaced by a more commanding one.
She licked her lips. “It felt like… I didn’t want it to stop.”
Wiping her lower lip dry with my thumb, I tugged it down until her mouth opened.
“You take orders well for someone unaccustomed to it.”
Her eyes flashed. Lyra’s instinct was to refute me… to deny she would ever take an order from me, a Gyorian.
“Voren vel’kora,” I said, holding her gaze before pulling my hand away.
Lyra’s mouth closed. Neither of us spoke. Or moved. Instead, we stood toe to toe, our breathing syncing.
“What does it mean?” she asked finally.
It was bad enough I’d uttered the ancient Gyorian phrase without thinking.
“When you speak your own full truth, perhaps I’ll tell you.”
With that, I spun from her and left the solar. Not because I wished to make a dramatic exit, but because, if I stayed a moment longer, the Stone of Mor’Vallis would remain hidden.
* * *
