“You came back,” he said, and cursed himself for how rough the words sounded. Like he’d been counting the hours since she left. Which he had, but she didn’t need to know that.
“I said I would.”
“People say a lot of things.”
She tilted her head, and he watched the morning light play across the pearlescent skin covering her cheekbones. “Is that your way of saying you’re happy to see me?”
“It’s my way of saying you should be more careful,” he said roughly. “The cliffs are dangerous. The currents are unpredictable. If something happened to you?—”
He stopped, realizing he was revealing too much.
Her expression softened. “I was born for the water, remember?”
“That doesn’t make you immortal.”
“No.” She reached his side and looked up at him, and something in her eyes made his breath catch. “But some things are worth the risk.”
His beast roared its approval. Every instinct screamed at him to reach for her, to pull her close, to claim her with his mouth and hands until she understood that she belonged to him. Instead, he turned away, jaw tight.
“Lilani’s still sleeping,” he said. “She wore herself out yesterday, asking every five minutes when you were coming back.”
“She’s very sweet.”
“She’s relentless. Once she decides she likes something, she doesn’t let go.” He paused, feeling the weight of the warning he needed to deliver pressing against his chest.Tell her,his rational mind urged.Tell her that Lilani is getting attached. Tell her that you’re getting attached. Tell her that this can only end in pain.
But when he opened his mouth, different words came out.
“I could use your help with something.”
She blinked. “Of course. What do you need?”
“There’s a solar array on the cliffside, just above the cave. I’ve been meaning to repair it for months, but the position requires someone smaller to reach the damaged panels.” He glanced at her slender form. “Someone with nimble fingers.”
“A solar array?”
He couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at his lips when he saw her surprised expression. “Did you think I lived entirely like a primitive? Without any technology at all?”
“I… Well, yes. Honestly.”
“Most of the time, I prefer it. The old ways are simpler. But there are some things that require power.”
“What things?”
“I need to send a message to the elder I mentioned. The one who might know about the echo-pipe.” He started walking towards the cliff path, and she fell into step beside him. “I wasn’t anxious to restore power to the communicator since I had no intention of requesting help from my past.”
“But you’re willing to do it now?”
He stopped and turned to face her. The morning sun backlit her figure, turning her wet hair into a dark halo and making her skin glow softly. She looked like something sacred. Something precious.
“For you,” he said quietly. “Yes.”
Her breath caught, and he watched a flush of violet ripple across her skin.
“Valrek—”
“Come. The array is this way.”
He turned and began climbing before she could say whatever she’d been about to say. Before she could ask questions he didn’t know how to answer.
