I reached up and cupped his face with both hands, my fingers spreading across his jaw like I was trying to memorize him, like I was trying to steal the shape of him and keep it.
“You’re too handsome,” I whispered, deeply offended. “It’s not fair.”
His eyes glinted.
“Is it not?”
“It’s very not,” I confirmed, then sniffed his neck again dramatically. “And you smell good. You’re like… like expensive.”
Theron let out a breath that might have been laughter.
“I am not expensive,” he said.
I nodded seriously.
“Yes, you are.” He shook his head once, then shifted me in his hold. I ended up half on his lap, my legs stretched out. My head against his chest, my fingers idly tracing patterns along his tunic, and in the lantern light, the fabric caught in faint glints.
“This is nice,” I murmured.
“It is dangerous,” he corrected, though his hand slid slowly along my back in a steadying motion that betrayed him.
I tilted my head up, the giddiness fading into something softer again, sadness creeping in around the edges.
“Do you think Atlas misses me?” I asked.
Theron’s gaze held mine for a long moment, and in that lantern light, he looked older than he had in the throne room, not aged in body, but what was behind his eyes. As though he had watched too many people love each other and then lose each other.
“Undoubtedly,” he said.
“How do you know?”I whispered.
His mouth softened, the faintest curve appearing, not smug, not amused, but almost sad.
“A girl like you only comes once in a lifetime,” he said quietly. “And once she does, you are not eager to let her go.”
My chest tightened. I swallowed hard, my eyes growing heavy.
“Aww, that’s sweet,”I whispered, voice slurring slightly. “You’re a big…big stone teddy bear.”
He huffed softly.
“Do not tell anyone else that.”
“I won’t,” I promised, then smiled, my eyes fluttering.
“Your secret is safe with me, handsome.”
My hand slid along his chest again, fingers lazy, content, and I felt him go very still, like he was fighting something in himself. Something instinctive and sharp, held back only by control and honor, and maybe the fact that I was too vulnerable for anything else.
I yawned, my eyes hurting as I tried to keep them open.
“Do you think we’ll be reunited, Atlas and me?”
“Yes,” he murmured.
“Soon?” I pressed, like a child demanding reassurance. Theron’s gaze lowered, his thumb brushing once across my cheek.
“Soon,” he promised.
