“You can’t be there every second of every day.”
“Watch me.” He drops a growly kiss to my shoulder, his determined statement vibrating against the sensitive skin at the base of my neck. His hands drop to my thighs, his thumbs grazing the inside of my legs while his lips travel from my collarbone to my mouth. Warmth spreads through me as I realize where we are, what position we’re in, and how much I don’t want him to stop, even if he’s kissing me in sheer fury about the fact that I was hurt and he wasn’t there to stop it.
I kiss him back, shifting closer to his chest and sighing against his lips. My moan seems to bring him back to himself, but he doesn’t push me away like he did this morning. He picks me up and carries me to the closet, hooking one arm around me after he slides me to my feet in front of the racks of clothing.
He asks, “Which ones?”
I point to a pair of long pants and a new shirt, as well as to the underwear drawer. “I take it the Priestess has replenished my clothing.”
But he’s not interested in where the clothing came from, pulling the underwear onto me, sliding the shirt over my head, and sitting me back on the bed to slip the long pants from my ankles to my thighs. He touches my bare skin every chance he gets. By the time he pulls me into a standing position and drops a kiss on my stomach as he buttons the pants for me, I’m burning all over. Can he rip everything off me now please?
He whispers into my ear. “Soon.”
My knees wobble. “Baelen, there’s more.”
His eyes narrow and tension returns to his body. “How much more?”
“Grayson Glory told me to prepare the gargoyles for surrender. He gave me a month to give myself up. Then he’s going to start killing my Storm Command.”
Fire leaps into life at the back of Baelen’s eyes. “You can’t surrender.”
“I’m going to fight back. I’m going to free my Storm Command. But Baelen… the gargoyles need time to heal. I can’t walk out there tonight and tell them that the Elven Command is planning to take away their freedom after they just got it back. I need time to figure out what I’m going to do.”
“You want to keep this threat from them?”
“Not for long. Just for now.” I chew my lip, expecting him to argue against it.Iwant to argue against it. I verbalize my thoughts before I can second-guess myself. “Howl has only been gone for a day. Families are still trying to find each other. The gargoyles need time to mourn, reconnect, rebuild. And I…”
I swallow hard, twisting my hands in my lap. “I need to bury Cassian. I need to say goodbye too.”
Baelen wraps my hands in his. I thought he would have jumped in already, told me it’s the wrong choice, but he hasn’t. Instead he says, “Grayson Glory gave you a month. The best thing you can do for your… our people… is to take a few days to get your head straight and start planning. If you need to bring some of the gargoyles into the loop, then do that. But when you break this news to them, you need to go to them with a plan. Otherwise, you’ll only bring fear back into their lives.”
I blink away the sudden tears swimming in my eyes. “You’ll help me?”
“Always, baby. But not only me. You have legions of gargoyles with incredible skills behind you. That gargoyle you healed—Llion?—he was the King’s armorer wasn’t he?”
“That’s right.”
“You’ll need his help. And the new High Priestess Talia too. They tell me she has the power to use deep magic to protect gargoyles who are in danger. If you’re thinking of heading back into Erawind, then she needs to be here in your place. How long until she and Llion get back?”
“I’m not sure, but with the babies, I’d say another day at least. That’s if they don’t run into any trouble.”
He levels his eyes with mine. “Then we use that time to plan for war.”
