By the time he finally turned to me, I’d finished my food.
“Are you going to eat?” I asked.
For a moment, his eyes darkened, but he blinked away the illusion.
“I guess.” Tol sat at the desk, finishing the entire serving in only a few minutes, picking up both of our bowls, and setting them on the tray.
Then, he moved toward me—toward the bed we were meant to share.
Every step he took rattled through my bones, a tingling awareness ofhimheightening. He reached behind his neck to tug his shirt off in one smooth motion. Without breaking eye contact with me, he unbuttoned his pants, dropping them down his legs so he stood in only his undershorts.
“More comfortable to sleep,” he explained, voice husky.
“Mm-hmm,” I hummed, hot beneath his stare. I scrambled to the pillow, scooting between the cool sheets, doing everything to avoid looking at the lower half of his body.
The bed dipped as he laid beside me, our arms barely brushing each other.
Every hair on my body stood up. Chirping crickets and hoots of owls drifted through the window, but my heartbeat drowned them out.
Tolek rolled onto his side, facing me. “What are you thinking about?”
I considered the storm of worries weighing down my bones, but picked one thread from memory that was truly the least of my concerns. “Are you sleeping with anyone?”
“That’s what’s on your mind right now?” His brows flicked up.
“Yes,” I admitted, unashamed.
He searched my face for a hint of a joke before answering. “No, Ophelia, I’m not.”
I turned onto my side, too, only a few inches separating us. “Not even someone casually?” He shook his head. “No one from Renaiss?” Another shake. “Honestly?”
Tol laughed, rolling onto his back. “Do you really not believe me?”
“I find it hard to believe with the women and men constantly throwing themselves at you.” A knot tightened in my stomach.
“And have you seen me returning those affections?”
I thought back to Renaiss and every night we had spent in the city before. Spirits, I even cast my mind back to Palerman. Beyond the flirtatious remarks and friendly gestures, I could not recall Tol engaging in anything that could pass as romantic.
“What about Hylia?” She was always near him, clearly fawning over him. Something tightened around my stomach.
“Hylia?” Tol lifted a brow.
“Oh, please, Tol.” I pushed myself up on my elbows. “She’s only been throwing herself at you for years.” Not that I could blame her. The grip around my gut curled tighter as I said it, familiar and burning, and I finally recognized it for what it was—jealousy. A protective instinct rose in me as I pictured unnamed hands on his body, lips on his.
“She’s never tried anything.” Tol tucked a hand behind his head, thoughtful as the moonlight fell across his chest, outlining the cut of his muscles.
“I thought?—”
“Ophelia,” he interrupted, pushing up onto one elbow and facing me. “You may ask me as many times as you wish, you may phrase the question however you like, but I have not slept with anyone in over a year. Before we left Palerman, I’d kissed warriors and humans alike. I’d gone home with some—there was even a wraith from the isles once—never mind.” He cut off the story at my narrowed stare, face turning serious again. “I was never able to follow through with anything. And since we’ve been in Damenal, nothing so much as a kiss has occurred.”
“Oh,” I breathed, blinking past the implications of that truth and falling back against the pillow, turning to face him. Hearing him say it so plainly soothed the tension mounting in my gut.
Though, I had no right to feel any of those things. I’d been with another man for years. Tolek had only recently admitted his feelings for me, and I hadn’t technically given him an answer, but the territorial instinct still settled within me.
“Now that we’ve exhausted my sexual escapades,” Tol started, settling back down, and I rolled my eyes, certain we hadnotcovered the expanse of that topic. Our faces were barely an inch apart, the air between us prickling like moments before a rainstorm. “Tell me what is actually worrying you.”
He had always seen through me, since we were children playing games. Though the competition may have shifted, the world becoming heavier with every exhale, that ability to pierce me with only a gaze never faltered.
