His breath leaves him slow, measured. “You think too much.”
I catch it—a flick of his gaze. A twitch in his jaw.
I should leave it at that. Ishould.
But I don’t. Because that’s not my style.
I tilt my head, voice dipping just enough to cut through the space between us. “Thane, are you . . . jealous?”
Sunlight catches in his hair, casting shadows along the sharp line of his jaw. His smoke-gray eyes lock on mine—still unreadable, still impossibly controlled—but beneath it, something is burning.
He doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t deflect or smirk. Just has that steady, locked-in gaze, like a predator circling its prey.
And then—low, calm, utterly unbothered: “So what if I am?”
Heat travels up my neck. Turns into something I can’t name, but feel.Everywhere.
My mouth opens, but nothing comes out.
Thane watches me for a beat longer, then exhales, stretching his arms behind him again. Relaxed.Toorelaxed.
Like he’s just set something in motion—and has no intention of stopping it.
Then—he rises. Unhurried. Deliberate.
I don’t move. I can’t.
He glances down at me, his voice smooth, hinting. “You’ll figure it out.”
And walks away.
Like he hasn’t just rewritten the rules foreverything.
I’m still sitting there. Still staring at the space where he was. Trying to process what the hell just happened.
Because that wasn’t the Thane I’ve come to know.
Not the sharp-edged warlord who’s spent just as much time pushing me too hard as he has keeping his distance.
This?
This is different. Steady. Certain. Like he’s finally stopped fighting—whatever it was he was fighting.
And that realization makes my pulse kick up. Makes me feel like I’m suddenly standing at the edge of something I wasn’t prepared to jump into.
As if I don’t already haveenoughto jump into.
Preparing for the Trust Fall.
The bond.
And now—Thane.
I exhale slow, fingers dragging through my hair as Lyra steps into view. My thoughts are a mess.
What the hell just happened?
“Okay, I need you to explain something to me.”
