“I knew you couldn’t resist me,” I say, smug.
His chest vibrates with a low, reluctant chuckle—and gods,the sound of it . . . it’s warm. Real. The kind of sound you don’t realize you’ve ached to hear until it breaks you open.
He doesn’t argue. His fingers keep moving—lazy, absent, steady down my spine.
“You’re enjoying this,” I murmur into his chest, grinning.
His lips twitch, a flash of humor slipping through.
“Maybe.”
That face. Thatalmostsmile. That glimpse of the man beneath all that armor.
I am absolutely undone.
Because this is new. This easy confidence, this certainty in the way he holds me.
Thane is mine. And I am his.
We don’t have to say it because it’s already written in the space between us.
Ishouldget up. The capital awaits; the questions; the archives; the past.
But I don’t and neither does he.
His fingers trail down my spine, savoring the feel of me; the shape of us.
I tilt my head back to look at him. The morning light cuts across his face, highlighting the angles of his jaw, the parts of him that were untouchable.
Except now, they aren’t. Not to me. His mask is gone.
And he’shere.
“You’re staring.” Thane says, voice low and amused.
I smirk. “You’re kind of holding me in place. I don’t have much of a choice.”
His lips twitch again. “Maybe I don’t want to let go.”
A challenge. A confession. A truth that makes my pulse jump.
I arch a brow.
“Youareinto me! I wore you down!”
His exhale is almost a laugh. He shakes his head. “Amara—”
“I think we should celebrate,” I say, grinning. “It’s not every day the mighty Warlord admits defeat.”
I expect him to roll his eyes, to let out one of those long-suffering sighs that usually follow my teasing. Instead, his hand finds the back of my neck. His eyes pin mine with an intensity that leaves me breathless.
“I’m defeated,” he breathes, and pulls me to him.
When our lips meet, the world falls away.
His kiss is deep. Fierce. Consuming. And I meet him with equal hunger, equal need, because he isn’t the only one who has waited too long.
His tongue sweeps deeper, claiming my mouth, making my whole body shudder.
