Time slows between us,and I’m pretty sure he’s dragging it out. The tension rises as he steps back, and I have to fight the urge to demand everything right now. Instead, I let him look at me.
Kael’s room is quiet in that heavy, watchful way—stone walls, low light, shadows pressed thick in every corner. Without his warmth wrapped around me, my bare skin remembers where my shirt used to be. I fight the urge to curl my arms over my chest as I shift on my feet.
If I lay on the bed, will he follow?
The fact that his shadows helped him strip my shirt off should unnerve me, but it does the opposite. What else can they do? I don’t know—but I want to find out.
Kael’s gaze drops, slow and intent, following the line of my collarbone with a hungry gaze. He holds himself back, still not touching me. That restraint is worse than hunger.
“You really don’t fear me, do you?” he asks quietly.
“No.”
“Even without my glamour?” His eyes flash red, then back to the dark color they had shifted to.
I lick my lips, hesitating only a second before asking, “Have I seen you without your full glamour?”
A slow smile pulls at his mouth, as if he didn’t expect me to ask that question. The air shifts around him, and his horns and wings shimmer out of view. It makes me realize he hasn’t worn this glamour in a while around me. He tilts his head, studying my face.
Then he drops the magic like water flowing over him.
His eyes turn red. His wings and horns return, his canine teeth sharpen—one resting against his lower lip. My breath catches.
He’s beautiful when he doesn’t hide who he is.
He must read the expression on my face because he exhales slowly, as though he’s been holding his breath for a long time. Then he steps closer again, close enough that I can feel the warmth of him without contact, close enough that my body leans forward attempting to close the space.
“You should,” he says, not unkindly.
“But I don’t,” I reply, lifting my chin. “I know you.”
His hand comes up then, knuckles brushing my ribs, warm and steady. The touch is almost careful.
The shadows slide higher, curling around my arms, my back, my hips. When they nudge me backward, I don’t resist. I let them steer me until the edge of the bed presses into the back of my knees.
Kael watches every second of it, and I’m suddenly very sure I’m about to find out exactly what he can do with his shadows.
“On the bed,” he commands.
The second my feet leave the floor, the shadows brush along my ankles, tugging off my boots. My socks follow shortly after. I curl my toes and scoot farther onto the bed once my feet are bare.
He runs the tip of his tongue over one sharp canine, and I swear the sensation goes straight between my legs. My heart has relocated.
Holy shit.
Will he bite me?
And is it fucked up that I sort of hope he does?
He doesn’t move closer. Instead, the shadows do.
They slide along the mattress, brushing my calves, my ankles, cool and deliberate. One curls around my foot, tracing the arch before drifting away again, like it’s testing to see if I’ll flinch.
I don’t.
Kael’s gaze darkens.
“You’re very still,” he observes.
