And then he said, voice like velvet dragged over stone, “Come here, Furious.”
My breath hitched.
And I did.
Chapter Forty-Eight
Rydian
She stood before me, shoulders rising and falling like she’d just run a mile instead of crossing a cabin. Sunlight cut across her profile from the window, catching the smudge of travel-dust on her cheek, the shadows under her eyes, the stubborn tilt to her chin. The need to touch every inch of her had driven me across the realm just as powerfully as the need to make her safe again.
And now, finally, we were alone.
For the first time in too long, there were no obsidian-eyed soldiers, no naiad judging my worth. No thrones. No gods. No blood vows. No Heliconia.
Just her. Standing before me like some kind of holy offering.
I took a step toward her, then another.
A pulse of nerves flickered across her face, quickly masked.
“Don’t,” I said quietly.
“Don’t what?”
“Second-guess this. Or me.”
“You were very clear before. About not letting this happen ever again.”
“I see things differently now.”
“Is that so?”
I hummed. “Almost losing you—twice—helped to clarify what matters.”
I lifted my hand. Shadows crawled up the log walls at my gesture, darkening every knot and seam. A second curl of power slid under the door and along the cracks in the floorboards, sealing every gap with thick, velvety darkness.
The sounds of the cabin—murmurs of Keres and Vanya in the kitchen, Callan’s movements in the far room—muffled, then vanished altogether. The air went soft. Close.
Aurelia glanced around, eyes narrowing. “What did you do?”
“Soundproofed us.” I let my shadows settle like a curtain around the room, coating the window, masking everything that existed outside these walls. “No one hears anything that happens in here unless I allow it.”
She swallowed. I watched the movement of her throat like I’d been starved for it.
“Do you expect there to be a lot of noise?” she asked.
I stepped into her space, close enough to feel the heat of her body through my shirt. My hand braced against the doorframe beside her head, caging her in without touching her. And I let my lips curve into the smile that conveyed the depth of my intentions as I said, “I certainly hope so.”
She shivered, and the sight of it only fed my hunger for her.
My gaze dropped to her mouth, then back. “I’m going to spend the rest of the night coaxing every noise you’re capable of making from that pretty little mouth of yours.”
Her hand curled in the fabric of my shirt, pulling me closer, but I stepped back.
“Bath first,” I cut in gently.
She blinked. “What?”
