“How long were you out there?” Cassiel whispered after a long pause.
She sucked in a shaky breath. “Zev… found me later that morning. I was nearly frozen to death. He took me to Grandmother, and she gave me tea that put me to sleep for days. Months passed until I was sane of mind and able to accept my family’s death. I had to find a reason to go on. I focused on becoming a Herb Master and searched for a way to end the Shadow. After a while, it wasn’t so difficult to smile again, but the darkness always brings me terror. Those red eyes follow me in the shadows of night and my dreams.”
Their bond hummed as another decision entered him. “You have my word that I will help you find the Sol Medallion, and we will destroy the shadow demon. Together.”
Dyna was silent for a moment, staring at the ceiling. “You will?”
“I promise.”
His words seared over them, again branding the pact within their bond. She buried her face in her pillow so he couldn’t hear her cry, but her shoulders still shook. Cassiel searched the flickering shadows in the room for the answers that would comfort her. They offered no wisdom. There was nothing else to do but sleep. Cassiel moved to get off the bed, but Dyna reached behind her and grabbed the hem of his tunic.
“Will you stay with me?” she asked.
Stay with me.
The back of his neck became hot. “What? On the bed?”
“I don’t want to be alone.”
Cassiel waited for her to say something else, but there was only silence, and her trembling hold on his tunic. He took a deep breath, hoping it would calm the nervous tension stiffening his body.
It didn’t.
“Very well…” Cassiel sat there, though, finding it hard to make himself move.
His heart of stone pounded behind his ribs. It took great effort not to think about the thin fabric of her white chemise or glance at the soft swells not fully covered by the low, lacy neckline. Gods, he shouldn’t be on this bed. He shouldn’t even be in this room. But she asked him to stay. Swallowing once, then twice, he gingerly laid down on the edge, staying on his side so his wings wouldn’t be in the way.
Dyna held out a hand to him. He hesitated before he took it. Her slim fingers wove through his, and the energy of her touch fell over him. She was trembling.
“Come here,” he said, his voice sounding too thick.
She hesitated only a second before moving closer to him, seeking his warmth. He pulled the blanket over her, his fingers inadvertently brushing her bare arms, covered in gooseflesh. It took a few more breaths before he brought his arm carefully, slowly around her, then his wing.
“You have nothing to fear so long as I’m with you,” he murmured, repeating the same words he vowed to her at the inn.
If Dyna remembered it too, she didn’t say. Her fear had flayed the armor she had been building around herself, leaving her as small and vulnerable as the day he met her in the woods. And like that day, he wanted to keep away anything that could ever cause her harm.
Dyna rolled on her side, causing her neckline to dip further. He shot his gaze to the ceiling. Damn that chemise.
She curled their entwined hands close to her mouth, her lips inches away from his knuckles. “Thank you,” she whispered against his skin.
The tickle of her breath grew a new heat within his body that was meant to undo him. Cassiel pulled the sheets to her chin and tucked them around her.
“Get some rest. We set sail tomorrow.”
Dyna obediently closed her swollen eyes, unshed tears rolling down her temples. After a few minutes, her breathing deepened with sleep and peace came over her face. Her long, wet lashes were like threads of silk. They made little shadows over her flushed complexion. An endearing shower of freckles sprinkled across her nose, though her full mouth was his favorite feature.
Long had he noticed her beauty, but he’d held the thought at bay, not wanting to acknowledge it because Dyna already put him on edge. Having her inches away from him made his pulse thud in his ears, drawing the feel of her lips on his skin like a brand.
Wife.
Husband.
It was a formality, nothing more.
Dyna whimpered, her features tensing with another nightmare. Cassiel shifted closer and stroked her hair, murmuring that he was there. Energy pulsed where the tips of his fingers brushed her cheek. It immediately cast away her fear, and soon she settled. Her arm wrapped around his torso, and he stiffened as she nestled into his chest. After a moment, he relaxed.
Being here with her, in this room, in this bed, didn’t feel immoral to him, although it should. There was a rightness to it. She fit perfectly by his side, in more ways than one. But he shouldn’t want this. Wanting, desiring something more than he’d ever had before, was terrifying. Foolish. It had to be wrong. He knew it deep in his bones.
