"Stupid how?" He takes a step closer. Then another. Slow, deliberate. Giving me time to retreat.
I don't retreat.
"I was going to kiss you." The confession escapes in a rush, leaving me breathless and exposed. "Or ask you to kiss me. I'm not sure which."
He goes very still. "And that would be stupid because...?"
"Because you're—" I gesture helplessly at him. "You're you. Dark elf. Warrior caste. You could buy my contract with pocket change. You could take anything you wanted from me and there's nothing I could do to stop you."
"I would never?—"
"I know." I cut him off because that's the worst part. "I know you wouldn't. That you're nothing like the elves I was taught to fear. But that doesn't change what you could do. The power you have over me."
"Then give me different power." He closes the remaining distance between us, reaching out slowly. Giving me every chance to refuse. His fingers brush my jaw, tilt my face up until I'm looking directly at him. "Not power over you. Power to make you feel good. To give you pleasure. To worship you the way you deserve."
My breath stutters. "Valas?—"
"I want you." Simple. Direct. His thumb traces my lower lip and I nearly whimper. "I've wanted you since that first night outside. I've wanted you since the second I saw you. And it's killing me to stand this close and not touch you properly."
"You are touching me." But I know what he means. This careful, restrained contact is torture for both of us.
"Not enough." His other hand settles at my waist, warm through layers of fabric. "Never enough. But I won't take more than you offer freely. Won't push for something you're not ready to give."
"What if I don't know what I'm ready for?" My hands find his chest without conscious decision, feeling his heart beat fast and hard beneath my palms. "What if I'm terrified and furious at myself for wanting this and wanting it anyway?"
"Then we figure it out together." His forehead touches mine, breath mingling. "As slowly as you need. As carefully as yourequire. But Keira, please don't run from this because you think you should. Don't deny what's between us out of principle when your body's telling you something different."
"My body doesn't know what's good for me." But I'm not pulling away. Not putting space between us.
"Doesn't it?" His lips brush my temple, feather-light. Not quite a kiss. "Because mine is screaming that this—" His hand flexes at my waist. "—is the best thing I've felt in months. Possibly years."
I should step back. Should be sensible and careful and protect myself from inevitable heartbreak.
Instead, I slide my hands up his chest, around his neck, into his hair.
He groans—that same quiet sound from before but needier now. Desperate.
"Keira." My name is a prayer, a plea. "Tell me what you want."
"I want—" The words stick in my throat, caught between fear and desire.
"Tell me." His hands frame my face now, cradling me like something precious. "Whatever it is. I'll give you anything."
"I want your hands on me." The admission tears free, raw and honest. "Properly. Not careful or restrained. I want to feel like you mean it."
His eyes darken, pupils swallowing violet. "You're sure?"
"No." I grip his hair tighter. "But I want it anyway."
10
KEIRA
Something breaks open inside me—some final wall I've been maintaining between us crumbles to dust. I pull him down to me, closing the last breath of space between us.
His eyes are dark as he rasps out, "Then don't hold back either."
And then Valas kisses me.
