“I know,” he said again, softer now. “But that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.”
Another wave broke against the Argo’s hull, and she wondered if the ship could feel her heart breaking.
She turned then. Finally looking at him.
There was no fire in his smile. No seduction. Just sorrow and reverence.
“You don’t make it easy,” she breathed.
Her hands trembled as she stepped back — turning to left him standing in the darkness with Nerium in the distance.
-Alarik-
She walked away before he could even respond, before he could breathe the ache from his lungs.
He ran after her, long before reason could tether him. Cosumed by the need to be near her.
Her silhouette moved toward the stern, cast in the glow of Nerium’s cliffs.
"Maris," He called, low and raw.
She barely had time to turn before he took her elbow and spun her to face him. He pulled her in, his gaze daring her to stop him — he kissed her deeply without hesitation.
It offered everything he’d held back, all the words that simmered in silence.
Her hands flew into his hair, tugging just enough to pull a growl from his throat. She kissed him back like a woman drowning, like he was the only breath she trusted. Tongue for tongue, heat for heat. They found each other in every movement, fluent in the language of longing.
Her body pressed against his, tight leathers and warm skin, and he wanted to devour every inch. But it wasn’t about claiming. It wasn’t about power. This was desperation, a passionate prayer.
He needed her to know, that when he said he'd burn for her that he already was.
When they finally pulled apart, they didn’t speak.
They stood in the moonlight, breathless. Her lips were swollen. His hands shook.
He’d kissed her like it was the end of the world.
And now?
He wasn’t sure it hadn’t been.
Chapter fifty-seven
Cliffs and Cracks
-Kael-
He saw them before the ship had docked. From the cliffs of Nerium, where the sea wind carved the stone like teeth, Kael stood cloak whipping in the gale, silver eyes locked on the approaching vessel.
Maris was locked in Alarik's embrace.
Her head tipped toward him. His hand cupping her jaw. The kind of closeness Kael knew intimately, had tasted and bled for.
He watched as Alarik laid claim to her mouth.
It wasn’t cautious. He was offering her a silent plea. Her lips met his like they belonged there. A lover’s kiss and she did not pull away.
Kael felt his pulse shatter. His rage came swift, a roaring wave crashing through the hollow where their bond had once lived. His hands clenched at his sides, shadows hissing around his boots as he turned from the cliff’s edge.
