Tempest knew I kept secrets, but once they were exposed, the last few would shock her to her core. I held them back for a good reason, just like I had the others.
She’d forgiven me once.
Would she do so again?
I removed my clothing and dried quickly before sliding beneath the covers, soaking in her warmth and the way her arms went around me even in sleep.
Her face was wet.
Why are you upset?I hissed in her mind.Who hurt you?
In the past, I would’ve probed, seeking an answer rather than asking, but I loved her. She was everything to me. I would never steal this from her. Her answers must be freely given.
She didn’t reply, though I hadn’t expected her to. There was no need to wake her for what I could hear in the morning.
I gently wiped her tears with my thumb and kissed her forehead. I wrapped my arms around her, hoping that even in herdreams that should be sweeter than what life offered at this wretched castle, she knew I was with her. That I’d give everything I had inside myself then draw out more solely to defend her. To be given this chance to love her.
Perhaps she cried for her friends. Or for Kinart, a poor lost soul who was stolen too young. For Seevar, the brave dragon who’d adored her almost as much as me.
Or for the life that had taken from her when she was too young to remember.
I wokewhen she did and stared into her eyes.
I missed you coming to bed last night,she said.
I didn’t want to wake you.
You should’ve.Her sweet smile rose. There was something so intimate—so precious—about lying here in our bed, just holding her.
Why were you crying last night?
Oh, it was nothing. Worry, which haunts me all the time right now. The wedding’s tomorrow. We’ll either succeed or . . .
Yeah.I sensed she was holding something back, but she’d been through a lot. Too much, actually.
I kissed her, and she clung to my shoulders with desperation. I was hers and she was mine, but there was a good chance we’d be torn apart soon.
She moaned into my mouth, and that was all it took for my body to respond. Her lingering worry fled, replaced with warmth and the growing heat we always generated between us.
I left her mouth, and while her fingers entwined in my hair, I kissed down her body, pausing at her breasts, making sure her nipples budded from my attention before moving on.
Each time we came together could be our last, and I couldn’t hold back the thread of desperation winding throughme. We still walked on that wire stretched across an enormous cavern, and while my fury remained close behind me, she could easily fall. I wanted to shout to her to hold on tight, tell her that I’d guide her, but just as I had to make my way across on my own, so did she.
I’d give everything to have moments like this with her for a lifetime, but I’d also accept that this could be our last.
An unquenchable need grabbed onto me and shook me.
Her love was a subtle, constant force. It brought calm to the storm of my heart.
From the moment I’d felt her at the fortress, I’d set myself on this course. I’d never once swayed from my belief that my place was by this woman’s side. Denying my feelings for her would be impossible.
She gave me a smile of such joy that it pierced my heart. I couldn’t breathe. I could barely think.
But oh, how I could love her.
And in doing so, I could finally feel cleansed.
39
