I leaned in.
That was the moment everything inside me shattered.
He made a sound then, something guttural and deep in his throat, and his sweetness unraveled into something wilder. His hands, still gentle but no longer hesitant, cradled my face as one of them slid to the nape of my neck, pulling me into him like he couldn’t bear to have space between us. His lips pressed harder, firmer, moving against mine with a hunger I could feel all the way to the marrow of my bones.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and met the intensity of his kiss with my own. Fire coursed through me, a wildfire this man could so easily ignite. My head spun, but my body knew exactly what to do. I threaded my fingers into his hair and held tight, determined to never let go.
He lifted his head, his eyes searching. “I'd die happy as long as you always looked at me like you're doing now. Like you care. Like I have meaning.”
“Evermore.” I repeated his word. “Never doubt that, Lorant. Never.”
He gave me a nod and eased back, glancing around almost sheepishly. “I…haven’t been paying attention. Anything could’ve rushed toward us, and I?—”
“You would’ve slayed it already.”
“You don’t realize how truly distracting you can be.” His gaze pierced the woods around us. “We need to go.”
Not stand in the road and kiss.
I sucked in a breath and released it, then drew the shadows closer again, wrapping them around me like a blanket.
We continued walking.
And while we did, I teased the nasty magic, stretching my hand out only to yank it back before it could make contact.
I didn't miss that it kept slithering closer.
26
Lorant
“Who are we going to kill?” Reyla asked in too perky a voice, pacing beside me down the road. Though I couldn’t see her, I could feel her. She’d hidden herself well in shadows, and I was incredibly proud.
And peeved that she’d insisted on coming along with me tonight.
“We are not killing anyone.” After that kiss, after her words sliced through any wall I might’ve erected between us, it was a wonder I could think, let alone talk.
This woman could rip me apart with only a few words. But she mended something inside me I hadn’t realized needed healing. And I’d not only lay waste to the world around us to protect her, but I’d also be willingto die for her.
Something that may very well happen.
“Who areyougoing to kill tonight then?” she asked. “I assume they deserve it.”
For endangering her? Yes, they did deserve death and so much more.
“It’s merely a conversation.”
She snorted. “I didn’t tumble off the dragon yesterday.”
I forced out a breath. “If he cooperates, he’ll hold onto his life. And stop playing with that nasty power. It’s stalking you.” I couldn’t quite see it, but I felt threads of it wavering in the air behind her, skimming in close as if to poke her in the spine before darting away.
“I’m not doing anything,” she said in complete innocence.
This woman. I’d like to drag her back to her bed with the blankets I’d crafted from magic for her and toss her on top, only to follow her down. I wouldn’t allow her to emerge from her bedroom until she was so well loved she couldn’t walk without grinning. I’d do that to her, with her, and more.
“You are. Leave it alone,” I snapped.
“Cranky tonight, aren’t you? Maybe once you release your pent-up energy on whoever’s caught your attention, you’ll smile. Laugh a little. Dance around a room or something.”
