“Well, when you put it like that.” I melted into his chest.
I’d faced monsters with hollow eyes and spiked tails, yet his tender devotion left me trembling far more than claws or fangs ever could.
Part of me wanted to laugh, to point out that I was hardly delicate. That I’d fought, bled, killed, and somehow survived. But the truth hummed through my bones: I wanted to be carried. To let myself collapse into the strength he offered and not feel guilty about it this one time.
I was a queen today. I would be a queen tomorrow. But for now, in this man’s arms, I was just Isi.
Trew carried me all the way to the castle, taking the stairs inside to his chambers. A few of his staff watched him pass, their jaws dropping, but many just smiled and nodded. I kept my face hidden against his shoulder, a smile playing on my lips.
He kicked open the door to his royal chambers. The heavy wood closed behind us with a click, shutting out the rest of the world. Moonlight spilled through the tall windows, painting the room in misty light. It smelled like leather and books and the faint, sweet scent of camellias from his private garden.
His golden eyes searched mine, holding the fire of the stars, the weight of a crown, and a love so fierce it stole the breath from my lungs. “Now you’re truly home, my queen.”
58
ISI
Trew didn’t stop moving until the door to the bathing chamber closed behind us with a low thud. His arms remained tight around me, though the battle was long over. The room hung thick with steam, the kind that curled across my skin and coaxed the tension from my sore muscles. Torches flickered on the stone walls, their golden light casting shadows across his face. The scent of herbs clung to the air.
Hours ago, we’d been drenched in blood and ash, our blades cutting through nightmares. Now, water shimmered in front of us as if it belonged to another world.
Trew set me on my feet, but his hand lingered on my back. His jaw still held that hard edge, and his face showed sharp lines carved deep by all we’d been through. Yet when his gaze found mine, the steel softened.
I traced the path of soot across his cheekbone.
“I fought by your side to keep our world from burning.” My voice came out a whisper. “Now, all I want is to burn for you.”
He inhaled sharply, the warrior in him warring with the man who wanted me. Then he bowed his head, pressing his foreheadagainst mine. The warmth of his skin, the faint rasp of his breath, and the heat rising around us tangled together.
The contrast nearly undid me. The battlefield still clung to my skin in the grit under my nails, the dull ache of bruises, and the memory of screams. Here was steam and torchlight. Here was safety. Here was him.
And I was burning already.
Trew’s hand slid to the dagger strapped to my thigh.
The contrast of the warrior king touching steel one moment and my body the next made my pulse trip. His thumb brushed my leg as he tugged the blade free, the scrape of metal against its sheath loud in the hushed chamber. He set the weapon carefully on a stone bench. Dropping to his knees, he pressed his lips to a sore spot above my left knee.
I shivered.
“You earned this protecting Maddox,” he said.
I nearly sagged into him. Not because of the kiss, though fates, yes, that too, but because he rememberedwhyI might be sore there.
Another dagger came loose from the strap on my other thigh, his fingers brushing too slowly to be accidental. This time when he kissed the spot where the leather had bitten into my skin, his voice roughened. “Bruises will fade. Wounds will heal. My love for you will live forever. Every bruise on your body is proof of your courage, and I will kiss them all until you realize you mean everything to me.”
I had no defense against that. My lungs ached, as though I’d run farther than to the battlefield itself.
He moved up, unbuckling the straps of my armor piece by piece. Leather peeled away with soft groans, every snap of a fastening sounding indecently loud in the steam-heavy air. At each patch of exposed skin, his mouth found my skin. A kiss to the hollow of my hip. Another to the bruise on the inside of my wrist. Each one undoing me more than any enemy ever could.
“You bleed, and my world tilts,” he said, tracing a purple mark onmy arm with gentle fingers. His jaw clenched hard, his eyes darkening. “Do you see what you mean to me yet?”
My throat worked, but no words came out. How could I explain the emotions tearing through me? This man who ruled kingdoms and turned monsters to ash was staring at me as if I was the most important person in his world.
The last garment slid free. He dropped it with a dull clatter, then caught my hand, lifting it to his lips, kissing each knuckle.
“I will peel back every blade you carry, every wall you build,” he whispered. “Until there’s only you.”
My heart split wide open. I wanted to laugh and sob at the same time. I wanted to tell him I was more than my weapons, more than just bruises and scars, but right now I wasn’t sure Iwas. Not when he looked at me like this.
