Because he will have youwas what we both heard, unspoken.
“Will you do me a favor before you go?” I asked softly.
“Anything.”
“Will you take me to him?” I asked. “The keep is a far way to walk this time of night.”
* * *
Kythel wasn’tin the gardens or the atrium or the kitchens or the library or his office—which was strangely bare, deep claw marks raking down the walls that had me frowning.
He was in the last place I thought I’d check within the keep—his bedroom. Asleep in a chair by the hearth, his wings half-crushed beneath him, as if his body had finally given into his exhaustion. At the sight, my heart battered against the bones around it, and I softly closed the door before approaching him.
A dark lock of hair had fallen across his cheek, his neck slumped in an uncomfortable position, and I brushed it away. When he didn’t stir, I touched the back of his hand, entwining my fingers with his.
He woke.
“Millie?” he rasped, eyes bleary.
“Come to bed,” I whispered softly, tugging on his hand until he rose. He pressed close, lowering his head until he inhaled the scent of my hair deeply. My breath hitched, longing for his closeness, missing it.
“Is this a dream?” he murmured against the crown of my head.
“Come to bed, Kythel,” I repeated, luring him forward through the open doorway at the far end of the front room. His bed lay in the darkness, the tall floor-to-ceiling arched windows streaming moonlight across the floor. A couple spears of silver cleaved the base of his bed in two.
He tumbled into it, and I followed after, making sure the covers were drawn up around us.
“Must be a dream,” Kythel decided, his eyes already closing.
“Sleep,” I whispered, cuddling closer, placing my hand on the firm wall of his chest, laying my cheek against his bare shoulder. His warmth was comforting. It was everything I’d missed and more. “I’ll be here. I promise.”
CHAPTER44
MILLIE
Kythel was awake when I finally blinked open my eyes, seeing blue, hazy dawn light filtering through the bedroom. He was curled around me, every inch of my backside pressed against his front, one arm wrapped below me in the crook of my waist and one arm above, his dulled claws tracing my hip, spreading goose bumps up my spine.
“Not a dream,” he murmured into my hair, pulling me tighter into him when he realized I was awake. “Please tell me it’s not,sasiral.”
“It’s not a dream, Kythel,” I told him, snuggling deeper into his warm embrace. There was a pressing ache between my thighs, heady and distracting, stirred by his closeness, his scent, and my decision.
“You’re in my bed. In my arms.”
“Yes, I’m in your bed,” I answered slowly, reaching behind me to cradle the back of his head, one tip of his horn pressing into my forearm. “In your arms. Kythel?”
“Hmm?”
I angled my neck up and pulled his head down. “Enough, now.Please.”
His sharp huff blew across my skin. I closed my eyes when his warm lips brushed the sensitive skin of my throat.
“No,” he rasped. “I need to know that—”
“We’ll talk after,” I promised. “It’s been too long, Kythel. Do you want me to beg?”
He paused. “You want this?”
“Yes!”
