It was foolish to think an animal could understand anything. Still, he seemed to respond to her tone, at least.
A sound from downstairs drew his attention. Fully alert, he curled his lips into a snarl. The stairs creaked, and a pale-yellow warmth from a lantern shone beneath the crack in the door. Moving toward the threat, he pinned his ears, eyes hard on the dancing light.
Maerel’s door opened, then closed as she retired to her room.
“We’re safe here,” Evera said, and he looked over his shoulder to where she sat, silhouetted against the pale flames in the hearth.
Returning to her, he prodded her with his nose, circling, scenting her as if to detect nothing was out of place. She giggled at his touch, her smile light, full of whimsy.
Seemingly content, my fox lay down and rested his snout on her thigh. The warmth of the fire heated his pelt, and he yawned.
For some time, Evera stroked his fur. My fox’s heavy eyelids fluttered, and I, too, became weary, soothed by the touch and comforting presence of our mate. Thoughts of returning to my form seemed distant, unimportant. For the first time in my life, I was entirely content like this.
“Will you give him back to me?” Evera asked, cupping the side of my fox’s face in her palm.
The animal raised his head, studying her. Outside, the wind picked up, and a branch scraped along one of the old glass windows with a cringing screech.
The sound was much too loud in this form. My fox swiveled an ear, intent on it, and his flank quivered. The creations of man disconcerted him. He preferred the woods, the scent of earth and rain on the air, and the scurry of hares in the undergrowth.
In this place, the ground was flat and uniform. Everything had sharp edges and harsh shadows. There was the fire, though, and he seemed to like that. And there was Evera, and she was everything to him. Just as she was everything to me.
With her gentle touch, Evera turned his gaze back to her. She touched her nose to his, and he sniffed the scent of her encompassing.
“Please, give him back to me,” she repeated. The words were a request, not a command, spoken with such caring that it confused me.
All my life, I’d seen my fox as only a monster, a vile, selfish creature that caused horror and suffering. But Evera … she treated him with affection, with a caring he had never experienced from anyone else.
In a wave, he released his hold on me. Not in a lapse of awareness, but in the act of giving freely, as I’d done for him. And when the warmth heated my veins, foretelling the shift, I braced for the pain that didn’t come.It was fluid and swift.
Back in my own body, I held Evera’s gaze. Knelt before her, bare to her, vulnerable. She’d seen the worst of me, yet she hadn’t faltered.
“I love you too,” she whispered and brushed her lips to mine.
41
EVERA
My lips lingeredon Neirin’s lightly as my words hung over us. His breath left him in a shudder. Brushing my nose along his, I encouraged him, and when he accepted my kiss, it was sweet and slow.
He pulled back enough to meet my eyes. His lashes were dark, curled, and so damn pretty, and a tousle of hair fell in front of his brows, disheveled in the best way.
And his eyes—gods. Silver orbs like the moons, searching my soul. They were the same eyes as his fox’s, symbolizing what they shared. Both fighting each other, afraid because of abuse, loneliness, and self-loathing.Because of a memory too dark to even speak of. But one day, he would open up, and would share. And when he did, I would be there. I would love him, not in spite of his brokenness, but because of it.
Broken together, just as we were meant to be.
“I love you,” I said again, needing him to understand the depth of my words, to know I accepted every part of him.
“I love you too,” he echoed, but his brows drew together as if he didn’t believe me. I would have to show him, then. Today and every day. With casual touches, lingering looks, and stolen kisses.
I ran my fingers through the waves at the back of his neck and drew him to me. Balanced awkwardly from his shift, he nearly fell on top of me, and I wrapped my arms around him reflexively.
He braced himself with one hand to keep from crushing me and, with his other arm at my waist, lowered me the short distance to the wooden floor. Giggling into his hair, I released my grip and relaxed back, drawing my knees up on either side of his hips. The way we fit together was perfect.
Neirin studied me, his faint smile tugging at his dimple. He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear with a contented sigh. There was so much intimacy to it, so much caring. “Youare incredible, Evera.”
I offered a bashful smile and rose to my elbows, closing the distance between us so I could press my lips to his. Like before, it was languid. We took our time to learn one another , memorizing every touch and reaction.
When he broke the kiss and cringed, my heart fumbled.
