“And hopefully one day, you’ll forgive me,” he rasps, his warm breath skating over my lips, taunting, teasing, sending sparks of heat through my veins. “All I know is that I can’t continue my days without you. The time we’ve spent together, however brief, has altered something inside me, Zaira. I didn’t believe there was anything else good in this world. I didn’t think there was any good left inme. But then I met you—this bright fucking light,” he says through a breathy laugh. “My sun, shining that radiant light on the darkest parts of my heart and soul.”
“Thane,” I whisper, still biting back my tears. My knees feel weaker, my body softer, all because I’m in his arms. All from his voice and the power of his words.
“If you give me another chance,” he goes on, “if you allow me into your life again, I’ll make this right. Okay? I’ll do better—I’ll become betterfor you.”
Tears accumulate at the rims of my eyes, casting him in a half blur.
This is one of those moments when I want to curse my tender heart for softening so easily, for believing in the power of trust. My forgiving heart that’s now beating like a drum, faster and faster in his wake. The heart that—
Thatloveshim.
You love him…
Analla was right. No matter how much I try denying it, or rejecting him, or pretending he means nothing to me, it’s inevitable because rebuffing what my heart desires is impossible. His absence made me ache like never before, and thinking about a life without him felt flat, dull, and bland.
My mind goes back to the night we met in the Tilted Crystal—the instant connection I felt at the mere sight of him. The urge to fly closer to him as if he were the flame and I the moth. A danger, yes, but also a magnet. There were many others in that tavern I could’ve asked to help me, but I chosehim.
The carriage ride in Bernwood, when my heart felt like it’d come alive for the first time as he kissed me.
And in Gadonia, when it leaped to life all over again while we kissed in the art gallery and blistered afterward while tangled between soft sheets and quilts, wanting nothing else but each other.
His laugh, and the rare moments when he showed me his vulnerable side and I showed him mine.
The way his gaze softened and my guard lowered the longer we were together…
And now this, standing chest to chest, wanting nothing more than to kiss him a thousand times and scream,yes. This is real, raw, and deep passion I feel for this man. My soul aches for his.Yearnsfor every single part of him.
How can I walk away from him again when he creates such beautiful chaos inside me? How can I run from the man who holds my raw heart in his hands and is so desperate to mend it?
We all make mistakes.
I know this, and yet I was so hard on him. I didn’t even give him the chance to properly apologize, even though I knew he so badly wanted to.
I want to believe he had good intentions about not telling me about the stones. He just went about it the wrong way.
And how can I blame him? After all he’s been through and all the darkness he’s faced—all that he’s lost—how can I fault him for something that may have been instinct?
“Swear you’ll never lie to me again,” I demand, gripping a handful of his tunic. “Swear you’ll never betray me again, Thane. If your goal is to win back my trust, I need to hear you say it right now.”
“I’ll never lie to you again, Zaira.” My heart flutters as he brings a hand beneath my chin and tips my head back a bit more. “And I would rather suffer a miserable death than ever eventhinkabout breaking your heart again.”
Flutters burst in my stomach and heat flares in my chest with his every word. And when he brings his mouth down, kissing me ever so softly at first, I sigh.
But when he breathes the words, “Please forgive me,my sun,” on my lips, I melt.
Hissun.Hislight.
I close my eyes, and hot tears trail down my cheeks as I meet his kiss with urgency, my arms lacing around the back of his neck and our bodies fusing. The ocean roars around us, and despite theEmelliegently rocking, we hold steady. His hands roam the curves of my body as he slides them down my waist and then digs the pads of them into my hips, groaning as our tongues collide.
The ship gives a harder rock, and Thane stumbles just a bit, the backs of his legs bumping into the bench and forcing him to sit. Even so, our lips barely part ways.
I come down with him, planting my knees on either side of his outer thighs, loving the taste of him, the feel of his large, warm hands, the way my heart blossoms and feels reenergized simply by having him this close.
But as much as I want this to go deeper, and for us to find the nearest empty room, I slow down and, with all the willpower in me, break the kiss, grab the hands that are cupping my ass to stop him, and say, “Fine. I’ll give you another chance. But we’re taking it slow this time.”
“Yeah.” He swallows and nods, lips swollen and damp. “I’ll give you all the time you need—the rest of my life if you allow it, sweet one.”
Smiling, I place one more kiss on his lips, believing every word he says is the truth.
