She narrowed her eyes and smacked his shoulder. “You’re not supposed to admit that.”
“Would you prefer I lie?”
She huffed a breath that was almost a laugh.
"This doesn't fix everything," she said.
"No." He pressed his lips to her hair. "But it's a start."
She should pull away. Retreat to her own chambers and process everything that had just happened. Rebuild the walls he'd demolished with his mouth and his shadows and his infuriating restraint.
Instead, she burrowed closer against him.
His heartbeat was steady beneath her ear. His shadows curled around them both like a blanket, cool and possessive and oddly comforting. The fire crackled low in the hearth, casting light across the ceiling.
She was still aroused. Her body was still humming with unsatisfied need, but underneath it was something that felt like hope.
No one had ever wanted her to mean something before. She'd been a thief to use, a tribute to sacrifice, a bloodline to exploit. But Dante... Dante wanted to wait until they chose each other. Until it was real.
"Dante?" she murmured.
"Hmm?"
"When we do this properly..." She traced idle patterns on his chest, feeling his muscles twitch beneath her fingers. "I want all of it. The shadows, the control, everything. I want to know what it's like when you don't hold back."
His whole body went taut beneath her. When he spoke, his voice was rough. "You don't know what you're asking for."
"Then show me." She lifted her head to meet his eyes. "Show me what it's like to be claimed by a Death Lord."
The look in his eyes made her shiver. Hungry and possessive and full of promise.
"Careful what you wish for, thief," he murmured. "I have centuries of restraint to unleash."
"I'm counting on it."
His laugh was low and warm, and his arms tightened around her.
LX.
DANTE
The alarms woke him instantly.
One moment, he was asleep with Brynn’s warm weight tucked against his side, her head resting on his chest, her breath gentle against his skin. Her fingers were still curled loosely against his ribs, exactly where they'd fallen when exhaustion claimed them both.
Mine,he'd thought as he drifted off.Finally mine.
The next moment, magical alarms were shrieking through the palace, their pitch climbing until even his hearing struggled to bear it.
Ward-stones flashed emergency crimson throughout his domain, painting the walls in blood-red light. His shadows recoiled from where they'd been wrapped protectively around them both, responding to the crisis before his mind fully caught up.
Brynn jerked awake beside him, going from relaxed to instantly alert—years of survival instincts overriding sleep in a heartbeat. "What is that?"
"Ward failure." He was already on his feet, power crackling through the air as he felt the damage rippling through his realm like cracks spreading. "Multiple failures. Simultaneous."
Not an accident. Not natural decay.
This was an assault.
