“Am I forgiven?” he asks.
“No. You promised no secrets, yet you kept tworeallymassive ones from me.”
“I was going to tell you until you used my bargain against us.”
“Your safety trumps uncovering whether we’re mates.”
His thumb roves over the arch of my neck, caressing my pulse point. “I’m a mortal man, Isla.”
The reminder dulls my humming blood and cools my heated skin.
“I’ll eventually pass on to the next realm.”
An obsidian spike through the heart would’ve hurt less. “Later rather than sooner. Besides, silent asides are overrated.”
He must read the unsteadiness of my pulse beneath his thumb because he breathes out, “Liar…”
“I did it to keep you safe!”
He gives me a sad smile. “As did I. I worried you wouldn’t leave for Luce. Granted, I also worried you’d look upon me like those villagers had.”
I flick another lock of hair off his forehead. “Never. I would never.”
We stare a long while at one another, both of us silent, appeased in some way, fretful in others.
“Still willing to give me your heart, Vizosh?”
“I never took it back.” He bumps my nose with his. Right before kissing me, he adds, “Even if you hadn’t wanted it, Miss Ríhbiadh, it will never belong to anyone else.”
His tender words glitter like suspended stardust behind my ribs, eclipsing all the doubts that have crowded my chest in his absence.
Once we come up for air, I tell him about our visit to the Countess’s home. “She sent you an anonymous letter.”
Shock blows his pupils. “Fuck. I knew I recognized the handwriting!Fuck.”
“So, you’ve read it?”
“Right before you left for Luce.” His nostrils flare. “I should’ve shown it to you.” He growls a few more fucks.
“I wouldn’t have been much help. Probably wouldn’t have been able to read it in the first place.”
His lips harden. “I hate when you put yourself down like that.”
“And I hate when you keep secrets from me.” I rest my head in the crook of his neck. “Did Meriam send a reply?”
His throat bobs. “She did.”
When another spiky swallow jostles my cheek, I pick my head up to hunt his silver gaze. “What did she say?”
He kisses me again. Although I realize he’s doing it to delay answering, I’ve missed his lips so fiercely that I mold my mouth to his and take all he’s willing to give.
It’s only a long moment later, when my lips are as tender as some of my muscles that Konstantin finally pulls away to rasp, “I’ll tell you over supper tonight. How about we eat in your room, just you and me?”
“That sounds really nice.” After a beat, I add, “You swear to tell me what she said?”
“Yes,Yegmenka.”
I almost ask him to stamp his promise into my skin in the form of another bargain but decide to trust him. “I’m sorry about kneeing you.”
