‘Thing issalkia, I’m no mere man,’ Idan growled, the sound a tectonic shift in the quiet room. ‘I don’t think or act like one.’
He surged, closing the distance between them.
‘I’m not daunted by your strength; in fact, I adore your fierceness. I admire your confidence;fokk, it does not challenge me, it inspires me. It heats my blood in a way I’ve never experienced.’
She turned to him, her expression wary.
‘I feel a pull toward you as well,’ she confessed. ‘You also have this way of navigating my emotional storms when I lose my internal compass.Santefor that.’
He reached out, his thumb and forefinger capturing her jaw to tilt her face to his.
His amber eyes burned with an ancient fire.
‘Salkia, you are a queen, and I have no interest in the triviality of games. I recognize the exhaustion in your soul; you are tired of the same old hollow promises.’
He leaned in, his breath a warm ghost against her lips.
‘That issawa, woman, because I have you now. All those weak-ass males in your past never loved you; they were running game. Extracting what they could, and calling it devotion. Now, a real man, a warrior for whom empires have crumbled and who has won battles with immortal deities, is stepping into the gap. Don’t allow the ghosts of your history to test your patience or try your resolve. That shit is history. Lose the worry, Queen, and let me into your heart.’
The blunt force of his conviction shattered her final defenses, her barriers falling as tears misted her eyes.
Sheba blinked as he surged closer to her, reaching for her, his mouth descending once more on hers.
His touch was tender, the velvet brush of his lips against hers expressing his empathy.
However, the softness didn’t last.
The kiss soon firmed into a scorching meld that again demanded every ounce of her attention.
She found herself clutching his thick hair with one hand, stroking and pulling him into her with savage need.
Her other hand glided over his sinewed back and shoulders as she drowned in a tidal wave of passion and raw desire.
For the first time in her life, the heat didn’t feel like a threat; it was a sanctuary, and she realized she was undeniably safe.
After that long, smoldering kiss in bed, Idan made sure Sheba remained at his side throughout most of the coming days, unable to tear his gaze from her.
She joined him on his rounds and even in the dim warmth of the birthing shed, where she knelt in the straw to assist an ewe.
Her nursing skills were put to work, and when the new lamb bleated in her arms, her face illuminated by a raw, luminous wonder.
Once more, his soul jolted, falling deeper for her with every moment.
A day later, Lago departed the farm for a few weeks.
He set out for the lower mountain slopes, heading for his parents’ smallholding in Lattaya village before the snowfall set in.
He serves as my hand throughout the summer, and returns to the village during the colder months,Idan told Sheba.His exit signals the true arrival of winter.
They stood outside the hut in the freezing dusk, as the sun dipped toward the horizon, tracking the youth’s silhouette until it dissolved into the forests far below.
‘I might be leaving soon, too,’ Sheba murmured, her breath blooming in the frigid air. ‘An evac ship might be on the way to fetch me.’
The unexpected statement hit Idan hard, whisking his breath away.
A sudden, piercing terror clawed at his throat, and his jaw tightened as he attempted to shut down the wild reaction
She caught the shift and pivoted to him. ‘Idan, what’s wrong?’
