Her breath hitched when he put the brush down and dug his fingers deep into her hair.They touched her scalp and began to massage her.
“You’re too tense,” Arkas murmured.“Let me help you relax.”
Speechless, she melted as his magic fingers went to work.Oaklie had to hold in a moan of pleasure as the warrior expertly massaged her scalp.Boneless by the time he was done, she didn’t resist when he eased her onto her back.Lying beside her, he took her into his arms and pulled her in close.
Lying side by side, they gazed at each other without speaking.Oaklie let her shield fall and the connection between them instantly became impossible to ignore.
Arkas cupped her cheek, treating her as if she was as fragile as a crystal glass.“You’re so beautiful, my cambion,” he said in longing.“I wish I could stay here with you forever.”
“Me, too,” she replied wistfully, exhausted from the tension and the constant travel.“What would you do if you didn’t have to fight the Soldiers of Chaos?”
He looked at her blankly, as if he’d never even considered the possibility that he could be anything other than a warrior.“I’d like to become an artist like you,” he decided at last.“You could teach me how to sculpt properly.”
She smiled at that notion as sleep drew closer.“What would you teach me, Knight of Order?”she murmured.
“I’d teach you how to fight and how to destroy your enemies,” he replied.“Although you’ve already proven you can hold your own in battle.”
Smiling, her eyes drifted shut.Arkas traced her lips with his fingertip, his touch so light she could barely feel it.“What else would you teach me?”she asked, voice slurring a bit as she began to ease into slumber.
“I’d teach you everything I know about passion, my female,” he said.“I’d pleasure you every day for the rest of our lives if Fate saw fit to let me stay here with you.”
Her eyelids felt like they weighed a thousand pounds each.Forcing them open, she saw an expression of such intense longing on his gorgeous face that she leaned in to kiss him.
His lips were softer than she’d expected.Their kiss was so featherlight she almost thought she was imagining it.Arkas pressed her palm against the tattoo on his chest and tangled his legs with hers.Then sleep grabbed hold of her and she couldn’t resist it any longer.Safe in the cocoon of his arms, she slumbered while the storm raged on outside.
Rousing briefly a few hours later, Oaklie gazed in wonder at the warrior lying next to her.Deeply asleep, Arkas still had his arms wrapped around her protectively.Her heart ached that he could never be hers, no matter how badly they both wanted it.The knights had a purpose that was far more important than her selfish wants.She resolved to protect her heart so it wouldn’t be shattered.It was inevitable that her warrior would eventually be wrenched from her world and sent back to the Void.
Chapter Twenty-Six
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GG PACED UP AND DOWNas she waited for Wynter to arrive.She and Dalt had spent the past couple of days getting used to the skating rink.The fire in the drum kept them warm enough and they were conserving their supply of fuel.Someone had left a generator and a hotplate behind, which was highly convenient for them.
“She should be here any minute now,” GG said, checking her watch again.
Right on cue, someone knocked on the front door.Dalton chuckled and hauled himself off the couch as GG raced over to the door.
