Pain and horror flashed in his gaze. “The Anfroy soldier at the wall. You said he hit you, but that’s a scar from a burn. He heated the hilt with his fire.” She nodded. It was close enough to the truth, though it was hellthorn that had burned her. Fury overwhelmed the surprise in his eyes. “I… why are you sharing this now?”
She frowned at him.
Cason sighed. “I take it that’s not a question you can easily answer without words.”
Brela opened her mouth but then thought better of it as pain lanced down her throat. Instead, she gripped his hand and squeezed it.
“Does it hurt?” he asked, eyes drifting to the ice she had pressed against the bruise.
She shook her head.
“Liar,” he challenged, looking back up at the sky. She huffed through her nose, earning his smirk. “That’s what I thought.”
She pinched her lips together, doing her best to glare at the captain who still studied her out of the corner of his eye. Knowing she’d never win an argument she couldn’t actually speak in—and because he was annoyingly correct—she let her shoulders sink just slightly.
A surprised but relieved smile broke Cason’s smirk as she leaned forward and moved his arm so she could curl into his side. And four hells, she wasn’t going to complain when he wrapped his arm over her shoulders and began tracing his fingers over her skin. Long patterns, soft despite the gentle pressure he used to keep her pressed into his side, and she couldn’t help but sink into it. She almost let out a hum when he rested his cheek on top of her head.
The silence wasn’t uncomfortable, not with him. Not when being nestled into his body like this felt so right. It should have felt wrong, knowing that leading him on like this was selfish, but gods, didn’t she deserve one good thing before it was ripped away from her?
Cason lifted his cheek from her head. “I was scared shitless, you know.” Brela tensed. “I was panicking so much trying to stop the bleeding, I didn’t even notice that there weren’t wounds. There was just so much blood…”
Brela tilted her head up and blinked at him.
Cason swallowed. “I was seconds away from setting fire to the entire desert because I thought I’d lost you.” Brela jolted upright and stared at him, wide eyed. He paused, chewing on his cheek. “I know you were joking about my scent not masking you from territorial bastards, but… I didn’t protect you, and I was terrified that you wouldn’t wake up—“
She silenced him, leaning forward and pressing her lips to his to catch the rest of the words he was about to spill.
The kiss wasn’t heated and wild, like their kisses that led to shedding of clothes, but soft and tender. A thank you when she couldn’t offer the words.
Cason stiffened slightly, a surprised gasp escaping his lips as he stared at her when she pulled away. His blue gaze sparkled, and a lifetime might have passed before one hand slid along her waist, the other cradling her cheek as he leaned in to kiss her again.
Precise, confident, and…caring.
Gods, their frantic kisses of teeth and tongue set fire to her veins, butthis? She never wanted to stop feeling the hum that tingled over her skin. It made her feel light, and with each shift of his warm lips over hers, she melted all over again.
She could feel it—that tug Oni had scented between her and Cason in the Glass Wilds. Not a hiss of the Veil shard warning her of danger, but something deeper than fire fighting shadow. Something so unfamiliar that even the shadow wolf she kept caged inside her couldn’t identify the pull.
Brela wove her fingers through Cason’s hair, the other resting softly on his chest so she could feel his heart. The heart that had been worried about her. The heart that would have set the entire desert on fire forher.
And for a moment, she tasted something sweet on her tongue along with that hickory smoke.
Of all the times for her senses to still feel weakened and unfamiliar after having the celvusa’s enhanced abilities, she couldn’t identify the taste before Cason pulled back.
“Brela…” he whispered, his voice trembling. Even his hand shook against her cheek.
No. She couldn’t bear to hear whatever words he might be considering.
She rested her palm over his and leaned into the touch. “Sleep,” she rasped, wincing slightly at the painful word. His eyes widened, but that was all she could afford. Running her fingers through his hair, she mouthedplease, hoping her eyes would convey the pleading better than any gestures could.
Cason finally relented after she pressed a kiss to his forehead. As she shifted back to his bags, he slid further down the bedroll, resting his head on her lap. Her fingers stroked his hair until the sun-blessed dragon fell asleep in the shadow-blessed wolf’s arms.
Brela could only offer herself and the empty night a broken smile at the irony of the situation… and her life.
36
Calcheth
Cason could still feel that kiss tingling on his lips and singing in his veins two days later. It helped that they’d shared more since that one Brela had used to shut him up, so many that he’d actually lost count, but the first tender one still tasted fresh.
