Eira hissed suddenly. “Damn, Theron.”
I followed her gaze, noting a gash along my ribs that was trickling fresh blood. The wound must have reopened when I’d dragged the soldier’s body into the closet.
“Here.” She moved to the table and tore several long strips of fabric before wrapping them around my chest, securing the cloth over the wound. I could only stare at her and the determined, focused glint in her eyes as she worked. She might have been teasing me before, but now she wascommitted to the task at hand. I was breathless at the sight of this fierce, unstoppable woman.
No one had ever cared for me when I was wounded before, except perhaps my mother when I was a child. For most of my life, I’d had to take care of myself. Survive on my own. Tend to my wounds in solitude.
The sight of Eira so devoted to cleaning me and wrapping my injury—it made my throat go hot with unexpected emotion.
No one cared… except for her.
When she tied off the cloth, she rested her palm against my chest, as if to feel my heartbeat. She went perfectly still, her breath quivering. “Better?” she whispered. She gazed up at me, those infinite blue eyes pulling me in.
My hand clasped hers, pressing it closer to my heart.
“Eira,” I said quietly.
“Theron.”
Our gazes held for a few heartbeats before I found my voice again. “What did you mean back in Tolston… when you said I was yours?”
Her lips parted in surprise, and she said nothing at first. Her eyes dropped, then lifted again as if she had to force herself to meet my gaze. “I—I meant that you… you…” She licked her lips and tried again. “I want you to be mine. I want you to belong to me. To stay by my side. To fight with me.”
“As your soldier? Your protector?”
“As my lover. My partner. My equal.”
My breath hitched. The blush in her cheeks deepened, but her pale eyes held mine.
Lover.
Gods, this woman would be the death of me. She tormented me, taunted me, frustrated me… And yet, everything inside me sang with conviction from her words. Because I wanted her by my side, too. As my partner. My equal. My lover.
I didn’t even care that I had failed. Years of killing and hunting, and this was the first time I had failed. Instead of taking her heart, she had claimed mine.
It felt like a victory instead of a defeat.
I leaned in until my nose brushed against hers. She sucked in a breath, her eyelids fluttering.
Just before my mouth met hers, I murmured, “Iamyours, Eira.”
I am yours,Eira.
The words rang in my mind again and again like the chiming of a bell, the echo endless and eternal.
I am yours. I am yours. I am yours.
With desire thrumming through my body, I wrapped my arms around his neck and brought his mouth fully against mine. Together, we staggered backward until we hit the wall, making the nearest sconce rattle.
His lips were moist and deliciously warm as they moved over mine, claiming me, devouring me, tasting me thoroughly. His tongue slid between my lips, and I responded with my own, ravishing him fully.
My hands slid along his chest, roaming the firm expanse of his broad shoulders. Gods, he was a masterpiece. His tan, sculpted muscles rippled with each movement. My fingers ran along the ridges of his abdomen. He groaned from my light touches, and satisfaction bloomed inside of me.
Yes, I certainly did love to torment him.
“Eira.” The sound of Theron murmuring my name, his voice hoarse and ragged, nearly undid me.
His mouth was on mine again, his kisses more urgent anddesperate, as if he couldn’t hold back any longer. His hips pressed against me, pinning me fully to the wall. With a moan, I raised my legs, wrapping them around him and bracing my back against the wall. Heat and longing throbbed in my core. Yearning for more, I ground myself against him. The friction of our clothes and bodies elicited a gasp from me.
