Her dark eyes, so full of emotion, searched his, wavering between what she wanted and what she’d been trained to display. She was afraid. Despite all her bravado, Raevina was afraid to meet death. He was, too.
“Let me fight beside you,” Talon said. “Let me die beside you.”
Her hand flexed around her glass. “You’re on the front line. We can’t move you.”
“Then join me. Make a stand beside your king and restore Fiadh’s lost honor.”
Her jaw worked. “I’m not sure it would be enough.”
“It will be. You’re the High Lady.”
“Not yet.”
“A ceremony doesn’t change your title. Ask Arianna.”
She scoffed and turned away. “So we meet our end together, is that what you want?”
“You know what I want.”
Raevina turned back, the ache in her eyes nearly enough to send him to his knees. “I can’t give you my heart, Talon.”
He took a breath and dared a step closer. She didn’t pull away when he tentatively reached up and slid a braid behind her shoulder. “Tonight, I’m not asking for it.” Talon could have sworn he felt her slide against the bond, just enough to test the very idea of it. He lowered his voice. “If we die tomorrow, what does it matter anyway?
“And if we live?” Talon gently took the glass from her hand, draining the rest of the contents before setting it aside. “If we live, then I’ll just have to work on earning the rest.”
His hand traveled to her neck, resting against it gently. Raevina wasn’t normally the gentle type. He knew that from their first kiss. But tonight was different. Perhaps itwasbecause of the bond, or maybe it was just their manifesting fear.
“May I kiss you, High Lady of Fiadh?”
She smirked. “A lowly knight seeking a kiss from a High Lady. You ought to be on your knees.”
“Command it, and I will be.”
Flames erupted behind those dark eyes and her hands rose to rest against his chest. Their eyes met again, then her lips melted against his. Talon’s world centered on that single point of contact. He pulled her body closer, cradling her head with his other hand, then he tilted her neck at the exact angle he craved.
Raevina pulled back and kissed down his jaw, her movements growing bolder by the second, then she bit the side of his throat, nearly hard enough to break skin. Her sensual voice whispered, “Did you come back to me with more experience?”
Talon couldn’t tell if it was a question or a threat. “I read a book.”
Raevina laughed against his skin and pleasant shivers exploded through his body. “Good.” She dipped her hands beneath his shirt and Talon ripped the material over his head. Her shirt hit the floor next and Talon practically lunged for her, running his hands up and down the smooth skin of the back he’d been desperate to touch again since the night they’d danced.
He pulled the knives from her belt and let them clatter to the floor, then walked her toward the bed. Talon gasped when Raevina gave in to the bond. Those threads wove together, connecting him to her soul. He felt everything she did. The desire. The fear. The absolute certainty that this was what she wanted.Hewas what she wanted.
Raevina spun before they could fall into the bed. He gaped up at her, this powerful, beautiful warrior, pinning him to the soft mattress.
And Talon decided this was exactly where he wanted to be for eternity.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Arianna
Arianna stood at the crystalline pool’s center, staring at the water trickling down from a small set of rocks that separated it from the lake behind. It barely disturbed the surface, as if caressing the pool with a lover’s touch.
It made her think of Rion.
But Rion was miles away, making the final preparations for a war they couldn’t win. Part of her father’s royal guard had accompanied her here, along with a guide from Nàdair to ensure they made it in time. In time for what, she still didn’t know.
A conversation with Eimear hadn’t helped in the slightest. They had one chance of winning. One slim chance, yet it was hanging by a thread. And everything relied on her. She just wished she knew what to do.
