“I made a vow. I’m yours, heart, body, and soul. You can have it all or just one piece. I care not.”
“And if I want none of it?”
“Then I’ll be content with this for however long it takes.”
She hummed and circled to his back, keeping her hand on his body. Her gaze traveled over his muscles, all the way down to the two jagged scars just above his waistline. Her fingertips trailed lower and Rion’s back tensed, but he didn’t turn or pull away.
“Have you told me the story behind these?”
“You never asked.”
Had she been sober, she might not have asked even now. “Tell me.”
Rion still watched her from the corner of his eye, his neck turned just enough. He took a breath. Let it out. “Betrayal.” One word, clipped with the flexing of his jaw.
“From who?”
Silence. They stood there, her fingertips resting against his back. “Her name was Selina.” His eyes dropped to the floor. “I don’t think I’ve said it aloud in seventy years.”
“You were young.” She didn’t know why that surprised her.
“Young and full of idiotic hope.”
Arianna’s hand stilled, her magic shifting to something gentler as she studied the lines. “Did you love her?”
He loosed a sigh from between his teeth. “Yes.” More silence. His voice was softer when he spoke again. “Everything was half-truths with her. She’d mastered the art of deception. She saw my vulnerabilities and exploited every single one of them.”
“Is that what you think I’m doing?”
“Gods, I hope not.”
More silence. “You killed her?”
His jaw tightened again. “Yes.”
“Would you—”
“No. Never.” The words were out before she could even finish her sentence.
Arianna’s hands traveled to the other scars, four small holes bordering the two lines. “And these?”
“Just more heartache.”
“Another lover?”
“A teacher. A friend.”
Heartache. One after another. Is that all his life had been? “I assume Saoirse was there to put you back together.”
“If it weren’t for her, I would have died in my father’s study when I was eight years old.”
Eight. A youngling. The world had tried to kill someone who’d barely begun to live.
Arianna continued circling him, her hand still brushing his skin. She’d reeled her magic back, no longer leaving a trail. Now she let it trace up to his shoulder then around to his other arm until it connected with his chest. Arianna met his gaze again.
Longing. So much longing.
Their heartbeats raced in perfect synchrony. His magic had drawn closer, moving in time with his breath.
