"You honored them," she said finally, when the words had run dry and the fire had burned low. "By surviving. By protecting others. By not letting their deaths make you into something cruel."
"I became cold."
"Cold, maybe. But not cruel." Her lips brushed his forehead. "There's a difference."
He pulled her into his arms. Not for desire this time, though the pull still hummed beneath his skin. For comfort. For the simple need to hold her close and know that she was real.
She came willingly, curling against his chest, her head tucked beneath his chin. Her injured ankle stretched carefully to one side. Her hands fisted in his tunic like she was afraid he'd disappear.
"I did not expect you," he said into her hair.
"I didn't expect anything like this." Her voice was muffled against his chest. "I thought I was going to die in that storm.Or be dragged back to that worksite. Or—" A shaky breath. "I never imagined feeling safe."
"You are safe."
"I know." She tilted her head back to look at him. The firelight had softened to embers, and her face was mostly shadow now, but he could see the shine of her eyes. "I know, because you made me that way. And I'm so sorry that trusting again cost you so much."
He traced the line of her jaw with his thumb. The curve of her cheek. The fullness of her lower lip.
"You are worth the cost."
The air between them changed. Thickened. Comfort gave way to heat. To sweetness. To danger. He felt her pulse quicken where her body pressed against his. Her scent shifted from sorrow to arousal.
"Ralvar..." she whispered.
He knew he ought to stop. Let her rest, let them both recover from the emotional storm that had just passed through this cave.
But her eyes were dark with want. Her hands had slid up his chest to curl around his neck. And the pull was roaring in his blood, demanding what it had been demanding since the moment he'd first caught her scent.
"Tell me to stop," he said. It came out rough. Desperate. "Tell me, and I will."
"No." Her fingers tightened in his hair, and she pulled herself up his body until their faces were level. Until her mouth was a breath away from his. "No."
He kissed her.
Chapter 14
The kiss broke something open in both of them.
One moment they were pressed together in the dim cave, foreheads touching, her hands cradling his tear-streaked face. The next, the grief that had cracked him open gave way to hunger. To need. His mouth found hers again, and this time there was no hesitation. No holding back.
Delia kissed him back with everything she had.
A growl rumbled through his chest, vibrating into her. His hands slid from her face down her neck, her shoulders, her sides. Every touch burned. Every brush of his fingers left fire in its wake.
"I have thought of nothing else," he said against her mouth. "Every moment since I found you. You. Here. With me.Mine."
Mine.
The word shot through her like lightning. "I'm here," she managed. "I'm—"
He kissed her again, swallowing whatever she'd been about to say. His hands found her hips and lifted, and suddenly she wasin his lap, her legs wrapping around his waist as he turned them, lowering her onto the furs he'd spread across the cave floor.
The pelts were soft beneath her back when he laid her down. He loomed over her, braced on his arms, and for a moment he just looked at her. His chest heaved with each breath.
"I told you," he said roughly, "that when we were safe, I would worship you properly."
"I remember."
