The grunt. Hart had been hit. I hadn’t seen where. “Let me see your side.”
He had already turned and begun the hike toward the Storm’s settlement. “It’s fine. We can dress it at the camp.”
I studied his movements as I followed him. He didn’t wince or struggle with each step. That only worried me more. Where had he been hit? “Hart.”
He stopped at the tone of my voice, and I caught up to him, leaving the bodies of the guards in our wake.
“Let me see it.”
He grumbled, but turned so I could see the entry wound on his side. I gasped at the sight of it, unsure how he wasn’t screaming. Blood soaked his shirt, and the farther I pried back the material, the deeper the wound looked.
I smacked his chest before I could think better of it. “I need to heal this.”
My eyes met his, and he smirked through his obvious pain. “You shouldn’t hit me, I’m wounded.”
A huff of exasperation escaped my lips, and I held his gaze. “Hart.”
He sighed. “Is that an option we still have? I don’t want to make you use the adamas again if I don’t have to.”
My eyes widened. I forgot Hart hadn’t seen the pendant. I touched it beneath my blouse, a convenient excuse to drop his gaze as I spoke. “The orange is flashing.”
His chuckle was low. “I’m not surprised, Chaos.”
Of course I wanted him. We’d barely kissed in his apartment. I’d only started to explore the shape of him again. “It was so quick,” I said. My cheeks heated instantly at the insinuation.
Hart laughed, seemingly unbothered. “When it’s you, it doesn’t take much.”
“Let me heal it.” I reached for him slowly, allowing him every opportunity to stop my progress.
“You won’t meet resistance from me.” He winced, and I knew he was in even more pain than he let on. “I’m glad one of us kept to the plan and saved some healing magic.”
Truly, it hadn’t been my intention, but I guessed he was right. It had been a blessing in disguise.
I cupped his cheek and slid my hand into his hair, my fingers threaded in the thick locks. I didn’t strictly need to do it, but I wanted as much of Hart as I could have. I didn’t need further proof that tomorrow, or later, wasn’t guaranteed. I’d almost lost him to the mudslide, to the raid, and now to the guards in the woods. I wouldn’t wait to claim what I wanted.
I went in with eyes wide open. I’d never regret a moment with Hart.
He stooped to meet my lips with his. A gentle brush turned quickly into a stoked flame. He bit and sucked. I opened to him, and our tongues slid together in a delicious twist. The magic of our connection alighted. He may not be able to use lust to heal anymore, but I could take his and use it to heal him.
Regretfully, I pulled my lips from his and bit the tip of the middle finger on my glove. I had Hart’s undivided attention as I removed it. It seemed fitting that the lust I collected was from his lips on mine. Now, I glanced down and swiped my fingers over the wound. Immediately, it stitched itself together. In only seconds, the skin looked as though it had never been pierced.
“All healed.”
His gaze met mine when I looked up. Something smoky on my tongue made my nostrils flare.
“What are you thinking of now?” I asked quietly.
His smirk was firmly in place, like he knew what I tasted. In the early morning light, his green eyes told me everything I needed to know. “You, Chaos. Always you.”
I reached up on my tiptoes, wrapped my arms around his neck, and pulled him back to me. He didn’t resist. Our lips met again in the silence of the Oldwood. Maybe this time we wouldn’t be disturbed.
He coaxed my lips open with his tongue, searching like it’d been years since we last kissed instead of hours. Every stroke matched a step as he walked me backward to the nearest tree, only pausing when my back pressed against its trunk.
With a gentle caress of my jaw, he tipped my head up, granting himself access to the column of my neck. The way he mapped it with his tongue sent sparks surging through me. I might not feel magic shifting between us, but the world seemed to shift beneath my feet with his quest.
“Hart.” His name was like a secret I hadn’t yet voiced. Awhisper to the winds of my deepest desire. I didn’t think I imagined his pause. His shiver. His fervor as our lips met again with urgent need.
Heat built with only the feel of his mouth on mine. It wasn’t enough. I wanted an inferno. His gaze was a flame, and I wanted it to burn me. I offered him the other hand, near his lips, silently requesting his assistance. He didn’t require urging. The bite was gentle. He made space between the silk and the tip of my finger with his teeth. My breath caught with anticipation as he dragged the material from my skin.
