If they could…
He glanced down at Ember’s gorgeous face where she was staring up at him with the brightest laugh. Her green eyes twinkled. If he closed his eyes, he could still feel her hand on his face. Smell the faint trace of her perfume whenever he buried his lips in the valley between her breasts. Feel her hands tugging at his hair while he made love to her until they were both sweaty and spent.
Damn, how he missed her. His body hardened even more as his memories of her surged with vicious biting images that drove him to the brink of insanity until he feared he’d go crazy from testosterone poisoning. He wanted her back so badly he could taste her already.
Don’t even think about contacting her.
She was most likely married with a couple of kids by now. Worse? She’d tell Alura he was alive—bypassing the records Jullien had forged that said he was dead so that Barnabas and the others would lax their guard and give him an advantage for taking them down. If Alura ever learned Jullien’s report was false, she would run to his enemies with the news.
And yet a part of him was willing to risk it. That was the part of him that had always gotten him into trouble.
That part of him that loved Ember without reservation.
I’m not going to be stupid this time.
He’d get off this rock and get on with what needed to be done. His father had been right. It was time to start thinking with the head on his shoulders.
***
By the next morning, Bastien was only moving because of the roots he’d found. As soon as he heard Dancer stirring, he knew the Andarion would be in every bit as much pain as he was. So to be neighborly, he carried a root over to him.
Dancer glared at his approach.
Bastien grinned at the death he saw in Dancer’s eyes. “Not enough root in the universe, eh?”
“Be glad my weapons are too far to reach or I’d shoot you.”
With a groan of his own, Bastien sat down beside him. “Not a morning person, are you?”
“Fuck you.”
Bastien laughed. “You’re not my type and I’m not quitethatdesperate.” He flicked playfully at Dancer’s ear. “Though I have to say that you are awfully pretty for a male. If I were ever tempted, it’d probably be by someone as cute as you.”
Dancer bared his fangs to him at the same time Sumi came over with a plate for each of them.
“Our fierce protectors.” Her eyes danced with mirth. “You two don’t look like you could take on a sleeping lizard this morning.”
Dancer mustered a lopsided grin. “I have to say that I definitely felt better last night.”
She blushed profusely.
Which made Dancer blush, too, as they all felt awkward over what the two of them had done last night.
Darice came running up to break the tension. “I saw a sparn this morning. Isn’t this where they nest?”
Dancer hesitated. “Dari—”
“Can’t I go with Thia while we wait?”
He shook his head. “That’s a bad idea. Thia’s no better at climbing than you are. I wouldn’t trust the two of you at an indoor gym alone.”
Darice’s face swelled up immediately. “We’re so close! It’s not fair that I can’t get my Endurance feather!”
Dancer’s expression was every bit as despondent that he was having to say no. With his brow furrowed, he rubbed at his ribs as if he was actually considering taking the climb with his nephew.
Bastien was aghast. While Andarions were tough, that went straight into the realm of stupendously stupid.
Sumi looked up at the cliff in front of them. “What kind of climb are we talking about? Can it be done in one day?”
