“Which is why you’ll never be forced into that position again.” The finality of Jax’s words carried on the breeze, and I knew that he meant every word of it. “We’ll find another way to help those less fortunate. The days of the Dark Raider are over.”
A slight throb came from my temples. I rubbed my head, and Jax’s brow furrowed. “Are you all right?”
“It’s just the potions. They haven’t fully worn off yet.”
He growled slightly and moved his hand to my lower back, then rubbed me up and down in soothing motions. “What do you need right now?” Warmth from his palm seared through my clothing.
“Just you.”
My words brought a devastating smile to his lips.
We passed over the final buildings just south of the palace and glided over its mighty black gates toward the large open courtyard beyond. The gates’ guards watched us, bowing when the crown prince passed over them.
The carpet sailed downward, stopping just shy of the palace’s main steps. Jax helped me off, steadying me when my body swayed.
“I’m taking you to my tower. And please, my love, allow me this one courtesy.”
Before I could ask what he meant, Jax swept me off my feet and bounded up the steps two at a time. I squealed, and all of our friends laughed as they departed the carpet.
The guards standing at the main doors opened them in a flourish, and then Jax and I were back inside, within the Stonewild palace once more.
It was as we’d always planned. Somehow, things were once again on track. We saved Bastian, I commanded the fates and got away with it, we stopped King Paevin, and we freed the half-breeds. Yet despite all of that, one niggling detail remained that neither Jax nor I had acknowledged.
He was still the crown prince whose parents required he be married to another royal or noble.
And I would never be that female.
CHAPTER 30
Jax pushed open the doors to his private suite at the top of the west tower. I took in the large circular room, huge bed, plush furnishings, and sweeping views. A moment of disbelief filled me that I was back in his chambers.
“I never thought I would be here again,” I whispered.
A pulse throbbed from Jax’s aura, and his arms tightened around me. “This is your home now, Elowen. This will always be your home as long as I take breaths and my heart still beats.”
He strode toward the bathing chamber and didn’t stop until he reached the tub. “A bath, I’m assuming?”
I glanced down at the huge tub that was perched by the window. In the distance, the Adriastic Sea glistened, and this high up, it felt as if I could see the entire realm.
“A bath would be perfect.” I’d never been allowed to bathe while I’d been imprisoned. Most inmates had probably used self-cleansing, but with my magic so suppressed, I hadn’t even been able to manage that. “Stars Above, I must stink.”
His lips curved. “You don’t smell fresh, I will admit that.”
I slugged him lightly in the shoulder but couldn’t help my smile. “Be careful, or I might choose to begin living this way.”
He nuzzled my neck. “I’ll take you stinky, fresh, dirty, or clean. Just as long as you’re with me.”
My heart fluttered at his tender words.
He set me down, then got to work filling the tub, adding a soothing elixir, summoning food, and grabbing fresh towels. Even when I tried to help, he stopped me. “No. Let me do this for you.”
It was only as I was about to undress, and he placed a tray of food on a small table near the tub, that I saw his hands were shaking.
I reached for him. The bond inside me was slowly coming alive again, tugging and commanding. “Jax? What is it?”
He turned, pulling me into such a fierce embrace I could hardly breathe. He held me, buried against his chest as his arms were like steel enclosed around me. Leaning down, he settled his face in the crook of my neck. “I almost lost you.”
Fear tumbled from his aura, and for the first time, some of the fog parted in my mind, allowing me to see, trulysee, what state he was in. His hair was unkempt, his clothes wrinkled, and a beard graced his cheeks.
