I shake my head. “He was notably absent, but he said he was returning to the fourth province.”
As she stands here, I realize that I wanted to confer with her.
I missed her already.
It’s then that I notice we are far too close to each other. Her cloak looks soft, as soft as her lips.
My hand moves like it has a will of its own. I reach out and touch the edge of her cloak. It is as soft as a lamb. I want to peel it off her, but then I remember how she backed away from my touch, my efforts to console her. I force myself to let go and drop my hand. My fingers ache to feel her again, and I curl them in fists.
She breathes out, her chest rapidly rising and falling. Kerasea stares straight ahead, and then her expression hardens into resolve. I hold still as she takes a tiny step closer to me and then another until she’s inches from me. Kera stares up into my eyes, and then she stands on her toes.
Joy fills my chest, and I lean down and close the distance between us.
LXII.
Kerasea
I thought Torren was about to kiss me, but instead, he tips my chin up with his thumb.
“What do you want, Kera?”
He’s so close that our breath mingles. He smells like snow and sandalwood, and his nearness makes it hard for me to form a coherent thought. But he waits patiently.
What do I want? I didn’t come here for this, but now it’s difficult to think of anything else. I came here because I thought he’d understand how I felt. Because I wanted to be near him again. Because I missed him. And because I wanted to finish what we started.
“You,” I say. “I want you.”
His pupils dilate, a flash of pleasure on his face before his lips mash against mine. He wraps his arms around me, pressing me against the hardness of his chest. He’s all ridges and cuts, lines and muscle, but his touch is gentle…until it’s not.
With one motion, he unhooks my cloak, and it falls to the floor. I’m wearing a simple white dress beneath it. He gazes down my body, his eyes adoring, and then he picks me up. My sandals slide off my feet, and I’m weightless as he carries me into his bedroom.
I thought he’d fling me onto his mattress or pin me to the wall again, but instead, he gently places me down next to his bed. The tiles are cold on my bare soles, the room fairly sparse but lived in.
So this is where the Praetorian sleeps. There’s a simple double bed, a single nightstand, and a wooden dresser. Everything in here is well cared for, including a full bookcase. There was one in his living room as well with poetry, history, science, and maths. The spines are worn but the bindings well kept. He studies and teaches himself. There’s something endearing about that.
As Praetorian, he has a villa on the Southside, but I’d already heard he never uses it. He chooses to stay in these two rooms in the barracks.
We stand beside his bed, and he leans down and kisses me again. My body hums, but it’s not blood magic—it’s something else. The bottom of my stomach flips from his kiss, and all I want is more. I wait, impatient, but he takes his time. His hands barely graze my breasts as desire builds inside me.
He kisses me until I’m breathless. I try to take his underwear down and he stops my hands. Then he looks me in the eye.
“Don’t rush, Kera,” he whispers. “We have all night.”
This thing between us, whatever it is, swirls and crashes like waves. The throbbing between my legs is intolerable. I want this. I don’t care what the fallout will be.
“Take all of me,” I say.
His full lips curl into a wicked smile as he grabs me and turns me around. With my back to his chest, he doesn’t hike up my dress. Instead, he takes my hairpins out, dropping them to the floor one by one until my ebony locks cascade around me. It’s so intimate. So different from last time. Then he kisses the side of my neck, his tongue making me shiver as he unties my dress.
In seconds, I’m undone.
Torren’s rough hands gently slip the straps off my shoulders, and then he lets my dress fall to my waist. The bodice holds at my hips until he guides it down to my ankles. Like him, I’m now left in my undergarments—a white chemise and panties.
I’m exposed, but I’ve never felt this safe.
He pushes on my hip, wordlessly asking me to face him again. I comply. His eyes drink me in, and then he lifts me up and we careen onto the bed. We land with him over me, the heat of his body radiating into my bare skin. The weight of him feels divine as he presses me into the soft bed.
“Kera,” he murmurs.
