“Hey.” I pulled away from him and shot him a glare.
He reached out and took my arm in his hands again, his gaze smoldering as if daring me to tell him to stop.
‘Let him heal you. You just gave up your shot at eternity for him,’Yanric advised.
Well, when he put it that way…
‘Go tell Eden, Hayes, and Ayden that Ariyon is back,’I said to Yanric, and he flew from my shoulder, turning to smoke before fading through a wall.
The queen looked at Ariyon’s hands on my arm, and her eyes narrowed again. “Fallon, I’m sure your father is worried about you. And I’d like some family time alone with my nephew after this ordeal. I’m sure Blair and Ayden are eager to see him too.”
Blair. My heart sank at the mention of her name. Solana was not so subtly reminding me that Ariyon was betrothed, and I shouldn’t pursue whatever this was between us. Unfortunately for me, this was deep, irrevocable love.
I glanced at Ariyon, trying to keep the hurt off my face, and gently peeled my now-healed arm from his grasp. “Glad you’re back. Sorry it took so long.”
“Fallon—” he started.
“We can catch up later. You should be with your family now. Everyone has been so worried.” I walked a few steps away from him and stood before Solana, giving her a deep curtsy, which she returned with a nod of her head.
“I won’t forget what you did,” she said and motioned to the man beside her, the lover whose name I didn’t even know.
I swallowed hard and nodded, giving her a forced smile.
Blair. He is betrothed to Blair.
I wanted to celebrate that Ariyon was safe, that I’d finally managed to bring him back alive. And though I was so happy that was true, I couldn’t rejoice because the reminder that he would marry someone else was soul crushing. I just wanted to be alone.
I left the room and followed the guard to the entrance of the castle. He gave me a curt nod as I took off down the front steps, through the garden, and toward the thick trees. I couldn’t help but let the grief take hold inside me.
Never in a million years did I think I would find a guy that could kiss me and touch me and then I would have to watch him be married off to another. Not that I’d actually see it happen—I’d be long dead by the time they finished school and married. Maybe that was for the best. Ariyon would have Blair to comfort him after I died saving the city.
“Fallon!” Ariyon shouted as I reached the forest path that would lead back to town, where I was hoping to find Eden and cry myself to sleep.
I stiffened when I heard him call but kept walking. I didn’t want to see him right now. I didn’t want to have the inevitable conversation about his duty and Blair and the fact that no matter how much it felt like fate had created us for each other, we’d never actually be able to be together.
Solana wouldn’t allow it, and neither would the citizens of The Gilded City. Besides, I only had a short amount of time to live anyway. Best to just live out the next several months honing my skills to save everyone before I died.
“Fallon Brookshire!” Ariyon bellowed, and my heart pinched at his use of my father’s last name. He pulled on my shoulder and I spun, just as his lips crashed onto mine. I gasped and he swallowed the sound, using the opening to slide his tongue into my mouth and stroke it against mine. A whimper formed in mythroat, and he pushed me backward until I was flush up against a tree.
Desire bloomed inside my chest, causing heat to travel between my legs. My heart fluttered as he moaned against my lips. Fingers trembling, I reached up to stroke the chiseled lines of his jaw. This kiss was hungry, desperate, as if I was oxygen and he had been drowning. It was a kiss that spoke of promises and a love waiting to bloom.
His fingers pulled at my hips greedily as our bodies pressed together, and I could feel his rapid heartbeat match mine. When he finally tore away from me, there was a wild look in his molten-silver gaze.
“I’m in love with you, Fallon. Deep, mad, scary love,” he exclaimed boldly.
A grin swept across my face—but then the memory of Solana telling me about his betrothal to Blair entered my mind.
“I love you too, Ariyon.” I did—he was my first love, something I never thought I would have. “But your aunt said you are supposed to marry Blair and have children before you…”
He shook his head defiantly. “She’s been saying that since I was six years old. Not going to happen, and I tell her that—often. Ayden will marry and have children. I won’t. I won’t willingly make a widow and orphans of anyone.”
Relief rushed through my body at his words. Even though what he said was sad on so many levels, it was what I needed to hear. I swallowed hard, thinking of the fact that I had a dark secret of my own, that I would in fact be the one to make him the equivalent of a widower when I died within a year.
“I’m so glad you’re back.” I pulled him back to me, wrapping my arms around him as our bodies crushed together in a tight embrace. His smell enveloped me; it wasn’t anything I could place, like sandalwood or mint. It was just Ariyon.
“I almost went insane down there, Fal,” he breathed against my neck. “I hope my friend Pax got out.” He pulled back.
“That tattooed guy you were about to fight?” I asked.
