Did I have nightmares? Am I still terrified?
“Better,” she said. “With you here.”
His hold on her tightened. Gods, she loved lying in his arms. They stayed like that for a long time, their magic whispering in their veins. Revelling in just being together.
Then his stomach growled.
She laughed. “When did you last eat?”
He thought about it. “Uh... in Fatàn?”
“Sebastian!”
“I was busy,” he said defensively. “Escaping, rescuing you, bleeding internally. The usual.”
“I thought crimson makes you hungry.”
“It does. But that didn’t exactly matter at the time.”
She tried to pull away, to insist she go and forage for something, but his arm tightened around her waist. She meant to glare at him, but a laugh escaped instead. For a man who had practically starved himself, he looked far too good.
“You know, you have got to stop beingthisattractive. It’s rude,” she muttered.
“That’s not what you said last night,” Sebastian said as he dragged his gaze down the length of her, utterly shameless.
Her cheeks heated. He caught it instantly.
“You’re blushing,” he said, all smug satisfaction. “Remembering how you begged me not to stop kissing you?”
“Sebastian,” she warned.
“You said my name exactly like that, actually. Except I’d made you a little more breathless.”
“Gods,” she groaned, burying herself in his shoulder.
He laughed contentedly, and dropped a sweet kiss onto the top of her head. “I liked it.”
Kara smiled into his skin, but eventually sat up with a stretch, disentangling herself reluctantly. “I’m starving,” she mumbled.
Sebastian nodded and pushed smoothly to his feet. His dark hair was tousled, wild from sleep, but if anything, it made him look morehandsome. He was only wearing worn black trousers which slung low on his hips – bare-chested.
Oh, that’s really not fair.
She couldn’t help it – years of training had carved him into something too good not to look at. She gazed at his sculpted torso, now fully healed and perfect, tracked the lines of muscle, strong shoulders–
Sebastian turned and watched her. “You’re staring.”
She jumped, caught in the act.
Well, that’s embarrassing.
“I hate you,” she muttered sulkily.
“No, you don’t,” he chuckled.
He caught her hand and pulled her to her feet – right into his chest. Her palms landed against his skin. He was warm. Solid. He locked his arms around her lower back, holding her in place. When he dipped his head down to her, his breath was warm and tingling against her ear.
“You’re doing it for me too, you know,” he said roughly. “If you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to forget how to behave myself.”
