“And then you arrived.” An echo of his words from days before.
It seemed as if we’d lived a lifetime since then.
I rested my hand against the back of his neck. “Luka…” I felt the heat of him, the way everything narrowed again until there was nothing else in the room.
“This could have consequences I cannot predict,” he said.
“I know.”
His gaze didn’t waver. “And you are still here.”
I didn’t look away. “Yeah.” There was no other answer left.
Not anymore.
He studied me for a second longer. “Then now you understand.”
I leaned in and kissed him, a gentle, fleeting brush of lips that evolved into something deeper, more intimate. Our foreheads met.
“Do you really want to go?” I kept my voice low.
Luka swallowed. “Tomorrow… we skate. Well, not you. I have to be on the ice early.”
I managed a chuckle. “You’re out there early every morning. So am I, usually. So…” I cupped his cheek. “Stay.” I cocked my head. “How do you saystayin Velkaran?”
He blinked. “Zostan.”
I took a shot at it.“Zos-tahn.”
Luka winced immediately. “No. Zo-stan,” he said, slower this time.
“Zostan.” It wasn’t perfect but it was close enough.
His lips met mine, and I lost myself in the kiss.
“Verím ti,” he murmured.
I frowned. “What does that mean?”
He held my gaze. “It means I trust you.” A pause. “And I will stay.”
Chapter Eighteen
Dean
I should have been asleep.
Instead, I lay staring at the ceiling while Luka slept beside me.
He looked different asleep. Softer, somehow, less guarded. At some point he’d shifted closer without realizing it, one hand resting against my ribs beneath the sheets.
Verím ti.
The words drifted back through my head.
I trust you.
I turned carefully and looked at him.
