Then, something shifted. The raw hunger faded away and he gentled the kiss. His mouth moved tenderly against mine, as if I was something precious, the most precious thing he’d ever held in his arms. One hand cradled my face while the other remained at my waist, still holding me close, but as something cherished rather than in desperation.
It was everything I’d ever needed, without knowing I’d needed it.
I fisted my hands in his shirt, afraid he might pull away. But when he broke the kiss just enough to stare into my eyes, there was no hesitation.
“You were never a duty, Lexa,” he whispered, his thumb tracing my cheekbone. “Never an obligation. The furthest thing from it.”
The words hit me harder than I thought they would, and shattered whatever remaining defenses I had left.
He left my lips to nuzzle and trail kisses along my jaw, down the column of my neck. When he reached that sensitive spot where my pulse hammered against my throat, I gasped and felt my knees go weak.
“I guess we’re doing this,” I managed to stammer out. My voice had a breathless quality I’d never heard before.
He made a sound against my neck that may have been laughter, or relief.
We had somehow backed ourselves against the wall, the cool stone at odds with the heat building between us. My hands found his biceps, marveling at the solid strength of him around me, the reality that I was here, with him. I was reaching for him, lost in the sensation of his mouth on my skin, when he went rigid against me. His head snapped up, body tensing with alertness.
“What—?”
And then I heard it too. Footsteps.
“All the seven gods-fucking-dammit,” he breathed, his forehead falling against mine.
“Who?” I asked, breathlessly, my lips coursing over his cheek.
“My fucking brother.” He closed his eyes in silent frustration. “I’m assuming you don’t want him to know?”
I looked at him, taking in his mussed hair from where my hands had been tangled through it, the dark circles under his eyes that spoke of sleepless worry. How long had I been gone?
I reached up to smooth his brow, my hand getting lost again in those sandy waves, and then stopped.
Right. Finn.
Coming this way.
“I… I don’t know,” I answered his question.
He held on tight to my waist as if he couldn’t bear to let go. “This isn’t over.” His voice was rough with promise and warning alike as he leaned closer, our mouths almost touching again.
“Oh, no.” My hand was on his cheek, fuzzy with new scruff. “It’s only just beginning.” I closed the distance between us and brushed my mouth over his, once, twice. A promise of my own of what was to come when we had time and privacy.
That golden warmth pulsed between us, and for a moment, I almost forgot there was anyone else in the world.
Almost.
I forced myself to break away from Griff not a moment too soon, as Finn rounded the corner. If he noticed our appearances, the way we were breathing a little too hard, he didn’t comment. Instead, he grinned and opened his arms.
“Success?” he asked as I threw myself into his embrace.
I nodded, not trusting my voice yet. When I pulled back, I noticed the split lip, the slight swelling around his left eye.
“What happened?”
“Griff happened. He was supremely unhappy he didn’t know you were leaving.”His eyes flicked between us. I really hoped things weren’t as obvious as they felt.“Something going on there you want to tell me?”
I shook my head, not sure if I was denying his question or trying to clear the growing fog in my mind, but he accepted my answer as he pressed a gentle kiss to my head.
Griff appeared at my side as I disengaged from Finn, not going so far as to bodily remove me from Finn’s embrace, but not far from it. His arm snaked around my waist with possessiveness. I started to draw away, put distance between us, but my thoughts were drifting every which way and I needed Griff’s touch to anchor me in the present.
