A breath huffed out of him like he’d taken a punch to the gut.
I pulled back, and there was a moment I could see himconsidering it. Then his jaw clenched and he drew me even closer, though our bodies were already completely entwined.
“No—Rubi,” he breathed. “I can’t tell you how much I want this. But if something were to happen to me—as the Ravager? I’d be a wanted man. Once we Soul Pair, if I die, you do too I can’t…I won’t risk it. I won’t riskyou.”
Disappointment unfurled in my gut, but I nodded with a forced smile.
He cradled my face with his big hands. “Trust me. I want to. I will. Just let me make it safe for you.”
“How?”
He gave me a tender kiss. “Maybe we can go somewhere else, when all this is over. You and me, Yvonne, Poppy and Edith? Start somewhere else. With our family.”
Our family.
I nodded brightly, a tear escaping that he wiped away.
“Yes,” I breathed. “Please.”
He nodded with a grin and kissed me again, pulling at my bottom lip with his teeth. My body heated, but he lay back and settled me against his chest.
I slept for a while, maybe an hour or two, before I woke again slowly. All was dark now, every fire burned out. Blake was still awake, his fingers tracing gentle patterns along my back.
“You should be sleeping,” he said, realizing I was awake.
“So should you,” I muttered, eyes blinking. He huffed a laugh, the breath fluttering my hair as he pressed a kiss to my forehead, then down to my lips as we slowly, sleepily pressed against one another.
He took me then—or I took him, pushing his body into the mattress to ride him slow and steady, rocking myself over him until we both shattered together, his wrists in my grip.
“Will that put you to sleep now, Ambush Master?”
He smirked against me, nose rubbing at my skin. “I’m worn out, songbird.”
Blake tucked me closer, his skin damp with sweat, his expression vulnerable in the pale moonlight. He tipped my face up to kiss my lips once more.
“We should sleep. It’s going to be a difficult few days.”
“I’m not worried,” I breathed, settling into his arms and closing my eyes. “I have a big strong Twin Blade to watch over me. What could possibly happen?”
46
Rubi.
Rubi.
My eyes jolted open, heart pounding.
Rubi, I feel strange.
Stomach dropping, I scooted out from under Blake’s arm, careful not to wake him.
I’m here, beautiful one. What’s wrong?
I…I don’t know—
I quickly put a cloak on over my nightclothes, then slipped out to Flame.
The air was heavy with fog as I searched for Flame by moonlight. She wasn’t in the area Jace and I had blocked out near my tent. I could only see ten feet before me and focused on following our Bond.
