He tipped his head down, creating a space just for them. So close the cool breeze of the ocean couldn’t slip between them. Her breath was hot against his lips. Her face splashed with dots of the sea but her lips clear of water and salt. He wondered what those lips would taste like.
There had to be something wrong with him. He’d just been reminiscing about his first kiss with Loriana and now he wanted to kiss Nes. Guilt crept in, but it felt about as steady as their rowboat.
“I can smell magic on Genna,” Nes said. “I think she might be consuming it.”
That wasn’t what he’d expected her to say.
He glanced back over his shoulder at the awaiting rowboat and the guard inside. He wanted to trust Nes, but he wanted to trust Genna, too. He didn’t want to believe Nes’s words. Consuming magic was a surefire way to be discharged from the King’s Guard. A surefire way to get yourself accused as the Witch. And, if true, he didn’t think he’d be able to stop himself from looking at her a little differently for it.
“Let’s get back to shore,” he said to Nes.
She nodded and bit her lip. “I just—” She blew out a breath, staring at him. Her eyes were the same color as the sea. But where the sea was cold, her eyes were warm. “Thank you.”
He swallowed hard, their proximity teasing, testing him. Thoughtsof the curves of her body, of her lips on his, slowly gnawed away at his guilt. It was still there, still waiting to pounce should he put certain thoughts into action, but he felt his desire gaining strength.
Nes had nearly drowned, and he couldn’t stop thinking about kissing her. He hadn’t believed it possible for him to want something like that—wantsomeonelike that—after Loriana. But here was Nes, holding fast to his body and his mind.
Toran forced himself to remember the water, to feel the cold and the strength of the current and not the warmth of her body against his. He kicked them back toward the boat.
It was a struggle getting into the rowboat. Once Nes tumbled in, he waited a minute for the boat to settle before hopping in himself. Behind Genna, Nes sat with her back ramrod straight. He could see the way her thumb tapped nervously on the tips of her fingers, as if playing a frantic refrain.
Genna glanced at Nes but quickly turned to face him again. “Can I take us back now?”
Toran nodded. “Please.”
He twisted in his seat to look at the rock and the foreign language scored in stone. His own thoughts whispered to him, trying to pull him in. For something nagged at him—suspicion with no grounds laced his mind as they rowed back.
He shivered, but across the boat, Nes didn’t move. She barely blinked. Whatever thoughts were running through her mind, they stole her away from this moment.
His own were distracted, too, thinking of Loriana—of his love for her and of the awakening feelings he’d thought were gone forever.
The side of the rowboat bumped the planks of the dock, waking him from his spiral.
Quint was waiting for him. His lieutenant’s face betrayed nothing. He was as stoic as ever, but Toran knew whatever news Quint had wasn’t good.
Before Genna could reach a hand out to steady them, Nes was out of the boat, her feet slapping wood as she practically ran from them.
Signaling to Quint to wait, Toran hopped out and made to go after her. He caught up easily, keeping his grasp light when he reached for her wrist. She didn’t yank away from him.
“What happened out there?”
She laughed. Once and hard like the sharp clang of an anvil. “You mean other than the fact that you lied about the boat?”
He rubbed one side of his jaw. “You’re the one who tipped us.”
She gritted her teeth. “You lied.”
“Fine. I lied.” He dropped her wrist. “The boat was unstable. It’s a freakin’ rowboat, Nes. Of course it’s unstable.” Her eyes slashed through him, stripping him bare. He shivered against the sudden exposure. He couldn’t keep the annoyance from his tone as he asked, “What?”
“You tried hunting the Witch once before, didn’t you?”
“Yes, in Aeos.” He thought back to the King’s request to bring the Witch in alive this time, and his gut twisted.
“And how did that go? Did you find her? Did you manage to drown the Witch in a country that praises her like she’s the Goddess herself?”
He kept his mouth shut. Everyone knew how well his mission in Aeos had gone.
“No. Because you had no idea what you were doing then, and you don’t now.”
