“Thanks.” I twist and face him, holding my arms out with a shrug. “What do you think?”
“Perfect.” A tingling sensation travels along my spine as he rakes his gaze over me. “But what matters is how you feel.”
I shrug once again. “Good enough.”
“Did you even look?” He gestures toward the mirror behind me.
“No. I’m sure it’s fine.”
He crosses his arms and narrows his gaze, studying me. “Okay,” he finally says. “Turn and I’ll undo it so you can try the rest.”
I turn around and stare at the floor as he undoes it, much quicker this time.
“Thank you,” I say again.
His hands grip my shoulders in a soft embrace, and he leans in toward my ear. “You look absolutely stunning, Elysande. But the next time I undress you, I’d like to complete the job,” he whispers. Then he walks away, shutting the curtain behind him.
And just like that, I want him again in a way that I hadn’t thought about in a long time. My body responds to him in a way that’s concerning. But I feel like some conversations need to be had before that’s on the table again.
Before he comes to my room again tonight and I cave all too easily…
Chapter 58
“Are you sure it’s safe out here?” I ask Daegan as he sets a soft cloth down on the ground and lays out a spread of food.
After some shopping at the market, where Daegan bought me a few outfits, some soaps, and a single purple flower, we dropped everything back at the inn. Then Daegan came to my door and asked me to go somewhere with him again. He led us just outside of town to a beautiful grove hidden in the gray trees.
There’s a stream trickling nearby, and it’s lined with breathtaking plants that are dotted with tiny, glowing, blue and green flowers. The trees here have drooping, wispy branches with light green leaves. It’s beautiful. And magical. And probably cursed.
Sometimes I think I’ll miss parts of the curse. It’s all I’ve known my whole life. If we succeed, everything we know will slowly change. The foliage will shift into something else, people will change, and will I even like the sun? The moon? The stars? I have no idea.
Obviously, none of that is enough to say fuck it and abandon the whole plan. Entire species are dying out. But I can’t deny that I’m a little scared of what the future will look like. I just hope he’s in it. Sometimes I fantasize about running away with him and forgetting it all, but the curse is killing the dragons too. He could be next. I can’t have that.
“For now. Don’t worry, I won’t make the same mistake again,” Daegan replies to my concern. “Anyone who comes near you is getting charred before they can get close enough to fucking touch you. I promise.”
I smile down at him as he leans back against a tree, his legs stretched out in front of him, one boot crossed over the other. I kneel on the other side ofthe setup so I’m facing him, my new blue dress fanning out around me. It’s pretty, but casual, so I can wear it anywhere, really. I grab a berry and take a bite as he watches me with the corner of his lip turned up. The sight of him with his elf ears is a little jarring, even though they probably look real to an outsider. Luckily, you can barely see them peeking out through his sandy brown hair. Just the tips. “What?”
“Just watching you.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t have nearly enough memories of you to play through my head while we were… separated. I’m gathering more.”
Well, that was really fucking sweet.
I take a deep breath as I hold his gaze. We might not get more time alone like this for a while, so… “What did they do to you?” I ask in a whisper.
He holds my stare, unwavering. “Nothing I couldn’t handle.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“And you’re… okay?”
“I’m fine. I promise.”
I release a massive sigh of relief. One that feels like it’s been sitting on my chest for a year, crushing me and hindering my ability to take a full breath.
