Page 105 of Born of Starlight
His body had slackened against mine.
“I…” He tried to find words between labored breaths before giving up and letting his head collapse to the pillow beside my ear.
I reached up to gently rake my fingernails over his shoulders. My touch was met with a pleased noise from the back of his throat, and his body relaxed into me.
“Don’t ever stop touching me, my strange beauty.” His voice muffled into the pillow.
Biting back a laugh, I took a fistful of his waves and lifted his head to force his hooded gaze back to mine. “Why do you call me that?” I asked.
He fought my grip in order to lean down and kiss me before he spoke. “When I finally saw you in the light of my cabin, you were not just beautiful. You werestrangelyso. I could think of nothing but you, every curve of your body, every subdued expression you offered. I found it strange how compelled I was to kiss you from the moment I set eyes on you.”
Though his words were meant to charm me, I grew uneasy.
“Do you think it’s just because of your power? That you’re so oddly drawn to me just because of the bond?” I winced at the vulnerability in my voice, at the information I was keeping from him.
He quipped, “I’d like to think I’m notthatself-absorbed.”
I leveled a glare at the illuminated ceiling. It tore me to pieces to think this likely wasn’t real.What if it is just his claim over me drawing him to me?
“I’ve never felt this way before,” he added. “I feel more alive when you’re near—you make me feel whole. Maybe some of that is the magic pulling us together…but I never felt this whole.”
I swallowed hard.You will tell him about the claim in the morning,I reminded myself.Enjoy these moments now.“Will you be here in the morning?” I asked.
He pulled his head back to look me in the eyes again. “That depends. Will you have horns and claws and sharp teeth?”
“No.” I smiled—my cheeks were beginning to hurt from their lack of muscle memory.
“Well, then, what would be the fun?” he teased, but his smirk faded into a soft expression that made my heart skip.If this wasn’t real, how could he possibly look at me with such unguarded warmth?
“I’ll be wherever you are. Wherever you go. I knew that from the moment I set eyes on you.”
The sincerity in his promise settled in my heart like kindling to a flame.
PartThree
Fallen Flames
Chapter31
Asterie
The sun had not yet risen. Fenris slept soundly with an arm slung across me—so soundly that he didn’t notice me reluctantly slip from his hold.
Every instinct begged me to stay with him.
He looked so peaceful, with a tousle of hair over his forehead and his face relaxed and lineless.
I slipped into my nightgown and bent over his sleeping form, whispering a Phynnic charm to deepen his sleep so he wouldn’t wake when I left his quarters. Before stepping away, I kissed his brow.
“I will be back before you wake,” I whispered for my own good conscience, knowing he couldn’t hear me.
I grabbed his green cloak from a hook by the door. I’d only need to borrow it. For what Sybilla had requested, it would be best to travel about the palaceclothed.
Taking one last look at Fen’s blissfully unaware expression, I slipped out of his room.
* * *
My velvet slipperswere quiet against the stone of the spiral staircase that led up to the main chamber of the Keep.
