Page 171 of Sands of Atonement

A flash crossed her eyes. Her hair flowed gracefully around her shoulders, sauntering her hips to me, she slammed her hand on my chest.

“Next time, don’t leave without a weapon,” she hissed. I looked down to find a dagger in the palm of her hand, and I took it.

“Scared you, did I?” I smiled. I couldn’t believe she was worried about me.

“It’s not funny.”

My laugh rumbled through me, and it only pissed her off even more. My laugh grew.

“You could have died!” She slammed against my chest harder, and her gray eyes had red lines around them.

I pulled her waist into my arms and placed a hand behind her neck, forcing her to look at me. My laughter and smile faded.

“I don’t know what has gotten into your head, but I grabbed more weapons from my armory for our journey. No one and nothing, not even the Atrove, can keep me from you. Didn’t I say that last night?”

Her chin began to quiver, but I didn’t care. She needed to know this and remember it this time.

“Did I not say that?” I repeated. “Hmm?”

Her eyes glistened, and she nodded slightly.

“Use your words, little warrior.”

“I... I couldn’t… you could have died and I… can’t… if you died, Ezra… I would have dragged you back from hell, I swear I would. You’re not leaving me here, not now, not when I just got you.”

“You wouldn’t find me there.”

Her face began to crumple. My eyes flitted over her face. I’d never seen her so destroyed before. I felt as if I couldn’t breathe. She cared this much whether I would have lived or died.

“From heaven then,” she sniffled.

“Not there either,” I whispered.

“Where then?” A tear finally ran past her eye.

“Right by you.” I lowered my lips and caught her tear.

I felt her arms wrap around my neck, and I breathed her in. Sweet fucking jasmine. She smelled like home. “It’s the most powerful thing I’ve ever felt.”

Eshe froze in my arms. “What is?”

I pulled myself from her neck and braced her head in my hands. Her eyes still glistened fresh with tears. “My love for you is the most powerful feeling I’ve ever felt in my life. If this is what it’s like to have you wrapped around me, then nothing will keep me from you. My love for you will never fade, will never break… You are written in the sands below me and in the skies above me. I hear only your name in the winds. They sing into my bones. And my heart… it drums the beat of your name, Eshe, Eshe, Eshe… There is nothing that you or anyone can say that would change the way my body and soul feel when they’re with you, and it’s the most powerful fucking thing I’ve ever come to know. I love you, Eshe. I’ll love you to the end of time. Nothing will be able to keep me from you, nothing.”

“Oh, Ezra.” The tears now fell freely on her face. She crushed her lips on mine, and I could taste the salt tears. “Ezra… Ezra, I love you. I’ve known I’ve loved you for so long.”

“Me too, my love, me too,” I whispered. I lifted her into my arms, and she wrapped her legs around my waist.

That evening, after we organized which weapons we were packing, we crammed the rest of our clothes into large bags with food and supplies for the journey. Eshe didn’t waste any time showing me how much she craved me, and we made love throughout the night.

And I whispered and repeated in her ear just how much I loved her.

Chapter 44

Eshe

Crahst, Zyriah

Zyriah had always been a lively and magical place in my mind. That was how it used to feel when I would dream about home from Mongah. But now, I found myself seeking that feeling once again as I strode through the streets with Ezra by my side, pulling our horses by the reins.