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“Tell me something I don’t know about you,” I say.
Dessin places a hand on my inner thigh, drawing small circles with his thumb as he thinks about this. “Do you remember that time you hugged me in the abandoned Demechnef building?”
I open my eyes, look down at my food. The time he found that homeless man on top of me. He snapped his neck. He saved my life.
I smile at him weakly. “Yes.”
“That was the first hug I’ve ever gotten,” he admits. That dark brown gaze sweeps over my face and shoulders before returning to my eyes.
I blink in surprise. His first hug?
Dessin rolls his two vastly muscular shoulders back. It’s a subtle tell for him. A hint that he just became the slightest bit embarrassed about this fact. I was his first hug. Me.
“Really?” A slow blush creeps up my neck.
“I’m not exactly a huggable person, Skylenna.”
“You’re the most huggable person I know.” In fact, I’d hug him right now if it wasn’t for the pain beating into my spine. “I feel safe when your arms are around me.”
The corners of his mouth tilt into a smile.
“You know…that moment you pressed your body against mine, hugged me like I wasn’t the most dangerous person you’ve ever met…that’s the first moment I started falling in love with you.”
I bite my lip to hold back my grin. Why is that the most amazing thing to hear? Knowing what he was thinking at that exact moment. Pairing that thought with my own memory of holding him close, thanking him for protecting me. It’s blissful.
“And what was the second moment?”
“When you came into my room and fell apart after Aurick—hit you,” he grits out the last part.
“Why?”
He runs a hand over his jaw. “You started to cry; it reminded Kane of the times you’d cry to him after Jack did something bad. And I realized hearing you cry was the first moment I’d felt real heartbreak. It nearly took me to my knees. I wanted to kill Aurick and take away your pain at the same time. I wanted to make you laugh. Hold you. Kiss you. Heal your bruises.”
Dessin exhales slowly, trying to rein in his anger and hurt.
I remember that day well. Sliding my hand over his, I give it a gentle squeeze.
“I didn’t get emotional about that incident all day. Not until I saw you, Dessin. Just seeing the concern flash across your face made me break. It was like I finally felt safe, finally felt I could stop pretending.” Tears gloss over my eyes. Relief courses through my veins as I remember this, confessing how much of an effect he had on me.
“You are the love of my life, Skylenna.” He brings my knuckles to his full lips, leaving soft kisses on my fingers. “I’ll be madly in love with you until the day I die.”
“And even then,” I promise.
26. The Biblical Bond
Skylenna
As we sit in the stadium, I sip on the honey of Sweet Nectar Valley.
Gerta rubs a milky substance on my back, and Dessin refuses to be next in line. After a few minutes of arguing, he lets Warrose put the cream in his wounds. And of course, Warrose doesn’t help the cause when he makes jokes about getting an erection from all the creamy lathering.
“You okay?” I ask Niles. He’s been quiet for several minutes, which must be some kind of record for him. He’s sitting right next to me, legs crossed, fiddling with the iron collar and chain around his neck.
“Not really,” he answers.
“Let’s talk about it.”
He shrugs. “It makes me nervous about what Kaspias implied last night.”
