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“Goodnight, Cyrus.” Evelyn’s heartbeat slowed.
With the fire crackling in the night, the scent of cedar and vanilla surrounding him, and the moon shining outside, Kade drifted off to sleep.
When Kade woke, he felt the most rested he’d been in ages. He found his hand splayed over Evelyn’s belly, her tunic’s fabric a barrier between their skins, rising and falling as she breathed in her sleep. She slept on her back, one arm above her head. She appeared content, less like a witch troubled by her secrets.
Outside the glass balcony doors, the sun had replaced the moon. A few clouds drifted through the sky, birds singing to signal morning. The fire lingered, a few sparks still alive. Evelyn stirred, turning to face him. Her eyes opened, her sleepy, silvery gaze meeting his.
Kade stopped breathing. His heart lurched from the sight.
He wanted to marry her.
Not because she was Daughter of the Goddess or to fulfill their duty, but because he wanted to wake up to her every morning. He wanted this privilege, this simple, fantastical part to be in his everyday life.
Evelyn said nothing, tracing her fingers over his jaw through his beard. Her hand fell to his shoulder, trailing down the muscles of his arm. Her touch awakened his wolf, elicited desire in his blood.
Their eyes met, and Evelyn kissed him, that primal, magical hunger overtaking both of them. Kade pushed himself over her, and Evelyn ran her hands through his hair, pulling him closer. He traced his fingers down the side of her thigh as their lips molded together. Her skin was as soft as he’d imagined, the muscle as strong. Feeling her magic, his wolf entangled with her flame, putting him in thrall to want and need.
Kade’s hand found the back of her knee. He hiked Evelyn’s leg up and over his waist, like he’d dreamed of doing many times, and pressed himself to her core. Evelyn’s eyes grew wide at the feel of his length, of the promise of what he planned to one day give her.
She whimpered and writhed underneath him, her lips swollen, hair a mess, eyes glazed with lust. Kade smelled need between her legs. He bent to continue their kiss, but Evelyn had different plans.
Stronger than he thought, his mate pushed him onto his back and straddled him with those maddening legs of hers. Moons, he felt the wetness of her core through the fabric of his britches. Her hair spilled over her shoulders; her nipples poked against her oversized tunic. The sight of her on top of him was almost his undoing.
Then Evelyn reached to pull her tunic off. Slowly. Lifting it, first to her hip bones, then inching it over the skin of her belly, then revealing the bottom crescents of her breasts.
Kade snapped back to reality.
He couldn’t do this. If she undressed, stars above save him. The first time he lay with her, it would be as Kade Drengr, not Cyrus. Out of respect for both of them. He gripped Evelyn’s forearms, halting her progress.
“Saige, wait!”
Her brows pinched in confusion, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
“What will you do after this?” he asked in a rush.
“I don’t understand,” Evelyn said, her words breathless and wary.
Kade pulled down her tunic and lowered his hold to her thighs, brushing her skin gently with his thumbs. “When we solve the murders, after we kill the vampyr, what will you do? Where will you go?”
He rose up, bringing his chest to Evelyn’s, and wrapped his arms around her as he waited for her answer. Their hearts hammered against one another’s.
She looked down, toying with a loose thread in her tunic. She shook her head. “I don’t know.”
Disappointment overcame Kade. Why had he hoped? There was still something she kept from him, secrets he wasn’t privy to. And maybe he didn’t deserve them because of his own secrets.
“But . . .” Evelyn paused, taking a deep, mighty breath, and meeting his eyes.
That foolish hope rushed through Kade again. He tightened his hold, encouraging her to keep going, wishing and waiting.
“Whatever I do, wherever I go, I want you to be a part of it,” Evelyn whispered.
Kade’s heart soared in his chest. His wolf howled. He took hold of her face in both his hands and kissed her, fierce and fast. “Saige, there’s something—”
“Housekeeping!” someone said, banging on the door. “One of you better have an explanation for that broken door down the hall! We expect full payment to fix it!”
Evelyn laughed into her hands, and Kade’s courage evaporated. She swung off him, taking his chin in her hand and giving him one more delicious, auspicious kiss.
“Let’s get going, Huntsman,” she said.
