She grabbed her riding leathers. “They’d beaten him to a pulp. He was only trying to protect Tia?—”
Dorias clicked his tongue against his teeth. “We have rules for a reason. A hierarchy for a reason. No matter what happened, he shouldn’t have attacked like that. Especially not a superior.”
Katell scoffed. “I attacked a dozen men and almost ripped Tyrrhenus’ throat out.” Her hands shook as she struggled with the strings of her trousers. “I should have been punished, not my men.”
In one swift movement, Dorias seized the strings from her trembling fingers and pulled them tight, yanking her a breath from his chest. Heat radiated off him, searing through the thin fabric of her tunic.
His voice dropped to a low, dangerous growl. “If you think I’d let anyone lay a finger on you, you’re mistaken.” His steel-grey eyes locked on hers, unyielding. “I will protect you, Katell. Whether you want me to or not. Always.”
The fierceness in his gaze made her heart ache. After everything she’d done—the chaos she’d unleashed—how could he still look at her like that? Still choose her?
“Dorias…” she whispered, her hands cradling his face, thumbs brushing the tension from his jaw. “What if I can’t control it next time? What if I hurt you?”
His expression softened just a fraction. “You won’t. We’ll figure this out together. You’re not alone, my love. You never will be.”
He let go of her trousers, his hands gliding over her hips instead.
Heat spread through her chest, but she pushed against him, holding him off. “Why?” she asked, searching his face. “Why are you still here—after everything?”
He didn’t answer. Not at first. His arms wrapped around her waist, holding her there.
His silence was weighted with things unsaid. Words burned behind his eyes, restrained not by doubt but by memory.
She understood.
He had loved before. He’d had a wife and child, and then lost them both when the Westerners attacked Velch. And though he’d shared much about his past, a part of him remained sealed off—a wound that refused to heal. Katell couldn’t fault him for it.
His fingers brushed her skin along her hips as if trying to ground himself in the moment, his breath mingling with hers in the close intimacy.
Then he broke the silence. “Because you’re the most important thing in my life.” A breath. “More than you know.”
Then his mouth was on hers. Claiming. Possessive. Not to silence her, but to say what he couldn’t.
Katell’s heart thundered. Her doubts and fears dissolved under the weight of his touch. She wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him closer, needing him like breath. In that moment, she believed him. He wouldn’t let her fall—not alone.
She hitched one leg around his waist, drawing a low, guttural sound from his throat.
His hands gripped her hips, pulling her flush against him as he growled in her ear, “Keep doing that, and Iwillkeep you here. All godsdamned day.” He nipped her throat. “Romilda and her meetings can wait.”
His lips trailed lower, and a delicious shiver ran down her spine. For a second, she was tempted to surrender to the heat.
Instead, she pulled back just enough to meet his eyes. “I should go find Larth,” she said gently, though her lips brushed his in one last lingering kiss.
His jaw clenched, the muscle ticking once. But he let her go.
She grabbed her fur-lined boots, the cold biting at her skin. Dim light filtered through the tent flaps, and the hush outside told her it was still early morning.
“How bad is it?” she asked without looking up.
“He got thirty lashes.”
She whirled around, eyes wide. “Thirty? By the Moon…”
“Thocero’s with him. He’ll be fine.” Though his voice was calm, tension radiated through every line of his body.
“I need to see him.” Katell reached for her cloak, heart pounding, but his hand shot out and caught her wrist.
“Wait.”
