“Ja, oddly,” he murmured, not put off by the word. He fingered her hair as though he couldn’t touch it enough. “Because you didn’t mean to forgive me so quickly. Swore you would not.”
“I haven’t forgiven you,” she lied.
“Yes, you have.” He put his hand over hers where she traced his tat. “Otherwise, this wouldn't have appeared.”
He was right, but why?
“Because,” he answered, following her thoughts far too easily now, “when you lay with me, your dragon felt my dragon. Your human half, my human half. When that happened, you knew you would forgive me anything. More than that, you knew we had lain together before I lay with anyone else. Felt how I loved and touched you before you ever entered Revna.”
It had most definitely made a difference but hadn’t fixed everything.
So said the dragon tat.
“Yet we didn’t mate with the appearance of your tattoo,” she reminded. “We should have, and you know it. Something still holds me back. Some part of me can’t reconcile over the whole Revna thing whether I was with you first or not.”
“No,” he agreed. “I can only hope that learning why you possessed her will make the difference. You will understand how I only ever cared for you. Because I did, and it becomes easier and easier to see.”
Maybe but it wasn’t enough yet. Which, she kept in mind, she had undoubtedly designed herself so they came together when and where they should. What remained to be seen was whether it was to appease the enemy or not. She still didn’t understand why things had gotten this far. What Mórrígan’s long game was.
And there was only one way to find out.
“It’s time to keep moving,”Cian said into her mind as if he followed her thoughts.“Sooner rather than later.”
She knew he said it that way because she was in heat, so she would likely stay here all day if she could. Weeks if it meant enjoying more of how Tor could make her feel. She wanted to take him every which way. Be taken every way imaginable.
“Yet we must go.” Tor cupped her cheek. “Because as tempting as it is, we know it can feel even better. We need to find our truth, so you can love me the way you used to. Love me enough to take me as your mate, then your fated mate.”
She could admit the idea seemed more appealing than it had the day before. Not just because of how he had felt between her thighs but because of how he looked at her now. As though he couldn’t imagine another. Refused to. It was in his dragon eyes, then in his human gaze, when they returned to normal.
If the swelling-heart sensation he invoked wasn’t enough, her body went into overdrive at the desire she felt churning inside him. The constant internal battle he fought to keep from taking her again. From rolling her onto her belly, pulling her to her knees, and thrusting into her until she screamed in release.
It was more than erotic seeing his thoughts so clearly. The way he looked at her body. The things he wanted to do to her. How good he knew he could make her feel.
“I can and will, too.” His steady gaze was full of promise. “As soon as this war is over, I won’t let you out of bed for months.” He shook his head. “Years if I have my way.”
She was caught somewhere between saying, “if I let you,” and, “you promise?” when his internal battle and her growing desire were interrupted by the unexpected.
A very real battle had found them all the way inside this magic-ridden mountain.
