“Quazar?”
I nestled deeper into the sheets. Deeper into a warmth that could only behim.
Stars.
Was I in his lap or something?
I was too tired to be bashful. To care.
“Stay with me.”
“Always, my Starling.”
He finished saying the rest down our bond while brushing his fingers through my hair.
“Even when the stars fall, and the realms fade. When the twinight is no more, and eternal light is our home. You have my word and my hearts. I will always choose to stay.”
Chapter 38
The delicious scent of melted butter and sugar mixed into rich cocoa wafted beneath my nostrils. My eyes snapped open as I sniffed around for the source. I looked around for the door of my bedchamber. I fully expected to see Manmi and Evanae float in with a bowl bigger than my head full of my favorite cookies. But when I looked out, I was disappointed. I wasn’t back home. Manmi and Evanae weren’t here.
I sighed and dropped back into my pillows.
Blessed lights! When had my pillows gotten so hard?
I grumbled, shifting to sit up, stretching out my limbs. I arched my back, popping my spine, elongating for an even deeper stretch. While still arched, I opened my eyes.
And found Quazar grinning down at me like a fiend.
“Good dawn, Starling.”
I gasped, and jerked, slamming into the bedcloud while unwinding my limbs. Blushing, I rolled over, looking up at Quazar. His eyes churned with mischief.
“So shedoeshave a sweet tooth. Good to see our starry princess is finally awake,”he said down the bond.“If I’d known smelling a bowl of sugar was all it took to wake you up, I’d have you drowning in my scent weeks ago.”
“You’re insufferable, Valoryen.”
Quazar smirked. His eyes glowed like jewels. Heat pooled in my belly. I stared at his full lips. I wanted to taste them. To tease them between my teeth as I drowned in his scent. Black ink, in beautiful script, curled around his neck, pulsing with every breath he took. The sight of it made my stomach clench.
“Careful, Starling. I warned you once. Start nothing you won’t finish.”
“Cause you won’t be robbed of your fun, right?”I finished for him, eyes still glued to those full lips just begging to be devoured.“Quazar, what are you doing in my bed?”
I trailed the inscriptions down his neck to his bare torso, revealed through the open neckline of his loose tunic. For once he wasn’t in that rotting suit. Thank the stars. My fingers itched to touch his chest. To feel those hardened muscles beneath the planes of my palms.
“Being on my best behavior. This is a new record for me.”
“What in the stars is that supposed to mean?”
“It means I’m keeping my hands, and my mouth, to myself.”
Quazar leaned forward. He gently readjusted the strap of my twigown. I looked down. It was thin, short, and sensually revealing, hugging me in all the right places.
I froze.Whohad put me in this?
I lifted my eyes to him.
“Unfortunately, I am not responsible. But I’ve already given Ellabeth my thanks for her lovely taste.”
