I pressed my mouth to her throat as if I could taste it and let a helpless smile slip against her skin.
She shivered, a soft exhale escaping her lips.
“Good news,” she murmured, sliding her mouth across my jaw. “I thought of a way to lighten my pack. We clearly only need one bedroll now.”
“Proving, as always, that you’re the brains of our operation, and I’m just the brawn.”
“You’re a little more than that.” She winked. “You also provide the coin.”
I tickled her ribs, and she laughed, wriggling against me. My hands found her face again, cupping her cheeks as I kissed her, letting that laugh echo inside me.
I am so in love with her.
That thought wasn’t new. But saying it out loud? Terrifying.
When was the right time? What if, even after everything, I was just a fool, standing on a cliff with a stolen house?
But still…
Lost treasure is only lost until it’s found. And mine was right here.
“Marin—”
“Yes?” She whispered it. Breathless. Like she was already waiting.
My pulse slammed in my throat, my grip tightening in her hair. Which probably wasn’t helping. But I couldn’t let go. If I let go, I might lose my nerve.
This was absurd!
I was Gavin Blackwood.
Thieves ran the other way when they saw me coming. Bog monsters, well, let’s not go there, I almost had that one. I’d survived quicksand, swing blades, and cave collapses.
I was a legend. And yet.
“You need to know—” My chest squeezed tight. This was years in the making, after botching it so epically that night in the market. It had to be right. It had to be perfect.
“How much…”
You’re ruining it! Again. Blowing it worse than the market.
The look in her eyes softened.
This was it.
This was…
Her gaze snapped past me, blue eyes widening like she'd seen a ghost. No… worse.
“Snake… Gavin.Snake!”
Marin was gone. She rolled out of my arms like the bedroll was on fire. One second I was about to confess, the next I was serpent-blocked.
I just—stared.
One second from baring my soul. Then the snake hissed. And gods… that thing was big.
I rolled out of the bed after her, scrambling for my clothes. Marin was ahead of me, hopping on one foot to put on her leggings.
