“You said I was free to—”
“Yes, I did, and I told him the same thing last night,” Amira reassured me. Then she glanced over her shoulder to ensure we were alone before she stepped closer to me. “He also said that you were holding back.”
I opened my mouth but quickly stopped myself before blurting out an excuse. “You know why,” I said levelly.
“I do. But I wondered if you wanted help telling him,” Amira explained, chewing her lip as if she were nervous of my response to her offer. “I would never tell him until you are ready,” she swore when my eyes widened at her. One of her hands rose toward my arm as if she wanted to comfort me, but she stoppedherself before touching me. “It’s just that I thought you might be intimidated by how he might react. He will be furious,” she acknowledged.
“He will want to know why I didn’t tell him sooner.”
“Yes, that too probably. But I was thinking more about how murderous he is going to become and whether the Rookery will survive it,” Amira clarified, confusing me. “Orion, he will want that womandead, and he is going to rip the city apart until he finds her,” Amira assured me. “We both know how bullheaded he can be when someone he loves is hurt,” she added significantly. And something about the way she said that made my heart nearly leap out of my chest in joy. “So if you would like me to be there to act as a buffer and help talk him down—”
“Amira, I do not want you to feel that you need to put yourself in that position for me,” I interrupted her.
“But Iwantto do it,” she insisted, looking so earnest that I was awed into silence while I stared at her. “This is keeping you apart. I want to help you,” she beseeched.
I was too stunned to respond as I stared at this woman who had every right to hate me, but instead, she’d chosen to make room for me. I did not deserve such kindness.
She must have seen the thought in my eyes somehow because she stepped closer, her gaze locked on mine so intently that I could not look away from her.
“Don’t talk to yourself like that,” she chastised.
“You have no idea what I was—”
“You think I don’t recognize the look of someone who is telling themselves they aren’t good enough? I was that person in the mirror for years, Orion. Don’t try to lie!”
I wanted to turn and hide whatever raw honesty she seemed to be able to read in my eyes, but I couldn’t look away from her. So I reached up before rethinking it and gently brushed my knuckle down her cheek the way I had watched Riordan doing earlier. I was entranced as those gorgeous amber eyes closed like she craved my touch as much as she had savoured his thatmorning.
“I am not worried about how Riordan will react to…that woman,” I assured her softly, meeting her eyes when she opened them. “I never want to set eyes on her again, and I wouldn’t lose any sleep if he killed her.”
“What are you worried about then?” she asked.
I hesitated as I brushed a few loose strands of her hair back from her face. It was arranged into a pretty half-bun, which I was careful not to ruin.
“I thought you knew everything?” I teased her.
She opened her mouth to retort, but then she hesitated in realization. “You think he would be…” She trailed off, unable to even get the word out.
“Disgusted,” I confirmed unflinchingly.
But Amira flinched and instantly shook her head with puckered brows. She almost reached out for me again but stopped herself before she could, and Ihatedit. I hated that she felt like she couldn’t touch me freely because of what I was and how I had treated her.
I was not sure what possessed me to do it, but I took her by the wrists before she could fully lower her hands. Her eyes widened as I lifted her arms slowly until both of her palms were resting on either side of my face. She was surprised at first, but then she seemed relieved and pulled me down until our foreheads touched.
“You arenotdisgusting,” she swore to me with such conviction that I almost believed her. “Helovesyou.”
It had always been so damned easy to love Riordan when he was everything I was not: powerful, confident, and charismatic enough to win the hearts of the Ktínos. But this gentle warmth, her fierce protectiveness, and her patient tenderness? My bruised soul craved that too.
“Amira,” I breathed her name like a prayer, and she nodded as if she already knew what I was asking of her. Before I could overthink it or question myself, my hand tightened in her hair,no longer caring if it got messy when I tilted both of our heads so my lips met hers.
The first time I’d kissed Amira had been so impulsive, but since then, there had been plenty of time to think about how Ishouldhave kissed her. How I should have devoured and savoured her. How I should have taken possession of her and given up myself in return.
She was so much softer and smaller than my typical lovers, and usually that would have annoyed me, but all it made me want to do was cherish her. She was deliciously pliant for me and as eager as I remembered. That had not been a trick of my imagination; each sharp breath and groan that came out of her was pure lust.
But the sound of her, and the desperation in every kiss and tug on my hair faded away when I inhaled her scent. It caressed myadénesand instantly filled my head with an intense animal drive the likes of which I’d never even heard of before.
“Fuck,” I groaned, my cock hardening with an aching throb as I dropped my face into her neck to inhale more of her greedily. “Fuck, Amira! You smell of him.”
“I bathed this morning,” she defended herself.
