It’s only when Raeve drops to her knees between my spread legs, snatching my breath and hand in the same swift motion, that I realize I’m trembling.
I clear my throat as she pries my fingers from the cloth and takes it from me. Still when she swipes it across my collarbone, arching down my sternum—her eyes cuts of ice.
Movements …tender.
My skin prickles in the wake of each slow stroke.
“You’ve never bathed me before …” Nor have I seen her move so soft and slow; such a contrast to her combustive energy.
Something flickers in her eyes.
She submerges the cloth again before lifting it to my right pectoral. “Do you still want us, Kaan?”
Though her words are just as unyielding as the look on her face, my answer’s warm. Immediate.
“Always.”
Her lashes lift, hand stilling as our gazes clash, my heart hitching with such violence it feels like a blade just pierced it through. “You and me. Not Elluin.Me.”
“Always,”I repeat with every bit of my chest.
She breaks my stare and continues sweeping the cloth across my chest. “Then I need to make something perfectly clear.” She dips again, eyes focused on her task. “Should you die, I will not fall quietly into grief.”
There’s a squeezing sensation in my chest, directly below the cloth now swiping over my left pectoral. “Moonbeam—”
“I will not simplyacceptyour absence as collateral for the privilege of having had you in the first place, nor will I carry myself with the same merciful poise you possess,” she bites out with regal fortitude, dipping the cloth. Strangles the water free with such might her knuckles pale. “I’llwreckthe world to avenge your death, Kaan Vaegor.”
A selfish part of me almost begs her to repeat herself, over and over until the words feel real.
The room loses all its heat, making the hairs on my arms lift despite the cloth swiping them down.
“My name will become a curse folk won’t dare murmur lest it call meupon them like some rabid beast hunting my revenge,” she growls with a savage lilt that makes my hackles rise. “I will feast on the flesh ofanyonewho ever dared mutter a bad word against you—”
I snag her wrist with one hand, her chin with my other, tilting her head so I can see her eyes. Frown at the sight of her pupils—partially blown and speckled with light. But as I look, they tighten, the pricks of luster swallowed so fast I wonder if I saw them at all. “I told you, Moonbeam. Revenge is the loneliest deity of them all.” My voice softens, dropping. “I thought you would’ve realized that by now.”
“I’m a slow learner,” she bites back, and I raise a brow. “Besides, this is a cautionary tale intended to prevent you from doing anything stupid. Like throwing yourself before a spray of Creator-silencing pins intended to maimme.”
Ah.
I look at my wounded hands, certain that if she knew how many lives I’ve taken with them—how many necks I’ve snapped and severed—she’d be less concerned for my welfare. In truth, there are only two wounds I wouldn’t survive:
Losing my pissed-off dragon currently tossing his weight through the sky.
Or losingher.
Her breath hitches as I take her hand in mine, pull it close, and plant a kiss on the inside of her wrist. “With my greatest respect,” I murmur with the softness of a lullaby, looking at her, “you’d have better luck getting the world to spin than convincing me to put my life before yours.”
Her lips pull back from her teeth, no doubt preparing to blow some flaming words at me. But I don’t want her vitriol. Not now.
I gently pry her fingers from the cloth. Though her brow buckles, she loosens her hold. “What are—”
“You say you’re a slow learner, but I happen to know otherwise.” I dip the cloth, squeeze out the excess, then brush away the blood that’s caked around the fine slit on her cheek—her entire body stiffening.
She swallows, watching me with fierce precision, her next words rasped. “Enlighten me.”
“When you first came to Dhomm, you were poorly versed with Bulder’s language, despite hearing him loud and clear.” I dip the cloth again, squeeze it, then begin swiping the soot and splattered blood from her forehead and nose. “With little reason to prioritize him, you’d spent your time perfecting other songs that were deemed more helpful, given your previous place of residence.” I wipe the skin between her pinched brows, smoothing it, then drag the cloth back over her cheek. “So I gave you lessons.”
Something flickers in her eyes, directed past me to the window beyond. “Lessons …”
