“Yes. You were suffering a … condition”—burdened by the Aether Stone—“so we worked on small-scale commands that wouldn’t tire you.”
I drag the cloth down the delicate line of her neck, cleaning morestreaks and splats of blood. And though she’s still looking blankly behind me, she does tilt her head, offering easier access to the grime.
A monumental victory I refuse to draw attention to lest she skitter away.
“Despite your setbacks, what took me phases to learn took you only a matter of daes. Bulder wasclayin your hands.”
Just like me.
I dip the cloth again, then begin cleaning her other cheek. “You’re much smarter than you give yourself credit for.Certainlysmart enough to know this argument is going nowhere.”
To ease the blow, I lean forward and dare the faintest brush of my lips across her temple. When I pull back, just enough to peek at her eyes, I see her lids fluttering shut.
A slight softening of her hard outer shell.
Failing to stifle the small smile that tugs at my lips, I push her hair back off her shoulder so I can clean around the side of her neck—
“You’re wrong.”
Here we go.“How so, Moonbeam?”
“You call me a fast learner, but if that were the case, I wouldn’t be doingthis.” She reaches up, unlatches her cloak, and pushes it from her shoulders, revealing a thin black shirt buttoned to her collarbone.
My heart stops.
The light material molds to her curves, her breasts so blatantly bare of binds or support beneath.
I’d drop to my knees if I weren’t already seated.
She takes my wrist, removes the cloth from my grip, and plants my hand on her waist. A gentle coax I’m not immune to, even in my weakened state. Not even were I rattling through my final breaths.
“And why do you say that?” I rasp, meeting her stare—starling slits of vibrant blue shadowed by heavy lashes.
“Because your touch …unravelsme. Makes it hard to think straight. Something I’m well aware of.” She shifts my handupuntil it’s all but cupping her right breast, her nipples pebbling into such hard peaks they look like they’re trying to cut through the fabric. “And yet …”
And yet …
I drop my gaze to where my hand is clasped around her, up again.
See thechallengein her eyes.
“I thought you said your white flags were all used up?”
Her upper lip twitches to pull back from her teeth. “Fuckthe white flags.”
“Then tell me to stop,” I growl beneath my breath, lifting my hand until my thumb grazes the hardened peak of her nipple—the faintest moan slipping her lips, heating my blood. Like she just poured lava through my veins.
Her spine arches, her body’s silent request for me to venture. Too quiet.
Not enough.
I sweep her hair back off her face as I roll her nipple between my thumb and finger, my next words a whisper against her brow. “If you think I’m that bad for you,tell me to stop.”
She trembles, pushing into me, her breaths beginning to heave. Still too silent.
Stillnot enough.
I shift, brushing my lips across her left cheekbone. “Tell me to stop, Moonbeam.” I nudge her head to the side, painting my next declaration along the line of her jaw. “You can have your silence back and I’ll return to loving you from a distance, devoting every heartbeat to wishing you’d let me under your skin—”
