He kissed her neck, and her whole body shivered. Her breath came faster, embarrassingly so.
His hand threaded into her hair. “You’re mine now, Hale. And I’m yours. You can look all you want.”
Two can play at this game, Thorne.
She didn’t warn him. She leaned forward – and dropped a single kiss on his collarbone.
He inhaled sharply.
Then another. Right below his jaw. His neck. His chest.
“Kara,” he said, and she was pleased to hear he sounded hoarse. Affected.
“Just admiring the view.” She kissed the ridge of muscle above his stomach. “Since I’ve been given permission.”
He groaned quietly, but didn’t make any move to stop her.
“Not so smug now, are we?”
“I take it back,” he said weakly. “No looking. Banned. Illegal.”
She looked up at him, victorious. “Too bad I’m a convicted criminal.”
He stared down at her, evidently lost for words and trying so hard to hold it together.
“Enough,” he growled. “Come here.”
Then his mouth was on hers, fierce and claiming as he pulled her back down to the hay. She met him hungrily, her whole body comingalive under the feel of him. Every nerve on fire as she pulled him closer, her magic sparking where he touched her. She wanted to forget everything but him. Her hands traced his bare skin, making him groan against her lips. His hands were on her waist – his fingers at the laces of her dress–
He froze.
Sebastian pulled back, breathing hard. “Kara, if we don’t stop now...” He sounded torn. “I don’t want to push you further than you’re ready for.”
His words brought her back to herself – clearing the haze of need just enough. He watched her closely.
“You’re still recovering,” he said, adamant now.
The words hit deeper than he could possibly know. He was right. It was too soon after–
Don’t think about that. About him. Not now.
She held his gaze for a long moment, trying to communicate without words what it meant to her. The fact that he always let her choose – it was one of the many reasons she loved him. She kissed his cheek, whispering, “Thank you.”
He frowned. “You never have to thank me for that.”
Sebastian gathered her closer, arms protective now as he planted gentle kisses in her hair. She tucked herself against his chest, and stayed there as the hunger between them softened into something steadier, deeper.
But an hour later, she was alone.
He’d insisted, murmured it into her hair whilst she was still lying in his arms: “You keep hidden here. Rest. Falcroft village isn’t far – I’ll get food from there. I’ll be fine.”
He’d kissed her forehead, a silent promise to return, and disappeared in a blink.
Overprotective.
And infuriatingly hard to argue with when he was right. She was still recovering from the blood loss and was bone-deep tired from her days under nightshade in that cell. The kind of tired that settled into the muscles and wouldn’t lift, even with her magic. But she hated being away from him. Hated how empty, how quiet the barn felt without him. She jumped at every little sound as she lay in the patchy sunlight that slanted through the broken roof. Sebastian’s crimson cloak was tucked around her shoulders, and she breathed in the smell of him that clung to the fabric to ground herself. Leather and pine and something that wasjust... him. She was trying not to count the minutes – and failing. The waiting was torture. It allowed her mind to fill with things she didn’t want to think about. Like what if he didn’t come back, what if soldiers had picked up their trail?
And worst of all – what if last night was all they’d get?
