He was here, and he loved her.
Chapter 44
Adeline
She woke in Kai’s arms for the first time in weeks.
They’d ended up in his rooms, barely speaking a few words between here and the library. She wasn’t ready to break that silent spell just yet, so they lay in bed gazing sleepily at each other – it might have been sickeningly sweet if it didn’t feel so sad and final. The room around them was bare of belongings with a stack of trunks packed in one stark white corner; a reminder that he really was leaving.
Kai smoothed her hair back from her face, then licked his lips and took a breath – but before he could speak, Adeline clamped a hand over his mouth and shook her head. His lips curved under her palm, and his shoulders shook in a muted chuckle. She felt an answering swell in her own chest, and then they were both laughing. Laughing at nothing at all, both of them increasingly giddy at the absurdity of laying here together, naked and furious and heartbroken, and helpless with laughter. Adeline laughed until she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see through tears of mirth, and when she managed to draw down a solid breath, Kai leaned over and silenced the last of her laughter with a long, slow kiss.
She let her mind sink, lost in the languid slide of his lips over hers. His arms framed her, warm and solid beneath her shoulders. Nothing disrupted the perfect stillness of their silent bubble, save for the soft pealing of a bell in the distance.
Ring.
Kai sat up.
She gave a vague sigh of complaint.
“Don’t you hear that?”
“It’s nothing; just the bells.”
Ring.
“But what are they ringing for?”
She shrugged a bare shoulder and reached for his, running her hand down his arm to coax him back to her.
“We usually ring them at midnight on New Winter’s Eve. Must be some mischievous Gard having a bit of fun.”
He relaxed a little, leaning over her again and kissing her temple, then her cheek.
“A friend of Ger’s no doubt.”
He nudged her chin with his nose until she arched her neck beneath his lips.
“Could we not talk about Ger right now?”
She felt him breathe a laugh against her throat. “As you wish.”
Ring.
Adeline sank her head into the pillows and let her eyes slide shut.
Ring.
Ring.
Kai’s tongue ran a lazy line along her collarbone.
Ring.
Adeline opened her eyes.
Ring.
“Itisodd that they’re still going.”
