“We’re doing it,” I clarified. “I feel it. The ward is knitting together.”
“Oh my god,” she uttered and squeezed my hand.
While the energy coursed through us, I tried to read it better. “It’s a start, but it’s solid.”
She agreed with a resolute nod. “I knew this was the key.”
“Right. This is the way,” I muttered, still in awe. “It may take days, if not weeks, for the magic to weave together fully, sealing the ward. And we’ll have to continue with the other markers.”
Which meant more time alone with Lilia…
She squealed and squeezed my hand tighter, barely staying still as the current of energy continued and eventually ceased.
“It’s done,” I said and pulled my hand to the stone, then straightened.
She turned to me, eyes bright. Then she ran for me, wrapping her arms around my body. “We did it!”
I laughed and lifted her off the ground. I stared down at her, and her bright eyes searched mine, slowly darkening as we remained locked on each other. Her gaze lowered to my mouth.
One heartbeat.
Two…
We came together at the same time, mouths crashing hard as we pressed our bodies close. Everything else slipped away—the wards, the poppy, time running out.
Every shield of restraint inside me fell as I kissed her hard, slid my mouth down to her neck, and she moaned—a sound that rippled through my body right down to my core. Desire for her exploded. Gods, I could devour her right out here, lay her on the ground, undress her and reveal inch by inch of her satin skin. When she pulled her legs up and wrapped them around my waist, I almost did just that.
No, she deserved better than to be taken out here by a beast in the woods. I started walking.
She broke away just a fraction, and her warm breath caressed my face. “Where are we going?”
“Back to the castle.” I didn’t stop moving.
“To your…” She didn’t finish the sentence, and her eyes widened in both question and anticipation.
“Bed,” I finished for her, then stiffened, every cursed inch of me hoping she wouldn’t pull away.
CHAPTER 16
LILIA
Icouldn’t keep from touching Hadrien as he carried me back toward the castle, trailing my fingers over the back of his neck and over his broad shoulders. He alternated between powering through the forest on his massive legs, then pausing to kiss me. My body warred in desperation for him to stop moving so he could continue to kiss me and to hurry back to the castle.
He broke away an inch. “Not through the front door.” His breath came in rough pants that caressed my cheek.
“Why?” I asked, just as breathless.
“Genevieve and Victor.”
“Ah, right.” We couldn’t barge in, causing a scene as we practically devoured each other.
Hadrien carried me into a clearing and then paused. He stared at me from those intense eyes, which now gleamed with a silvery hue and more hunger in them than I’d ever seen. “There’s a better way.”
“How…” I began to ask but the question dropped from my lips as his wings unfolded behind him. They spread with silky grace, an expanse of gorgeous textured gray with tips that stretched out toward the foliage on either side of us. “No…” I whispered in breathless disbelief.
“You don’t want to fly?” The question flared with confusion in his eyes. “We can access the tower through my balcony.”
My mouth remained open as I stared up at him and the way the moonlight glided over his magnificent wings. I bit my lip as I debated his invitation, flickering through an unusual combination of fear and excitement.
