Neither could I. The touch of his warm lips on my skin stirred a moan from me.
When Hadrien stepped back, I let out a sound of protest, which was silenced as he slowly unfurled his massive wings in front of Valgarde. I admired him as he did so. They were beyond magnificent. Beyond beautiful. They’d shielded us from harm.
Extraordinary.
I glanced up at the dark sky, now clear and twinkling with stars, then met his gaze.
“You won’t drop me, right?” Not that I doubted him. I never would.
“Never.”
He wrapped one muscular arm around my waist and pulled me close. The powerful shift of his wings through the air was followed by movement, and during the next beat, we were rising from the ground. Valgarde and its courtyard and the surrounding forest fell away beneath us.
I tipped my face up to meet the cool rush of air.
“Are you okay, Lilia?” he asked.
The last time he’d carried me, I’d been terrified. Unsure. Worried. Now I looked at everything through new eyes, capturing its beauty to memory. The dark forest stretching out beyond the walls, the silver thread of the river in the distance, the stars and moon so close and clear, as if we’d soared up to greet them.
“Home,” I murmured.
“What was that?” he asked.
“I saidhome.”
“Ah, yes. Home.” He repeated it in the same warm reverence. “We made it, Little Sage.”
A laugh rolled out of me, the sound soon swallowed by the wind. “We made it,” I agreed. “Together.”
He tightened his arm around me, and I felt the laugh rumble within his chest before I heard it.
We soared for several minutes through the dark velvet night before he brought us down to land on the balcony outside his room. He held on to me as he managed to open the glass doors. His wings curled inward as he carried me inside, his eyes gleaming silver in the way I now recognized as when he felt deep emotions.
And this one mirrored my own—desire.
I reached up and traced fingers along his hard jawline, and he turned toward my hand to kiss my palm.
Hadrien carried me with giant strides toward the bed and placed me on it gently. He climbed in and braced his weight over me, searching my eyes. “Welcome home, Lilia.”
I leaned up to kiss him. Home indeed.
CHAPTER 29
HADRIEN
Iwatched the sun rise.
Not from the rigid, locked stillness of the perch, where I’d count the hours down until dark. I stood on the balcony outside the bedroom I now shared with Lilia and braced my hands on the railing.
I turned to the east, and the morning sun warmed my face—my skin.For three years I’d only felt the sun on my stone, but now… Words failed me. It simply felt…incredible.The soft caress slowly traveled over my face and chest and arms, all the way down to my fingers. I turned to feel the gentle warmth on the back of my neck and back.
Freedom. I could move with free will. And no words could describe the exultation bursting inside me.
Beside me on the balcony was the empty glass case that had held the poppy. Now, nothing but stone dust. I lifted the glass and breathed deeply. A warm current of air rolled in, carryingthe dust out so it sparkled like metal specks in the rays of the sun.
Then, it was gone and the breeze stilled.
I stayed there for a moment, drinking it in and all it meant, knowing it would take time to process it all.
