Page 127 of Zenith Tower

“What can we promise?” he asked.

I went back to him.

“We don’t decide for each other,” I said. “If Walkin puts one of us in front of the other, we tell the truth. No pretending we can bear something we can’t.”

“And if that changes nothing?”

“Then it changes nothing. I still won’t lie to you.”

He lowered his forehead to mine.

“I can do that,” he said.

For a while, we stood without speaking. The bond remained open between us, carrying fear neither of us had solved. It also carried the warmth of his hands at my waist and the relief I felt each time his breath touched my mouth.

“How much of the hour is left?” I asked.

“I don’t know. The steward didn’t say when he would return.”

“Then we shouldn’t waste it.”

I kissed him.

His restraint broke slowly. One hand tightened at the small of my back while the other rose into my hair. He kissedme with the fear still present between us, not hidden or transformed into anything prettier.

I opened his coat and pushed it from his shoulders.

“Sit,” I said.

Caspian sat on the edge of the bed.

I stood between his knees and unfastened his shirt. The last time I had undressed him in this room, we had just crossed the bridge. Dirt had marked my dress, Kieran had barely been able to stand, and both of us had needed proof that the Tower had not already taken our bodies from us.

Tonight, I wanted something else.

I wanted his fear honest beneath my hands. I wanted the man who had just refused to choose for me to let me choose every touch.

I pulled the shirt free and laid my palm over his heart.

His pulse struck fast beneath my hand.

“Still optimistic?”

“Ask me when you’re naked.”

I pushed him back onto his elbows.

“Hands on the bed.”

His eyes darkened, but his palms stayed flat against the blanket.

I loosened his trousers and drew his cock out. He was already hard, the skin hot against my fingers. I stroked him once from base to tip and watched his stomach tighten.

“Astra.”

“You can touch me when I say.”

The line at my wrist warmed with his answer before he gave it aloud.