Page 104 of Heart of the Desert

He stood obediently still as I unwound his sash and pushed his leather tabards from his shoulders, only lifting his arms to allow me to remove his tunic. When his skin was exposed to me, I took a long moment to drink him in—the lethal grace of his muscles and the scars of far too many battles for someone of his age. The fresher marks that he had left over his arms and legs in his madness were mostly healed; he had not needed them since Kelvar finally relayed his message. I trailed my fingers over Erix’s shoulders and down the divots of his abdomen, feeling the shift of muscle underneath as I leaned forward and pressed my lips to the handprint branded into his chest, right over his heart.

I wanted to kiss every scar on his body and count the lines burned into his back, but I knew that would only make me lament how little time we had had together compared to the amount of days he spent under Lord Alasdar’s influence. With the desert’s favor, we might have more time to make up for those years, but nothing was certain right now except my love for Erix.

So, I let him undress me next, and he too ran his fingers over the divots and warped flesh left where my skin had once been scorched away. As Erix lowered me to our sleeping mats, he pressed a kiss to the hollow of my throat, and my pulse fluttered beneath his lips. As if reminding me that I was still alive, the way it had the first time he had ever touched me, and I had been reminded what it felt like to live and not just survive.

After exploring every inch of my body with gentle fingers, as if discovering it all anew, Erix finally slid his hard length inside me. I gasped and my eyes fluttered shut, but Erix stilled.

“Look at me.” He spoke for the first time since we had entered the tent.

Immediately, I opened my eyes to do as he asked. Without breaking eye contact, he began to move. My mouth fell open at the feeling, but I did as he asked.

“I want to remember every detail of this—the look in your eyes when you are overcome with pleasure,” he murmured, voice raw but quiet, as if he were telling me some great secret. “If I fall and meet this goddess of ours tomorrow, I can carry the memory of you and tell her honestly that you are the one I worship.”

I wanted to tell him that he would not fall. I would not let him. I would throw myself between him and any danger. But a broken moan was all that came out. Instead, I poured all of my essence and love and pleasure down the tether between us.

Erix shuddered and fell down to one elbow in response. The bond connecting us grew brighter and stronger than ever, or perhaps it only seemed that way in contrast to the dullness of the other magic around us.

Either way, it was blinding in its intensity as I neared my peak. Erix’s thumb found the point where we were joined just as the fingers of his other hand curled gently around my throat and I shattered. My eyes filled with unshed tears, but I kept them open as I gasped through my release, watching Erix do the same.

We panted for long moments until Erix rolled to the side, pulling me with him so that I was curled into his side. Our legs stayed tangled together, and my hand landed on his chest. I let myself be comforted by the hammering of his heart beneath my palm. I counted the beats as if each one were something sacred. Perhaps it was.

After all, a broken heart was the cause of so much suffering.

“No matter what befalls us in tomorrow’s battle, I want you to know that I’m glad you found me at that oasis,” I whispered into the darkness. “All the years of loneliness were worth it for the chance to spend this time with you.”

Erix’s arms tightened around me. “This will not be all the time we have. Cutting the bond between us was one of the worst errors of my life and I promised I would never leave you again. Not even in death will I let us be separated.”

I nodded into his side, trying to let myself be comforted by his words. I fell asleep still counting his heart beats, imagining it was the Heart of the Desert, healed and whole once more.

Chapter thirty-seven

Erix

The humming in my mind betrayed the quiet of the night. I didn’t open my eyes, screwing them shut even tighter as if that could block out the feeling. Keera was warm pressed against me as I slept, and I didn’t want to lose even a single second of this peace with her.

But I knew it was borrowed time, and the desert called me.

Just like she had my whole life, although I had tried to block it out when the key was listening closer. With one more deep inhale of Keera’s sunshine and warm skin scent, I gently extricated myself from her.

Despite the anxiety I knew lived in her, she stayed asleep. Endless years of practical survival had given her the skill of resting when she needed to, even when fear kept others awake. I wished I had developed the same ability, but instead I pushed back the tent flap and walked out into the night.

The air was cold, a sharp contrast to the burning heat of the day. It was the dry season, leaving everybody at risk of heat exhaustion and hallucinations during the day, only to be shivering while they slept.

Kelvar, though, did not seem to notice the cold as he stood looking up at the stars, although he only wore a light tunic and billowing pants. A cool breeze stirred the air, but the fabric did not move, reminding me that he was not really there, although apparently he was still very real.

“Tomorrow,” I said. “Tomorrow we will free Alyx and heal the desert.”

He tore his gaze from the sky and looked at me with a sad smile. “I wish I could fight with you.”

“I’ll be carrying your sword,” I pointed out. “And I inherited the ability to wield it well from you. Something I don’t resent now as much as I once did.”

Kelvar sighed. “If I had been able to choose, I would have wanted my descendants to inherit my wife’s abilities, but I was not consulted in such decisions.”

“I guess the power in your blood simply overshadowed hers.”

“Never.” Kelvar shook his head vehemently. “Her magic was often quieter, but it was staggering in its immensity. I could drown in it, and it would have been a peaceful end.”

“Then why did she age and sicken when you did not? Shouldn’t the desert have granted her the same long life?”