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“Ash.”
“And I’m choosing you again.”
The relief that broke across his face hurt to look at, but there was still one thing I hadn’t given him. Not because I hadn’t felt it or because I hadn’t known, but because after everything my father had done to my sense of reality, I’d needed to be certain the words belonged entirely to me.
They did.
“I love you.”
Max went utterly still.
For once in his life, he apparently had nothing to say, and I enjoyed that for approximately two seconds before his free hand came up and settled against the back of my neck.
“You’re certain?”
I stared at him. “Do you really want to ask me that right now?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“I only meant—”
“Max.”
He stopped.
“I love you,” I repeated, quieter this time.
His eyes closed briefly, and when they opened again, there was so much emotion in them that my chest tightened.
“I love you too.”
Then he kissed me.
There was nothing desperate about it and no attempt to erase the uncertainty of the last twenty-four hours. His mouth simply settled over mine while his hand remained warm at the back of my neck, and for a little while, the rest of the room stopped mattering.
Someone eventually cleared their throat.
Max ignored it.
The throat-clearing became considerably more pointed.
I opened one eye and discovered Ignatius watching us with obvious amusement while Doryu had gone back to eating.
“Don’t mind me,” Doryu said. “I only live here.”
I pulled back enough to look at Max. “I was promised historical records.”
“You were.”
“Apparently they come with dinner and exhibitionism.”
Doryu nodded. “Dragon council benefits package.”
Max groaned, but for the first time since the barn, there was no fear underneath the sound.
By the following morning, the Melanie story had done what Max’s agent had predicted from the beginning and started dying from lack of oxygen.
