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“Are you ready? It’s just a short walk.” My mother didn’t answer and instead lifted herself from the armchair and walked toward the front door without a goodbye to Solise.
“I’ll be back in a bit,” I said to Solise. She stayed silent as we walked out the door.
The small cottage was on Jasper Lane, a relatively quiet side street off the southern end of Gormill Road. We were close to the harbor and far enough away from the bustle that accumulated on the northern end of Gormill.
Men — guards — were heaving furniture up the front steps and through the door, empty handed guards returning for another load. My mother stared blankly as I wrapped my arm around her shoulder. “I don’t understand,” she murmured.
I wanted to tell her that I didn’t understand either, that none of this made any sense to me. But Lord Castemont strolled out the front door, immediately spotting our approach, a dazzling smile across his handsome face. “There’s someone you should meet, Ma.”
???
My mother and Lord Castemont sat on an overstuffed leather sofa,ouroverstuffed leather sofa, a fire blazing in the hearth…ourhearth. Though her face remained vacant and hollow, she was holding a conversation. It was an improvement.
I retreated to the small kitchen, placing mugs and plates and pots in various cabinets. We had never had so much space, so many belongings.Guards shuffled around the cottage, in and out of the two bedrooms upstairs, the small breakfast nook off the kitchen, out the back door that led to a quaint garden and an outhouse that wasn’t terrible.
I was reaching for the top shelf in what I had designated as the cup cabinet when I heard him. “What do you think?” I paused as his voice rolled across my body. I turned to him, the mug almost crashing to the counter as I all but threw it in its place.
Calomyr stared down at me, his sapphire and emerald eyes glowing with excitement. “Hello.” The half smile, the dimple. The stray strand of hair that hung over his forehead. I forgot all about the frustration, the wondering that had plagued me all week. He wore his uniform, clean cut leathers sculpted to his body and a shining breastplate bearing the large ship of the royal crest. His sword was at his side. The sight of him, of his eyes, of his broad chest plated in steel…
“On Low Royal duty now, hmm?” I asked, fighting the rising blush in my cheeks.
“I caught wind of his little plan.” He nodded toward Castemont. “Asked if I could help.” He ran a hand through his hair as the smile on his cheeks grew. “The catch being no more stealing.” I blanched at his words.He knew.Embarrassment coursed through my veins.
“I only did it because–”
“I understand, Petra.” My name on his lips set my stomach flipping. “I do.” The tension melted away and I couldn’t help but smile at him, the guards all around us fading into the background, my mother’s hushed words to Lord Castemont a whisper in the distance. “Let them handle this,” he said, gesturing to the guards still buzzing about the house. “Take a walk with me?”
???
“How are you feeling?” Calomyr asked. We strode side by side through the low hanging mist as the sun fought its way through, making our way toward the harbor.
“Better. Much better. No more coughing.”
“Good. I was worried about you,” he murmured, turning his head.
My face cracked into an involuntary smile.Keep it fucking cool.“Oh, were you now?” I said as coolly as I could, but the words were rough.
His answering laugh was warm honey. “Of course I worried about you. I watched youbarelysurvive.”
I scoffed. “I was nowhere close to death.” The remaining scratch in my throat reminded me that wasn’t true.
He stopped in his tracks, turning to me. “I thought of you every waking moment this week, Petra. I need you to know that.” The words were so sudden, so severe, so serious that I straightened. I swallowed hard under his fervent gaze. “If I hadn’t been on duty, I would have been at your side. And I really, really shouldn’t be feeling this way.”
My heart raged against my ribs. “Why not?”
“Please, just trust me when I say that.” I blinked in shock, but the bite of the words dissipated as he placed a hand on my side, his touch immediately warming my core, his fingers flexing against me. “Please.” His other hand reached for the other side of my waist. I was completely paralyzed in his grasp, his eyes baring down on me with an intensity I didn’t understand, couldn’t comprehend. I couldn’t speak to tell him that I did trust him, that I’d believe anything he told me. Damn being cool and composed. My entire body went loose and rigid at the same time, warmth pouring from where his hands rested on my waist.
“Do you remember the day we met?” he breathed, his face hovering dangerously close to mine, the ghost of a smile on his lips. His scent of smoke and cedar enveloped me, pushed against every inch of me.
“Of course.” My voice was barely above a whisper as the tips of his fingers dug into my waist once again.
“I may have been the one to bump you. And itmayhave been on purpose.” The corner of his mouth quirked up in a smile so maddeningly beautiful I could have lived in the light of it. The tip of his tongue ran over his teeth. I couldn’t speak, couldn’t think. “And I’m so fucking glad I did it, because the moment I saw you, I knew I needed you.”
My voice shook. “You knew?”
“Like it was all I’d ever known.”
He finally closed the distance between us, pulling me against him as his lips claimed mine, the taste of him even more intoxicating than when we kissed in the street the day of the fire. A low groan sounded from his throat as I clung to him. It felt like the first time and the millionth time, our lips in perfect sync. His hands roved my back, gripping me so tightly against him that I didn’t know where I ended and he began or whether we were two people or one person or simply a burst of light. I looped my arms around his neck, tangled my fingers in his hair that was damp from the rain. His tongue slid against my lips, into my mouth, somehow gentle but urgent, soft but demanding.
