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Chapter29
Ember
Sunlight warms my face as I come awake. I stretch and then still as my arm presses against something hard—reallyhard.
I open one eye and peer at the tremendous wall of man lying on his side facing me. Our bodies are entwined, his arm over me, my legs between his. Lust pummels me from all sides, heating my body well past normal—even for me.
More so now that I know how he tastes, how he comes alive with a passion so bright it’s blinding.
Rafferty’s eyes are closed, though his expression is far from relaxed. Swallowing hard, I reach up and touch his shoulder, lightly tracing a huge scar that disappears behind his back.
This man has seen more violence, more pain than anyone I’ve ever met, and yet, he still feels so alive. As though he’s clinging to even a shred of hope despite everything.
His own brother betrayed him.
Clipped his wings.
Stole…everything—and he’s still standing. Still fighting.
Still clinging to what he believes makes him good even if it keeps him from what he wants.
What strength that must take—to keep going even when you should want to fall. It’s something I know quite well, even though I was more than prepared to roll over and give up when the time came.
I have a feeling Rafferty doesn’t even know the meaning of quit.
Glancing up, I still when my gaze locks with his. This close, I can make out the thin black rings around both golden irises. They’re threaded with obsidian that has grown thicker since that night in the woods.
Even thicker now than it was last night.
I open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. Nothing but a quiet sigh that is somehow far more sexual than intended. I take a chance and draw my bottom lip into my mouth.
Rafferty’s gaze drops to it, and his nostrils flare. The strong, muscled arm draped over my side tightens, pulling me closer. Close enough that his erection presses into my lower belly.
Oh my—My breaths come quicker now as my pulse hammers. I want to feel him, to have his body on top of mine. Even as Iknowwhat a bad idea that would be.
So when I look back up at him, meeting his gaze for the second time this morning, I try like hell to reflect that in my expression.
His pupils dilate as the black ring around his irises expands and contracts, a visible representation of the battle he told me he’s waging with the dark magic inside of him. Is it bad I want it to win right now?
Reaching forward, I press my palm to his chest, and he growls. The sound, low and deep, vibrates against my hand, spurring on my own lust. The aching heat between my legs is near-painful now, and I know he could sate my hunger with a single touch.
One moment of contact and I’ll come undone.
I lift my gaze to his again, carrying with it a silent plea to just give us this moment—this morning of passion before we head back into a world determined to see us both dead.
But a knock on the door steals even that from us both.
Rafferty gets out of bed quickly, leaving me lying alone as he rushes to the door, already holding a blade in his hand I hadn’t even seen him retrieve.
“It’s Fin,” a man says.
Rafferty opens the door, and a dark-haired man moves into the room, wearing a brown cloak and pants of the same color. His cheeks are pink as though he’s been running, and I sit up, covering myself with blankets.
“What is it?”
“We need to leave—now. Taranus’s men are coming.”
“How did they find out?”
