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His smile was a little wry. “Yes, but none of them are unduly interested in either one of us. Which can no longer be said for Vazula.”
Merletta sighed, grasping his meaning. “It has changed since the guards came,” she acknowledged. “I knew it would affect things, but to be honest I didn’t expect them to take such a dislike to you. Well,” she amended, “not all of them. I don’t think August dislikes you.”
“Or Paul,” Heath agreed. “We may as well name names. We’re speaking of Griffin, and his dislike has nothing to do with me, and everything to do with you.”
“What do you mean?” Merletta asked, frowning. “I know you’ve seen him at his most unpleasant, but he’s friendly enough to me most of the time.”
Heath laughed, leaning slightly back. Cold air rushed in to take his place, and Merletta felt a definite sense of disappointment. How had they ended up talking about Griffin at such a moment?
“I don’t mean he dislikes you,” Heath clarified. “Very much the opposite. Which is why he dislikes me.” His eyes were suddenly intense as they rested on her. “It was probably inevitable, really.”
Merletta caught her breath as she understood what he was saying. “I’m sure you’re wrong,” she said quickly, turning around so that she again faced the dark gardens. “Why would he…I mean, I’m not the kind of…before I met you, no one had ever taken an interest in me that way.”
“That was when you were a nameless no one, though,” Heath said. She stiffened slightly, and he hastened to add, “To borrow a phrase I’ve heard you use. You know you’re not no one to me.” He laid a hand tentatively on her shoulder, his words simple but sincere. “You’re everything to me.”
Merletta turned back around, warmed in spite of herself. “That’s because you’re an addled human,” she teased. “Others in my own world don’t see me that way.”
“They didn’t,” Heath corrected. “It’s different now. Even I can tell that, and I’m not actually down there.”
Merletta frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I mean you’re a hero,” Heath said simply. “You’ve said it yourself—you’ve become visible. You’re famous, not for a stupid reason like who your parents are, but for real reasons, like how smart you are, how determined, how much you’re defying expectations and shaking things up. Add in that you’re young,” he shifted slightly closer again, “incredibly beautiful, and as far as anyone knows, unattached…well, it was inevitable that others would start falling for you. I’m just surprised it’s not more than just Andre and Griffin.”
“Andre’s not in love with me,” Merletta said, hoping her small scoff hid the way Heath’s words had made her heart race.
“So you claim,” Heath said doubtfully. “But maybe you wouldn’t know. I bet he is. Emil probably is, too.”
“Emil definitely hasn’t fallen for me,” Merletta said confidently.
She lowered her gaze, her eyes fixed on a button on Heath’s jacket. “I…I do sort of know what you mean,” she admitted. The truth was, his words were touching on one of her deepest discomforts. “I’ve noticed something in the way Griffin and the others talk about me.”
She looked suddenly back up at him, her eyes a little desperate. “But I’m not who they think I am, Heath. I’m not some untouchable hero, with a plan to save everyone. If Griffin admires me the way you say, it’s based on a fantasy. I’m not her.”
“I know,” Heath said, his tone earnest but calm. “Just as you were never a worthless slum-dweller. You don’t have to be anyone you’re not, Merletta. Just because people expect things of you doesn’t mean you owe them something. And just because someone admires you for something that is or isn’t there, doesn’t mean that’s where your worth lies.”
Smoothly, easily, as if it was altogether natural, he slipped one hand up the back of her neck, cradling her head.
“I know who you are, Merletta,” he said softly. “And I never had any hope of not falling in love with you.”
Merletta didn’t give herself time to think—thinking was the last thing she wanted to do. She seized Heath’s jacket with both hands, lifting onto her toes to be nearer him as she tilted her face up toward his.
He responded immediately, wrapping his free arm around her, and tugging her flush against him as he lowered his lips to hers.
This kiss wasn’t like the others they’d shared, always brief, always tasting of goodbye. Whatever Merletta’s uncertainties about her place in the human world, Heath clearly felt she belonged. She could feel his joy and triumph in the way he held her, as if he truly believed they were together for good now, and nothing could pull them apart again.
Merletta didn’t let herself consider whether she agreed. She just abandoned herself to the feel of his lips on hers. His breath was warm and eager, and she responded no less enthusiastically. She slipped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss as the snow fell softly around them. She was pressed between Heath and the stone balustrade, but she could feel no chill either from the stone or from the wintry air. All she could feel was Heath’s warmth as he kissed her so soundly that stars burst before her eyes, for once no aloof dragon or resentful guard appearing to interrupt them.
When Heath at last pulled back, Merletta felt dazed, although she still retained enough awareness to cling on to his jacket as she made a wordless protest at the sudden distance between them.
Heath gave a low, throaty chuckle. “I agree.” His voice was a little breathless. “But I’m worried that if August catches me kissing you like that, he might start acting like a real chaperone.”
Merletta acknowledged it regretfully, although she couldn’t resist pressing her face against Heath’s shoulder for one more second.
“I love you, Merletta,” Heath whispered into her hair. “I won’t let anything come between us now. A whole colony of dragons couldn’t stop me.”
Merletta’s heart thrilled at the declaration. And if his choice of words sent the tiniest trickle of unease snaking through her mind, it wasn’t hard to banish it, not with the warmth of his arms around her.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
