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“Maybe I’ll reread Anna Karenina,” she said.
He stroked her cheek with his thumb, remembering their day in Lake George. That had been the day he’d fallen in love with her. He’d wanted her before that, had wanted her with a fervor that consumed him.
But it was that day that she’d captured his heart. It hadn’t just been the time they’d spent together, wandering the town and talking and holding hands, it was what had happened afterward: the way she’d handled Musa when he’d spoken so disrespectfully to her, the way she hadn’t batted an eye when it came to cleaning Musa’s piss off the fireplace, the way she’d wished their enemies — their common enemies — dead.
That was the day he'd known he would do anything to protect her, the day he’d wanted to kill Musa, not for defiling his home, but for the way he’d spoken to Kira. The way he’d looked at her.
He remembered the promises he made to Musa in the quiet of his mind.
You will pay for this. You will hurt for this. You will bleed for this.
Tonight, he would.
“I’ll be back before you know it,” Lyon said to Kira.
“And then you’ll be king.” She must have seen a shadow of doubt cross his features because she reached up and took his face in her hands. When she spoke, her eyes blazed with conviction. “They’ll either name you king, or you’ll take the crown by force. Either way, you’re the Lion, and I’ll be by your side.”
It was the closest she’d come to expressing feelings for him, and he crushed her mouth under his, his feelings for her expanding until he felt like he might overflow with them. He poured it all into their kiss, sweeping her mouth with his tongue, pressing her body against his until she stifled a moan. There would be time for words later. Right now he just wanted to feel her in his arms, remind himself what he was fighting for.
Not just power. Not anymore. Now he was fighting for the future.
For their future.
By the time he pulled away, he was hard and eager for her. He stroked her hair back from her face. “See you soon,malen'kiy sokol.”
Her cheeks were flushed. “I’ll be waiting.”
She hesitated, almost like she wanted to say something more. Then she took two steps back, putting distance between them.
He stared at her a moment longer and turned to go. The sooner he killed Musa, the sooner she would be back in his arms.
