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“Which?”
“My sister is a sorceress. She can cast a spell upon your cave and hide it from everyone but you. Neither queen’s knights nor dragonslayers will find you there. Consider it a payment for helping me.”
I shake my head, an ember of emotion burning in my throat. He doesn’t understand. “I’m not sure I can return to life as a dragon in the wilderness. I’m not sure I can live with that kind of rage and solitude any longer, never allowing myself to hope beyond the confines of my cave.”
He looks deep into my eyes. “When the king died, I convinced myself that I could hide in the Thornwood forever. That I belonged here with all the other monsters. I believed this ruined castle was my home. But I left.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t want my life to end here. Eventually, I understood that I had become hopeless.” His eyes glitter with reflected flames. “Hide too long in the shadows, and you forget how to walk in the light.”
His words stab my heart with a pain so deep it’s sweet. I want to embrace him. “What if it’s already too late? We were born a dragon and a demon in a world that fears us. We will never be anything but monsters.”
“Even monsters can dream.”
I’m left wordless. I kiss him with everything that shimmers inside me, brighter than the fire as it burns. He kisses me back, his fingers weaving in my hair, holding me tight against him. It’s easier to retreat to the simple truth of our bodies, since I can’t confess my dreams to him.
Because falling in love is the most impossible dream of all.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR
When Rook breaks the kiss, I’m left feeling incomplete. He stands and holds out his hand to me. I let him tug me to my feet, which is effortless given his strength.
A yawn escapes me before I can hide it, so big that I blink away tears.
“Was kissing me so thrilling?” he deadpans.
“Sorry. I barely slept all night.”
“I know,” he says. “I was there when you were dreaming.”
“I blame you for interrupting me.”
I stifle yet another yawn. Exhaustion muddles my head. I’m swaying on my feet as if I’m drunk. He catches me by my wrist to steady me.
“You’re about to fall over, woman.”
“Back to calling me that?”
“What would you prefer?”
Good girl. He called me that during my molten hot dream. I shiver and cross my arms to hide my tight nipples.
He stares sideways at me. “Don’t look at me that way. Like you want me naked.”
“If you were naked all the time, you wouldn’t hear me complaining.”
He sighs. “Sleep,” he commands.
I squint at the sky above the courtyard. “But it’s broad daylight.”
“Come here.”
He hooks his arm under my legs and sweeps me off my feet. A noise of startled protest escapes me.
“You can’t keep carrying me everywhere,” I say, trying and failing to glare at him.
“On the contrary, I can.”
