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“And that is melodrama.” Cian dismissed them with a wave. “You wanted to talk?”
My throat closed. I tried to swallow whatever was choking me. When that didn’t work, I searched the room for somewhere to sit, but Cian had taken the only chair.It’s okay, Nevahn. You can do this. You practiced. A deep breath in, out slow. “I understand.”
He surveyed me, analyzing, calculating. “You understand? We don’t talk for almost two months, and you understand?”
“I meant about everything. Midsummer. Trian. So much happened that day. I… It was too much all at once for me to process. I panicked. I needed time to think.”
“I should have told you,” Cian said quietly. “More than that, I should have protected you. I gave you my solemn vow and then failed you in every way. I’m so sorry that you got hurt and I…”
He sighed and then fought to rise. Hellion and I both rushed to help him, but he dropped to his knees before I could get there.
“I know I don’t deserve a second chance. I don’t deserve forgiveness. I was a monster, and you were hurt because of me. I can’t change that. But I can beg. Please, Nevahn. Give me a chance to put things right. I’ll do whatever it takes. Whatever you want.” He gripped my ankles and lowered his head against my shins.
I stared at him in shock, unsure of what to do. I had planned on asking him for an apology, but for him to grovel at my feet… What was I supposed to do with that? It felt wrong. He was Cian, the Lord of Nightmares, the most powerful creature in the kingdom, and he was begging fromme?
My chest ached. All I wanted was for this to be over, for us to move past it. I didn’t need him togrovel. It felt wrong in every way.
I squatted and tilted his face up so he’d look at me, the ache intensifying as our eyes met. “Say it again. The last thing you said to me before you left. Tell me again.”
“I love you,” he said without hesitation.
I took his hands and pulled him to his feet before running my fingers along his jaw. “Now, show me.”
His throat bobbed. “How can I show you?”
“Like this.” I grabbed him by his shirt, hooking one arm behind his neck, and pulled his lips to mine. He tasted exactly as I remembered, warm and rough and full of salt and that unnamable spice that I had missed so much.
When we parted, we were both breathless and staring at each other.
“Well?” Hellion cut in. “How is it? Kissing a man with a beard?”
Cian laughed, his eyes sparkling. “Why don’t you come see for yourself?”
Hellion closed on us and took my chin in their fingers. “I think I will.” They kissed me and I melted, suddenly so weak that Cian was the only thing holding me up. Just as the kiss started to deepen, Hellion pulled back with a smirk. “Not bad,” they remarked. “But I still think it’d look better on him naked.”
“I agree.” Cian pulled my lips back to his briefly.
A moment later, Hellion pulled me away again, stealing my breath while Cian moved his lips to my neck. My fingers tangled through his hair, wrapping threads of perfect white around soot-stained black callouses. Hellion opened their mouth, teasing with the briefest, lightest caress of their tongue against mine. I let out a shuddering groan when they turned their head and caught Cian’s lips instead of mine. My heart fluttered in my throat. Nothing made my blood hotter than watching the two of them together, except maybe when they were both paying attention to me.
Cian’s weight shifted, pulling me back. He slammed into the table full of maps. My hands went out to brace myself, knocking over some of the little wooden figurines. With a low growl, Hellion closed on us, and swept an arm across the table, pushing it all aside. Cian scooted back on the table, pulling me into his lap. I turned my head, and his lips were back on mine, his tongue in my mouth. One of his hands closed on my thigh and he adjusted me against him. I groaned as I felt his hard cock grinding against me through our clothes. Hellion climbed up on the table, straddling my hips and grinding against my front, their lips a hot brand against my throat. Being crushed between them felt better than I’d ever imagined it could. I could only imagine how good it would feel to fuck like that, with Cian’s cock buried deep inside of me and me inside of Hellion. The thought alone had my cock so hard it hurt. I gripped Hellion’s hip, pulling them harder against me. They were only wearing their smallclothes underneath that short tunic, and I could feel every hard inch of them straining against the fabric. I wedged a hand between us, searching, the need to feel skin on skin maddening.
“Cian!” The tent flaps opened and Nisang backed in. “The ballistas. Did you see them? They’re—” He cut himself off when he turned around and saw all three of us scrambling to adjust ourselves so we’d be decent.
“You’ve always had the worst timing, Nisang,” Hellion snarled, yanking their tunic down. Not that it would go much further down.
Nisang sprouted a wry smile before bowing and backing toward the door. “I can come back.”
“Don’t bother. You’ve already ruined it.” Cian drew a hand through his messy hair and stood. “What is it?”
“Truly, nothing important.” But the gargoyle drew up, just short of the door, sharp eyes on me. “Hello, Nevahn. I heard you were here, but I barely believed it, especially after that verbal whipping you supposedly gave Morlash. Is it true you insulted his virility?”
I shrugged, too embarrassed to give a proper answer.
Nisang nodded, attention shifting back to his lord. “Will there be a council meeting tonight or should I find something else to entertain our Skaag friend?”
Cian eyed the scattered papers, the overturned figurines, the discarded books that had once been sitting on his war table. He sighed. “We’ll have our meeting in the morning. We need that information if we’re to stand a chance of placing the ballistas properly.”
Nisang nodded again. “May I steal your guest for a walk about camp?”
