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Only my heart.
This side of him is so different from the commander on the field, or the brother brooding around the others. His words from the morning in the field with the vampire come back. Touch her and die.
Three times he’s killed someone or something that tried to harm me. He takes his familial bonds seriously. And that’s how he sees me—his little sister. Sure, he has his weird, twisted magnetic fascination with me, but he’s trying to break it.
Maybe I should try harder to break it.
“We’ll keep your shoe off the rest of the way,” he says, bending over to lift me and not bothering to put his shirt back on. He knows what he’s doing.
I trace his Kindred Few tattoo with my pointer finger. “When do I get one of these?”
“When you earn it.” He doesn’t look down as I continue to trace the circles on his skin. “You’re not there yet.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Asmall fire smoldering in the hearth lights the cabin when we enter. The echo of the empty space needs the laughter and banter of the other three, but all I hear are Bastian’s heavy footfalls and his breathing. Instead of heading for my bedroom at the rear of the cabin, he carries me to the stairs.
“You’ll be more comfortable in my bed tonight.” When I go rigid in his arms, he adds, “I’ll sleep in Gray’s room.”
He lays me on the mattress and lights the oil lamp on the bedside table. I act curious, as if this is my first time in his room. Everything is in the same place—the papers on the desk, the drawings on the wall, his bookshelf. I skim my palm over his gray blanket. It’s softer than I imagined.
I inspect a parchment nailed to the wall with the five intertwined circles. Each one has its own intricate personality, differentiating itself from the whole. Mine contains arrows, with an occasional heart sprinkled in. He’s written my name in neat cursive script along the edge of my ring.
He follows my gaze, runs his hand nervously through his hair, and sits beside me on the bed. “Uh… yeah. As much as I don’t like to admit it, you’re one of us now. Like it or not.”
I prop myself up on my elbows and wince. With this pain, I’m not sure I’ll sleep tonight.
“Are you ok?” He reaches out, touching my arm.
I chew on my inner cheek, trying to work up the courage to ask him my next question. His current sympathy for my plight might make it easier. “Will you stay here tonight? I don’t think I can sleep, and I could use something to distract me from the pain.”
He appears to contemplate my words before saying, “Move over… slowly.”
Using my good ankle, I shimmy closer to the wall as Bastian settles in beside me, his shoulder touching mine. “I didn’t know you were an artist.”
“I’m not.” He frowns, appraising his work. “I doodle when things are bothering me.”
“And I bother you?” The question opens up a world of possible answers, but I don’t care. The only person I’ve ever had genuine conversations with was my dad. He questioned the very Council he was on, and though I was young, I understood him, unlike anyone else in my life.
His hands are in his lap. He twists a black ring on his pointer finger as he sits in silence. “You bother me more than anyone I’ve ever met in my life, Windsong.”
I quirk my lip when he uses my last name. Is it a term of endearment? And I’m not sure what to make of his proclamation. Do I bother him in a good or bad way? I’ve already opened a new world between us. Why not continue pushing him? “How so?”
He shifts so he’s facing me, close enough that I could reach up and cup his cheek, but I keep my hands firmly beneath my legs. “Ever since my parents died, the prophecy’s words have provided the hope I’ve needed to get by. Someone more powerful than me is out there who will know how to take down the two cities and bring peace to the wilderness. My role was to be a pawn in the savior’s army, and if I was lucky, a knight or a bishop. And then you show up with your stupid oversized canvas clothes and terrible aim. Gray insists you are the one. So, I continue to train you because he’s my brother.” He lifts a hand to my face. “The damn feeling won’t go away. You’ve got me drowning so deep, I’m unsure how I’ll ever come up for air. And I’ve tried to sort my obsession out. Is it attraction or purely a need for self-preservation? My heart knows you’re the savior and it wants to protect you, so you can fulfill your role.” His finger skims my cheek. “But is it something more?”
My breath catches, my body humming as he moves in closer, resting his forehead against mine. In the stillness, I can hear the pounding of my heart against my chest. Whatever is between us, it goes both ways.
His lips brush over my cheek, leaving a chilling trail to my ear. “As much as I want to, I can’t stay away.”
Like a forest fire, my body feels like it could go up in flames. In my few heated kisses with Flynn, I never felt the rush of liquid inferno Bastian ignites in me. It’s fitting he smells like a campfire.
As he draws back my head, his lips continue to explore my neck, leaving both peppered kisses and lingering tugs as he sucks my skin between his lips. The touch of his mouth sends bolts of electricity to my core.
When he releases my hair, I move a hand along his cheek, running my thumb over his stubble, and he tilts his head into my palm. Hooded with desire, his eyes drop to my lips, and he leans forward to take my mouth with his. The feeling of his full lips on mine is exactly how I imagined it: gentle at first, taking time to savor the taste of each other. Then his teeth scrape my lip, and I open my mouth for his tongue to explore. I barely have time to enjoy the tangle of his tongue with mine before his hand slips down my side, gripping my waist. It slides beneath my shirt and rests on my stomach.
I pull back to catch my breath. “Bastian.”
He doesn’t respond but lays me farther back on the pillows, placing a leg on either side of my hips. His long hair partially covers his face as he leans down to take my lips again. Acting purely on desire, I lift my hips to his, but an intense jolt of pain streaks through my leg. Tears fill my eyes, and I curse my injured ankle.
