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“Don’t do that to me, Ryker,” he hummed.
“Do what?” My arms folded over my chest as I watched him with raised brows.
“Tease me.”
“Oh, learn how to take a joke. I’m only poking fun.”
“I know.” He stood, his loafers tapped against the floor, the only sound other than my trilling heartbeat. A wicked grin made the skin around his eyes crinkle. “I like it when you play with me. That’s what makes it so dangerous.”
I swallowed, trying to give life to my dry mouth and throat as I looked up at him. If he came any closer I could press myself against him, align our bodies in the way that my mind kept suggesting. We could brush our lips together in a moment of ecstasy that would, at some point, sizzle out. His teeth could scrape against the sensitive skin on my neck, douse the last of the scent from the tamer. Dace hadn’t said anything about the lingering scent, but occasionally I would catch his eyes drifting to the exact spot.
“You can’t sway me with your beauty.” I lifted on my toes to speak against his lips.I could kiss him right now.I could answer the lingering question of what his lips taste like.
He pulled away, just enough to be able to see the entirety of my face. “You’ve said that once before, yet somehow we always end up together.” He leaned down, pressing a gentle kiss against my cheek.
Heat like I had never felt before burned up my cheekbones to the tip of my ears. Goosebumps rose over my arms. The air in my lungs was stolen by the smallest of movements.
“If you’re ever in the mood to play, let me know. Or if you're done playing and you want to get a little more serious, I’ll be around for that too.” Ignoring the shiver he sent through me, Dace walked back to the desk chair and pushed it into place. He paused at the door, looking at me with his blue sky gaze. “Meet me in the stables tomorrow night. We can start training.”
* * *
Dace
Ihad said what I said and I hoped it wasn’t too much too soon. Ryker couldn’t tease me like she did. Not if she meant to keep me at a distance like she tried so hard to convince herself to do. It turned so sexy in an instant, and it damn near took everything in me not to act on the scent of lust in the air.
With the door shut behind me, I wiped my sweaty palms against my pant legs, my fingers roaming to touch the tips of the daggers on my belt to reassure myself that I was, somehow, still put together.
Hopefully she believed me when I said that Shavarra and I were not a thing. No matter how many feelings Shavarra may or may not have, Ryker was it for me. Ryker wasn’t my sun or my moon. She was my whole damn sky. She just might not be ready to know that yet.
It was a perplexing thing to be so near her, to know what we could be together, and not act like we were already there. I’d waited so many years, I could wait a little longer for her to figure it out on her own. But, damn, if I didn’t want to fully kiss her just then.
Before I continued down the hall I adjusted the hem of my shirt, taking a moment to collect myself. It had been a shock to hear that Shavarra was awake. Why had no one told me? It almost made me ill to think that maybe no one had been there when she woke up. I should have been there.
The crumbling corridors were rarely empty when I walked them. Nymphs roamed as they had never been allowed to before and those from the Heathern Court still watched me like I was a hungry predator waiting to pounce. They offered me dark glares and often put space between themselves and me. Unity wouldn’t happen overnight. They only tolerated me because Ryker had let me in with open arms.
I heard the infirmary before I came to it, one of the few rooms that hadn’t been totally trashed, was filled with the quiet buzz of talking. Cots had been lined up and filled with Nymphs, many of whom we’d brought. They slept or entertained themselves quietly, but I heard a bout of laughter as I entered and I recognized it in an instant. Shavarra had a blanket pulled up over her head and cocooned around her, her legs crossed under her, and her winning hand of cards sprawled out on the small table between her the cot next to her.
She nearly blended in with the white stone walls and no matter how deeply I breathed I couldn’t smell her perfume over the sterile scent of chemicals.
“Maybe next time, Rinny,” she beamed.
“Can’t let yourself get rusty, can you?” I whispered, stopping at the foot of her cot.The memory of our fight lingered in the back of my mind.
“I thought you forgot about me,” she said, making quick work of restacking the cards.
“No, though I’m mighty upset no one told me you were awake until now.” I tugged the white blanket off her head, her blonde hair was pulled up messily. Through her pale strands, I could see the long, dark-pink cut that was mending back together and my throat dried. “You didn’t wake up alone, did you?”
“No, there are like twenty of us in here.” She adjusted the blanket around her shoulders, pinning me with a tired stare.
“I’m so sorry, Shavarra,” I said softly, brushing the frizzy strands of hair that had stood up when I pulled the blanket away, “for a lot of things. Listen,” I glanced at the Nymph across from her who took the hint and pulled away from their game of cards, “I don’t want to lead you on. And if we need to be through, if you need me to stay away, I get it. Just know that I do care about you, Shavarra. You’re more to me than meaningless sex. You’re my friend. You built the refuge with me.”
She sighed. “No, Dace. I’m sorry. You’ve been straightforward with me about everything from the get-go. I knew there was never any room in your heart for me. It's my fault for letting myself care when I knew the feelings couldn’t ever be reciprocated.” She grabbed my hand, pulling it away from her face and holding it between her palms. It calmed the chaos in my mind.
“So, we can still be friends, right?”
“Always.”
“Thank the gods,” I breathed. “Scoot over then, let me get in here with you.”
