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Ellyn swept forward. “Would you like a drink? We have some marvelous lemonade. And you can tell me all about how Lark is a terrible friend.”
“I’d like that, but he’s really not that terrible.”
I spotted Arin watching all this unfold while leaning against the back of our wagon and making no attempt to rescue me. “You two bond over mutual dislike. I’ll be with Arin, over here…” They’d already paired off, chatting animatedly.
Arin spun a flower between his fingers, and as soon as I was within reach, he tucked it behind my ear and kissed me on the lips, lighting a spark only for him to stoke it hotter with a hungry look.
He came alive here, under brilliant sunlight, golden hair gleaming. The new beard he’d gained on the road did wonders to rough him up, and frankly, I couldn’t wait to drag my nails through it later. There had been no privacy on the road, but now we’d arrived, I hoped we might have some time to reacquaint ourselves with each other. It had been too long. Any longer, and our bodies would become strangers again.
He twined his fingers with mine and nodded at the bustling market. “Isn’t this wonderful? They’re all coming back.”
“An open wound eventually heals itself.”
“That’s a veryyouobservation.”
“Well, I am me, so—”
He swooped in and trapped me to the side of the wagon. “I’ll rent us a room. I paid the innkeeper handsomely the last time I was here, with the gold you gave me. He’ll let us stay as long as we like. We may perhaps even… make a life here? I can wait tables and you can…”
“Pick pockets?” I chuckled. It was a fancy dream, and one I might just make real.
Blue eyes searched my soul. They were bright with happiness and then softened with hope. “Stay with me?Healwith me?”
Heal? What did that even mean? “I don’t know how,” I admitted, feeling foolish. “I’ve been Pain’s prisoner my whole life. I don’t even know where to begin healing.”
“I do.” He smiled and nudged my mouth with his. “I know exactly where to begin. Will you trust me to help you?”
I let his hand go and clasped his whiskered face instead. “I trust you with my heart and soul. But more than even that, I trust you with my love. There’s no other in the shatterlands I trust more.”
“Gods, I love you,” he breathed against my lips. “In all my dreams about us, I never dared dream I’d return home with you.”
“Probably because I don’t deserve it.”
He slammed his mouth over mine and thrust a kiss on me, its touch so devastating it left me breathless and reeling. “You’re my hero, Lark,” he said.
I almost laughed, but the look in his eyes left no room for humor. He meant it.
“And if you tell me fools can never be heroes, then I’m going to drag you into a room at that inn and worship your every inch, so you’ll never doubt yourself or my love again.”
“Is that a threat, because it sounds delightful.”
“Gods, Lark, you drive me crazy, and I love you for it.”
I kissed him in a slow, teasing way. His body thrummed so tightly, it wouldn’t take much to tip him over the edge and drive him wild. It felt good, knowing he wanted me with the same desperation I felt for him. As though he were my sun, and I his flower. I needed Arin. Without him, all was lost.
“Arin, Ellyn has offered to— Oh my.” Noemi stopped talking.
“Pfft,” Ellyn said. “This is nothing. I once discovered Lark in the palace gardens with a very handsome pair of nobleman’s legs around his neck and his mouth on… well… you know.”
Arin gently broke the kiss and bumped his forehead against mine. “Let’s come back to this after I’ve arranged a room.”
I brushed my cheek against his and whispered, “Oh, I’ll come for you.” Then stepped out of his embrace, leaving him propped against the wagon with his back to us, fighting hard to will his body back under control. Although, the glance he threw over his shoulder suggested he may have lost that fight.
To Ellyn, I said, “If I recall correctly, I invited you to join us in the gardens that night in what would have been a spectacular threesome.”
Ellyn rolled her eyes all the way to Noemi. “Lark knows men are far too troublesome to love.”
“Oh?” Noemi’s blush deepened. “Then your heart finds comfort with women?”
