AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Maybe I couldn’t have changed his mind, but I might have been able to spare Ivy the trauma she endured at his bidding.
Stavros pulls himself away from Ivy with what looks like incredible effort. I can read his reluctance to leave her all through his stance as he turns toward the loop of cord that’ll take him back to his quarters.
I offer him my most reassuring smile.
We’ll take good care of her. We’ll give her everything she could need until he’s able to join us.
I turn Ivy’s cord in my hands. “Leave your loop at the other end open so Ivy will be able to follow it back to your quarters once she’s ready.”
Stavros gives a quick nod and one final, anguished glance over his shoulder at Ivy before stepping into the circle of cord and vanishing.
Ivy stares after him, shock etched on her pale face. It’s a crime how much trouble she’s had accepting that any of us could truly care about her. In Stavros’s case, it must be even more difficult after how harshly he treated her when he discovered her magic.
I slip my hand around her arm again, stroking my fingers from her shoulder to her elbow and back again. Maybe it’ll help her believe if she knows I can see it too.
“If you’re our Signy, I suppose you did need a third paramour.”
Ivy’s gaze jerks toward me. “What do you— He wouldn’t really…”
She trails off, uncertainty mingling with the weariness in her expression. She’s been through so much in the past day.
I brush her amber hair back from her face in a gentle caress. “I think Stav has been fighting with himself even more than he’s fought with you. It’s a relief to see that devotion finally won over fear.”
A blush spreads across Ivy’s cheeks. “He hasn’t said anything. We haven’tdoneanything.”
I chuckle. “Oh, he’s said enough. And you don’t have to worry. I’m not complaining. You should get all the adulation we can offer you.”
I glance toward Alek, who’s been watching the whole interaction with a mix of concern and bemusement. At my silent prodding, he steps closer to Ivy.
There’s something poignant about the tentative but determined way he tucks his arm around Ivy’s waist, as if he’s still not sure he could be allowed to show her that much affection. The scholar has also had a long journey toward believing anyone could wanthim, I suspect.
“If Signy’s men could handle sharing between a trio, I’d imagine we could figure out a way too,” he says, and presses a kiss to her hair. “You’ve spent too long with no one you can count on.”
The corner of his mouth crooks upward at a sly angle I’m not used to. “And three lovers opens up even more… intriguing possibilities.”
Ivy arches an eyebrow at him, but a hint of a smile crosses her lips. “You and that poetry book.”
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to see you happy—and satisfied.”
I beam at both of them. “I couldn’t agree more. And to get started with that…” I swipe at a little smudge of dirt at the corner of Ivy’s jaw that the scourge sorcerers missed in their hasty clean-up effort. “You spent the night in a cave. I think the first step to getting you good as new is a nice soak in a bath, don’t you?”
Ivy’s blush darkens.
“Just a bath?” she asks, sounding amused.
Remembering how the first bath I set up for her ended sends a quiver of desire to my groin. I lean in to claim a quick kiss.
“Whatever pleases you, Kindness. I simply want you to know we’re here for you however you need us.”
Alek lifts his chin. “Agreed.”
Ivy looks down at herself. “Getting clean would be a relief—I’m sure about that.”
“Then I have just the thing. You two wait here while I make the arrangements. I’ll step through the cords and escort you back when I’m ready—it shouldn’t take long.”
I slip her cord into the pouch on my belt and step through my own ring. After a moment of disorienting darkness, I’m back in my dorm room in the Domi.
A few of my dormmates are chatting in the common room, one who’s training to be a dancer doing stretches on the floor, another who’s about to start an apprenticeship as a bard strumming casually on her lute. I give them all a friendly nod and head out into the hall to check the reserved bathing rooms.
