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My hands shook as I carried the pot and rested it on cold stone slabs beyond the fireplace.

“And what do you want, when this is all over?” I asked, already knowing the answer, but desperately needing to hear it from his lips. “Indulge me, if you would. I want to hear your answer again.”

Erix sighed. Not a sad sigh, but one full of relief. “Exactly what I have got now. You, little bird. I want you. This. Duncan and the life we will all carve out together. Now that I understand that is a possibility, I can barely retract my claws from it. My answer will never change. Ask me it over and over, and you will always find the same, I promise.”

“As you’ve said, a lot has changed, and can again.” I hated to be the bearer of bad news, but I couldn’t sit here and play pretend. “Promising only leads to disappointment.”

“Lies. And how do I know? Because my feelings did not change before, so they will not going forwards.” Erix leaned up as much as his tired body allowed and patted his knee in invitation. “Life – that is what I want. A good one, with those I care deeply about.”

Not wanting to disappoint, I joined him, forgetting about the broth as I rested myself across his lap. Erix embraced me, laying a hand on my lower spine, the other wrapped around my waist.

There was no guilt anymore – not when sharing these moments with Erix. Yes, I thought of Duncan, and wished he could’ve been here with us. But I knew that this is what he’d want.

Duncan had brought us together, and for him, we would stay forged as one until he returned.

“I like the sound of that tomorrow,” I admitted. “But at some point, you are going to realise that there are other responsibilities awaiting you.”

This was the first time I’d laid a finger on the topic of Erix and what his blood tied him to since Elinor’s death.

“Such as?” he asked.

I almost didn’t answer, but what was the point of dancing around the facts? “Oakstorm is left without someone to rule it. Only you can take that mantle, Erix. If anything, it is what Elinor wanted.”

I felt him physically recoil beneath my touch. “That is not something I am ready to comprehend yet. I have spent most of my life running from the borders of Oakstorm, it is going to take more strength to turn back for it now.”

“Sometimes we have to put aside our desires, for the betterment of people who rely on us.” I turned to face him, laying both hands on his spread knees for support. “I might be wrong, but you look at Oakstorm as a place you inherited the bad sides of yourself from – sides that I don’t think are inherently bad, let me make that clear. And yet you didn’t only get those wings from your father, you have his blood, and with that, the right to rule. To change a place for the better, as you have changed me.”

Erix exhaled, tugging me closer. “Altar willing, we’ll have many tomorrows ahead of us. Maybe during one of them I can think about Oakstorm. But until then, I want to selfishly exist withyou.”

“Well, you know I’ll be by your side when the time comes to make hard choices,” I whispered. “Just as you have done for me many times over.”

“No one wants a monster to rule Oakstorm, Robin.”

The use of my name shocked me. “You say that as if monsters have not ruled Oakstorm for generations.”

“You know what I mean,” he said, voice heavy with emotion. I knew there was much more to say, but Erix was still exhausted. Burdening him with the potential of responsibility, when tomorrow wasn’t even secure yet, was wasted effort.

I swivelled, enough to face him. Erix looked at me through the opening of one squinted eye. His smile was soft and genuine. I found myself looking across every inch of his face, drinking him in. His pores, the bow of his lips, the dark lashes that lined his eyes. I’d take in every detail until the image of him, in the dark of my mind, was fully formed.

“You really need to get some more sleep whilst you can,” I whispered.

“I know,” Erix said, fighting another yawn. “Just not yet. A few more moments of this bliss is better than any dream that will be offered to me.”

To help Erix relax, I came to stand behind his chair, and ran my palm across his head, brushing hair in languid strokes. His throaty groan told me it was exactly what he wanted, as did the hardening press of his cock, which pitched in his trousers.

“Better?” I whispered into his ear, lips brushing flesh.

“Mmhm.”

I continued to touch him with careful hands, guiding him into an existence where he could rest well.

“Little bird,” Erix whispered.

“Do you want me to stop?” I asked, noticing Erix clutch at his groin, the veins on the back of his hands bulging.

Getting Erix hard was certainlynotthe type of rest he needed.

“No. Please, do not stop. Not ever. I just… would you tell me what tomorrow looks like to you? I want to hear whatyouwant when this is over. Paint the picture for me.”