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“You’re clean now, aren’t you?” he asked, having a hard time keeping his smirk in check at the way she was glaring, her lips in a cute-as-fuck pout. “Get dry, and then I’ll see how dirty I can get you again.”

Her grin was swift and devious. “I always knew you were a good tactician. I like this plan.”

The sight of her standing from the tub, water cascading over the delicate curves of her hips, caressing her thighs, dripping from the tips of her wings… Bryon cleared his throat, unable to look away. She was his mate. She washis.He ran a hand over his jaw and down his throat, emotion clamouring in his chest until he thought it would crack a rib. Fuck. She was really his.

He was about to tear his gaze away when Maia climbed out, excruciatingly slowly, swinging her hips and arching her back so her ass curved into a perfect shape.

“Maia,” he warned, a little guttural.

“Hm?”

He shook his head, a laugh rumbling in his chest. Saints, this fucking woman. He thought he’d never meet anyone he wanted as badly as Nimara, but here was Maia, healing the black hole inside him, making himsmileof all fucking things.

I’m glad to see you finally pulling your head out of your backside,Nimara’s voice drifted through his head. He swore he felt the soft pressure of her lips on his cheek.Don’t be so stubborn in future. Although I’m thrilled to see you’ve met your match in that trait.

He turned away from Maia so he could roll his eyes without her thinking he was a madman. Nimara would have loved Maia if they’d ever met. They’d have gone on nights out and caused havoc, stumbling back to the house at three in the morning giggling and singing off-key ballads.

“Bryon,” Maia murmured, drawing his attention back to her. She must have ducked into the bedroom to raid the wardrobe because now she was draped in a long, purple robe. It had slits for her wings; whoever lived here before wasfae.“What do we do now? Keep behaving until the saints relax their shields and we can find the others?”

Bryon’s low laugh echoed the wickedness he often heard in hers. He watched her eyes brighten. “I never made any promises to behave,” he replied, reaching inside his filthy jacket and pulling out the dagger he’d lifted from a man in Marszton.

Maia’s face broke into a grin, like the sun coming out from behind dark rainclouds. He hooked an arm around her waist and drew her close for a kiss, not releasing her until she was liquid and pliant against him, every breath a little moan.

“I need to scrub this filth off me. Go wait in bed, princess.” He brushed her jaw with his thumb, blown away by the clear trust in her eyes as she stared up at him.

“If you push me away after we’ve had sex again,” Maia said sweetly, stroking down his arm to circle his wrist with her fingers. Well, she tried to; he was a giant compared to her. “I will use this to castrate you.”

In a flash she’d used his own grip on the dagger to graze it over his dick.

Bryon let his eyes darken, let her see the dangerous edge in him. “Get in the damn bed, princess.”

Maia released his wrist with a maddening smirk and finally approached the bed. She swung her hips the whole way.

Bryon dragged a hand over his jaw and forced himself to turn to the bath even if he was desperate to follow her. She was going to kill him.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Maia shamelessly chose a spot on the bed where she could see into the bathroom, and with his back to her Bryon had no idea she obsessively watched the trickle of water over his broad shoulders, the way it clung to the muscle and power that enveloped his body. The play of muscle under his skin as he bathed himself had her blood boiling in her veins, her skin hot beneath the thin robe she wore. Yet her eyes stung as what he’d said echoed through her mind over and over.

Because you’re a good person, and your heart is gentle and full of light.

She’d spent days ripping herself apart for her selfishness, carelessness, and general fucking stupidity. She was naive, and thoughtless, and could never get a damn thing right. Saving Kheir from the prison had made everyone else she cared about a target and gotten the library burned down. Trying to save Vawn had got them all abducted by the saints. Even with good intentions, she fucked everything up. But Bryon wasn’t a liar. He was stubborn, and scowling, and unfriendly as fuck, but he was honest. Which meant she was… a good person.

Because you’re a good person, and your heart is gentle and full of light.

She held the words tight to her chest, a lump in her throat. And she doubted he even knew the impact he’d had on her, the shift he’d begun in her mind.

She couldn’t forget the compulsion that had gripped her, sending her into the saints' circle. She physicallycouldn’tstay away. There was no part of her that could have resisted that pull, and even now she didn’t understand it. She’d blamed herself entirely; if she hadn’t run towards the circle, Jaro never would have entered it and the others would have been safe, too. But it wasn’t something she could control. And if the saints could control her without a collarthen,they could do it again at any time.

Maia’s head shot up at a loud splash from the bathroom, and her mouth filled with saliva at the sight of Bryon, completely naked. Fuck, he was huge. Even his thighs were like tree trunks. Maia stared a little too long at the flex of them as he climbed out. She wanted to sink her teeth into him.

“I can feel your eyes on me, princess,” he remarked, his voice all gruffness and gravel.

“Just admiring the view,” she replied with a slow smile, her eyes getting stuck on the sheer width of his shoulders, the appealing ripple of muscle over his shoulder blades, the grooves on either side of his spine. She groaned when he turned, giving her a perfect view of his chest. Her canines pressed to her bottom lip as her stare roved over him. He wasn’t carved with lithe muscle like some of her mates; Bryon was all brute strength earned in battle and war. The generous curves of his pecs made her fangs ache, and she swallowed hard as he strode from the bathroom, power in his stomach, his biceps, his hands,everywhere.She wanted his arms around her again, wanted to disappear into them.

“Fuck,” he groaned, a perfect arm bulging as he dragged a hand over his jaw. “The scent of you over there, dripping for me. You’re driving me insane.”

“Then get over here,” she urged, deeper and huskier than before. A sharp throb went through her when he strode towards her, the impressive cock she remembered bouncing, capturing all her attention. “I don’t know how that even fits inside me,” she said with a little laugh, her heart quickening.