Page 134 of Esperance

All she could do was bask in it. Memorize every part of it. The feel of the stone column behind her, and the hard body in front of her. The sandalwood and spice scent of him, which was accentuated from the time he’d spent in the training yard earlier today. The taste of him, intoxicating and warm. The curve of his neck under her palm—because her hands had wandered without her permission. While the fingers of one hand played with the dark hair at the nape of his neck, her other hand was at his waist, grasping his shirt.

Her fingertips slipped beneath the soft cloth and brushed the bare, heated skin of his side. He groaned, and the sound shot delicious tingles all throughout her body.

His teeth grazed her lower lip as he broke the kiss, his blue eyes burning, his desire flooding her senses. She was surprised by the strength of it—the depth of it.

She stared up at him, her chest rising and falling too quickly. “What are we doing?” she barely managed to ask.

His swollen lips pressed into a firm line. “We’re going to save your life.”

Chapter 34

Carver

Carver gripped Amryn’s hand as hemarched to Argent’s suite. Thank all the Saints the prince was there.

“Dismiss your guards,” he said.

Argent sat on the settee with an open book, which he promptly closed once he got a good look at Carver’s expression. He gestured to his bodyguards, who moved into the hall without a word.

“Is Jayveh here?” Carver asked.

“No, she wanted to see Tam settled in her room.” Argent pushed to his feet as the doors thumped closed, his eyes darting to their joined hands. “Do I need to get her?”

“No, we can catch her up later.” Beside him, Amryn trembled. He squeezed her hand. “Amryn has something to tell you, but first she needs immunity and a full pardon from the empire.”

“Done,” Argent said, no deliberation or questions.

He loved his best friend.

He turned to Amryn. “Tell him everything.”

She seemed a little shocked by Argent’s immediate response, but she managed to find her voice.

As she laid out everything, Carver was torn between watching her and watching Argent. But since looking at Amryn while she talked only brought his attention to her tempting mouth, he quickly settled for watching Argent’s reaction.

His friend’s expression hardly altered as he listened, until Jayveh and their unborn child were named as targets. Then his eyes darkened.

When Amryn finished, Argent moved for her.

She tensed, but he only took her free hand in both of his. “Thank you.”

Her shoulders loosened. “Of course. I couldn’t stand by and let this happen.”

Argent dropped her hand and looked to Carver. “What now? Do we arrest Samuel?”

Carver shook his head. “I’m not sure that’s our best option. We could arrest him, but we don’t know who else is involved, and there’s no guarantee he’d tell us.”

Argent’s expression turned grim. “We could make him.”

Ice filled his veins, but he fought to keep that from his expression. His friend was watching him closely.

He knew what Carver had been through in Harvari.

Carver cleared his throat. “We could torture him. But we don’t know how long it would take to break him, and as soon as we arrest him the others could strike out, or bolt.”

Argent frowned. “You want to turn their trap on them.”

“It makes sense,” Carver said. “With Amryn’s knowledge of what the Rising has planned, we’ll be prepared to capture them. The rebel threat in Esperance will be over, and we can ask them any questions we want about the rest of the Rising, once they’re in prison.”