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“Yes.”

“I looked down at you and it hit me like a slap to the face. It’s why I had to ask you to forgive me, because I couldn’t live with myself if you didn’t. And Maker above, did I want to kiss you.”

“I remember you almost did, but you pulled away. Why?”

He brushed his thumb over her lips, eyes focused on them, as if they were back in that moment. “I needed to know that’s what you wanted before I ever kissed you again. And it was you who kissed me at the Celebration of Life.”

She laid her head back down on his bare chest, watching the lake’s shoreline. A pair of ducks waddled up onto the sand, quacking happily, then a set of tiny yellow babies appeared behind them. “Why does that seem so long ago and yet like it was yesterday?”

“It’s strange, isn’t it?” He stroked the top of her head, scrubbing his fingers into her scalp. “And what about you, Laya? When did you know you loved me?”

“If I’m being completely honest with myself,” she wanted to say it was the night she left him alone in that mage’s tower, but it was before that, “I think it was the moment I put on that flower crown. I wanted you to do something, to show me that what I felt was real and I hadn’t imagined it all. You didn’t disappoint.”

He chuckled. “Oh, you wanted me to toss that crown, carry you in my arms, and drag you onto my lap?”

Her finger drew little circles across his soft skin over the planes of his muscular chest. “Or maybe it was your reaction to the crown when I knew I loved you. I would have never told you about Novak otherwise.”

“You can talk about him, you know. Did he treat you well? Was he respectful?”

Layala lifted her head and sat up. She reached for her top and slipped it on. “You think I would have tolerated less?”

Laughing, he shook his head and pushed up onto his elbows. “No, I suppose not.”

“He was funny and had a sort of boyish charm. Slender, a little taller than me but not much. He liked to fish in the river. We’d do that together sometimes, but I hate gutting fish. It’s too slimy and gross.” She tugged the tie at the end of her hair loose and brushed her fingers through her long locks. “We’d been friends for so many years, and I’d loved him for a long time, but it was different than with you. I loved him like a friend. I think I knew he loved me long before anything ever happened. But I was never that physically attracted to him. He wasn’t ugly but sort of plain, with a good heart.”

“But you are drawn to me and my dashing good looks,” he teased. “And my charm, we mustn’t forget the charm.”

Although she could have come back with a snarky remark, she wanted him to know the truth. “You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen, Thane, on the inside too. I was a little smitten when I saw you even if your presence unnerved me.”

“Please, do go on. About the smitten part.”

Now she rolled her eyes and began to twist her hair into a braid. “The romance between Novak and I wasn’t perfect. It seemed once we admitted our feelings, he was jealous. We argued more than we ever did before. He’d get angry when the men looked at me too long at the training yard. He started fights sometimes over lude comments. I finally made it a rule he couldn’t go because they only did it more to rile him up. But he made me happy too. He baked the best cinnamon sugar cookies. And it was cute how nervous he was to even kiss me. He never wanted to take things further because I was mated to you. He said he didn’t want to have me fully until I was free, until I could be his and not yours.” She nibbled her lip, wondering if she would have let herself fall in love with Thane if Novak was alive. “We were together for a year and a half before our emotions got in the way of his vow not to bed me… anyway, it was a clumsy attempt. I don’t think he had a Fennan to give him a book on pleasing a female.” She giggled.

“So you never felt the peak of lovemaking before?”

She shook her head. “Not until the ruins with you.”

“Well, I’m glad he was there for you when I couldn’t be. Even if I’m jealous he was your first love.” Thane grabbed her hand and kissed the top of it. “But I am all too thrilled to know I’m your exceptionalfinallover.”

“A talent I am grateful for,” she said with a slight blush. “Anyway, speaking of Fennan and lovemaking.” Layala stood up and slipped on her pants. Either the time they’d spent laying on the wet grass had rejuvenated her strength, or the lovemaking did but the weakness in her limbs was gone.

“I’m not going to jump to conclusions but that sounds odd—”

“Piper,” Layala said, exasperated. As if she’d ever think about herself and Fennan together. “You should ask him about Piper.”

“Eh.” He didn’t sound enthused and got up to dress.

“Spill,” Layala said. Why was he against them being more than friends?

“It worries me. I don’t want to see her get hurt. Piper has been courted by a few Ravens, but she’s never had her heart broken because she never loved them. She’s always been waiting for Fennan to really notice her. And Fennan, as I’m sure you’ve heard, is a lover of many. He leaves broken hearts in his wake like a pixie trails dust.”

They started back up the way they came. Through the woods to reunite with their companions. Thane pushed aside a heavy branch to let Layala go by. “But he wouldn’t do that to her,” Layala said. “She’s different. She’s Piper.”

“And he should know that. I don’t think he’ll take it anywhere unless something changed him in the dungeons.”

When they drew closer to the encampment, the clinking of metal, grunting, and jeers sent Layala’s heart racing. Were they under attack?

Chapter24