Page 54

Bria

T here are no dreams that night. No visions, either.

And upon waking, I grow more concerned. I’m worried the connection has been severed, that something awful has happened to Nimai.

But I stuff the worry and grief as deep down inside myself as I can.

I will not allow any of those feelings to surface until I know for sure.

When I roll over, I take in the sight of Evander still sleeping beside me.

His arm is hanging over my torso. I had been sleeping curled into him all night.

His bare chest rises and falls steadily, his breathing easy.

His jaw traces a firm angle along his face beneath the stubble and his nose is a long, straight line, surprisingly free from any knots or bumps given how many fistfights I know he had been in as a boy.

It’s amazing really, because it’s impossible he never broke it.

I want to spend every day staring at him, taking in the soft hair that falls onto his forehead no matter how he tries to style it back, and the golden flecks that make his eyes gleam. I don’t want to get up and move on with the day, to face whatever lies ahead of us.

The urge to touch him overpowers me and I reach out a hand to pull back one of the strands that trails along his forehead, twirling it around my finger as I push it into place.

The hair on top is longer than the sides and he tends to keep it back, but I love when the pieces break free.

I gently trace my fingers along the side of his cheek, rough from days of not shaving.

I smile, thinking of how handsome he looks and how I never want to leave.

But getting up right now makes more sense.

Quinn is not one to sleep in, especially not in a town like this, when we are surrounded by potential enemies and need to get moving again.

So I drag my nose along the bridge of his before planting a kiss on his forehead.

But when I move to roll away, Evander tightens his grip around my waist, pulling me back toward him.

I erupt in a girlish squeal, thinking he was fast asleep.

“Where do you think you’re going?” His voice is a low growl, thick with sleep.

I can’t help giggling slightly and he opens his eyes, raising a brow in response. I’m not one to giggle. Ever. And he noticed. But I feel lighter when I’m with him. My worries fade for a time when it’s just the two of us.

“I was going to get up and get ready,” I say, pretending as if the giggle never occurred.

But Ev rolls me quickly onto my back, his arm still locked around my waist. He arrives flat on top of me and stares down, his eyes molten once again.

“Mmmm.” He drags his lips up the side of my neck to whisper in my ear. “I thought there was a discussion of repayment.”

The way my body reacts to him, both to his touch and his words, is unlike anything I’ve felt before. An instant surge of pleasure pulses between my thighs.

“I’m not sure we have time for all I had planned,” I breathe back, hoping I come off as more seductive than I feel.

Ev leans his head back to look at me, his eyebrows raised again, and I lock my gaze on him, flashing him a full smile before I roll my hips beneath him.

His jaw clenches. “You’re killing me,” he murmurs, dipping his head to run his tongue up the front of my neck before flicking it across my lips.

He pulls his arm from around my waist to trail his fingers along the waistband of the leggings I still wear, slowly sliding his hand underneath. I suck in a breath as my core heats under his touch, my body already becoming slick with want.

Watching me intently, Evander moves his hand to cup me before dragging a finger lazily across my center.

My body arches back in response, and I reach for the front of his shorts.

The corner of his mouth turns up slightly and he begins to move his fingers again, quicker this time.

I let out a moan as the pulsing between my legs heightens and yank the band of his shorts, dropping my hand in to grasp him, hard and ready.

His eyes close when my hand slides over him and back down again and he lets out a groan of pleasure.

Gods . Feeling just how big he is in my hands makes my mouth go dry.

The loud knock at the door jars both of us, forcing me to drop my hands from his body.

Evander snarls. “I’m actually going to kill him,” he fumes, slipping his hands from my pants and rising to go to the door.

But I slide off the bed quickly and move in front of him before he makes it across the room, placing my hands on his chest to stop him. Evander looks down at me with a confused expression.

“Maybe I should get the door,” I suggest with a glance down at his shorts, straining from the aftermath of our morning encounter.The sight is damning and causes another surge of heated desire to wash over me.

He groans again and grabs me by the neck, sliding his tongue into my mouth quickly before dropping the kiss.

But it’s enough to bring the flush back into my cheeks, a pleasant burning rising inside me.

As he strides to the washroom, I watch the muscles of his back ripple and the curve of his ass in the tight shorts.

Breathe, Bria. I let out a long exhale to steady myself and open the door.

Quinn is standing with one shoulder against the door jamb, already dressed in his leather armor, weapons strapped on. The dark and ominous warrior is back. He gives me a small smile as I run my hands through my hair, trying to straighten it.

“Don’t bother,” he says, pushing off from where he is leaning and walking past me into the room.

He flops himself onto the edge of the bed, the half-smile still lurking, and sets a bag down next to him. “I heard you through the door.”

My face flames, heat rising up my neck and into my ears, embarrassment surging through me. My hand flies to my mouth, covering it when realization of what he said hits me. He heard me through the door.

Quinn waves it off. “It’s fine, Bria. I don’t care anymore.” His gaze softens on me. “He’s been in love with you since we were kids. Clearly there’s no keeping you two apart.”

In love with me? Surely Quinn is mistaken in that. I stand completely still, staring back at Quinn without speaking, and he cocks his head to the side in observation.

“You mean to tell me you never knew?” I shake my head in disbelief and Quinn shrugs. “I guess I did a better job controlling him back then than I have now.”

A million memories swirl in my head when he speaks.

All the times Evander found an excuse to touch me, to hold my hand, to pick me up and physically carry me back to my room when we all drank too much.

All the little moments we shared together over the years, all the times I took for granted, assuming he was just a friend.

Assuming that, though I cared for him and thought he was the most beautiful man I’d ever laid eyes on, he thought of me as a friend and only a friend.

That even though we were allowed to be that , we would never be more.

“I figured the fistfights had clued you in a little,” he says, a low laugh erupting with the words.

My eyes narrow on him. “What do you mean?”

“Most of them were about you. He defended your honor to a fault, getting himself knocked out on quite a few occasions. Though, it was different with Cedric.” A smirk spreads across his face, and I remember the two of them rolling around on the ground.

I remember when Evander landed a punch that nearly broke Cedric’s jaw.

Neither had ever told me what it was about, but I suppose now I know.

“That one was a bit more personal. Jealousy at its finest.”

“I never knew,” I reply, still struggling to take in the new information.

“Cedric stood a real chance with you, and Ev knew it. But gods be damned if he didn’t try to stop it anyway.

He knew you were too far above him, knew it would never work.

But it didn’t stop him. I thought when he left, he finally got over you, but I was wrong.

The second he came back to the camp with me, I saw it, the agony on his face when you wouldn’t so much as look at him. ”

Quinn watches me for a moment before continuing.

“You want to know why I tried to keep you two apart? It was for both your sakes. I knew you felt the same for him. Deny it as much as you want, you’ve always been drawn to him.

And I knew losing you would crush him more than anything else in this world could. ”

My mouth opens to ask him more questions. I want to know everything. But before I get the chance, Ev is in the doorway of the washroom, dressed, clean-shaven, and ready to go.

I mutter an “excuse me,” ducking my head past Ev and grabbing my armor off the dresser before walking into the washroom.

Pushing the door shut behind me, I lean against it, breathing heavily.

In love with me? My stomach flutters at the thought, warmth coiling through me.

I want to stand here and soak in the thought of it, the thought of truly being loved by someone.

By him. But he didn’t say those words to me. Quinn did.

I fight to shift my focus to today. I need to think about Nimai. By the end of the day, we will be through the Gilded Forest, and I’ll be presented to Aamon and the king as Evander’s betrothed.

If circumstances were different, being betrothed to him and going to meet his father would be a wonderful occasion, one to make me giddy, even.

But these are not normal circumstances. The betrothal is not real.

His father is a fucking a monster. The capital is cruel and wicked. My sister is their prisoner.

There’s no telling the horrors of the castle and what evil fate awaits us there. They may not know I’m coming, but it still somehow feels like I’m inching closer to something deadly, something that I fear I may not come back from.