Page 36 of After Midnight (Skye Druids #7)

Chapter Thirty-Two

Alcohol hadn’t helped. A hot shower hadn’t helped. A change of clothes hadn’t helped. Nothing could get what happened out of Sabryn’s head. She wandered around her bedroom, a shiver sliding through her every time she thought about her encounter with Corann .

She had gone over every detail a million times in a million different ways over the past few hours.

She was tired of thinking about it, but she couldn’t seem to help herself.

Her feet took her to the window, where she looked out to find it raining.

Everyone kept saying it wasn’t the rainy season yet.

Hard to believe when it rained all the time.

She became immersed in the droplets on the glass panes. Sabryn followed one as it haltingly made its way to the bottom. Her thoughts eased as she focused on a second bead. But as it worked its way down the glass, her mind tumbled back to a rainy night in DC .

She had felt good after one too many drinks, some good conversation, and flirting. If it had been any other night, at any other time, or with any other person, she never would have walked into the downpour and spun around like a child.

She remembered stopping and seeing his heated gaze. Water dripped from his thick lashes and the ends of his hair onto his expensive suit. She didn’t know which of them moved first. Maybe they reached for each other. All she knew was that she had been standing alone, and then she was in his arms.

His hold had been firm and strong, his eyes hungry, needy. Heat spread, sliding through her blood until she burned with it.

“ Sabryn ,” he whispered.

He spoke her name reverently as if he might explode if he didn’t say it. Then his lips were on hers. The kiss was wild, heated. Passionate . She felt his desire, tasted his hunger, and returned all of it.

She slid her fingers up his chest, over his shoulders, and into his thick hair.

Somehow , she ended up against a wall with his deliciously hard body—and even more deliciously hard erection—pressed against her.

She had never been so turned on, had never felt such yearning.

Such aching need. One touch from him, one kiss, and she had come alive.

He left trails of heat where his fingers skimmed along her body. She lifted her leg to wrap around his hip and bring him closer. His palm caressed her thigh, moving around to cup her ass and fit her against his crotch. They moaned in unison at the contact.

They couldn’t get enough of each other. Kissing , stroking, rubbing. Her panties were soaked, and it had nothing to do with the rain. Her body ached for him. She could think of nothing but him and yearned for nothing but to have him inside her.

Sabryn drew in a shaky breath and turned from the window, hoping to stop the memory.

Thinking about what she had been put through wasn’t much better than thinking about Corann .

She put a hand to her forehead and fought a wave of tears.

She blinked them back and lowered her arm when she regained her composure.

Her gaze slid to the door as she alternated between thinking about her first kiss with Kurt and what Corann had imparted, then walked out of the room before she changed her mind.

The upstairs was quiet as she traversed the hallway.

She reached the stairs and ascended to the attic, her bare feet not making a sound.

She was surprised to find the door open.

Sabryn paused and peered inside, spotting the table and chairs Kurt was using for a desk.

She looked in the other direction and found stacked furniture, most covered with sheets.

A daybed had been pulled apart from the rest, and a crinkled blanket and a pillow rested on it, telling her it was Kurt’s bed.

Sabryn grimaced. She was the reason he was up here. Anyone else would’ve told her where to go, but not him. She took a measured step inside and searched for him. Then another. After the third step, she found him to the left.

Kurt stood with his feet apart, his hands in his pockets as he stared outside. She wondered if he was thinking of that long-ago night as she had been. When they first kissed. And slept together. They’d had a lot of firsts that night.

He stiffened, and she realized he had seen her reflection in the glass. He turned to face her, his expression guarded. They stared wordlessly at each other. She wished he would speak first, but she was the one who had invaded his space.

“ Do you have a moment?” she asked.

He nodded once. “ Always .”

This was so much harder than she’d thought it would be. Sabryn glanced around. “ There are plenty of bedrooms to choose from.”

“ I was giving you space.”

She met his gaze, taking in the man before her.

Six years of talking, and he hadn’t once told her who he was.

He hadn’t even hinted at it. Hadn’t tried to talk about her past lovers.

He’d said nothing. If he hadn’t lost so much sleep running from Parker , Kurt likely wouldn’t be here now.

And she never would’ve discovered Saber’s identity.

“ I almost contacted you over the years,” she admitted. “ There were times I even dialed your number, ready to demand closure.”

“ Why didn’t you?” he asked.

She shrugged and swallowed. “ I think because I realized that no one actually gets the closure they need. We have to figure out how to move on. It’s a learning/growing/healing thing.”

“ That makes sense.”

“ Would you have told me the truth if I had asked?”

His chest expanded as he drew in a breath. “ I don’t know. I’d like to think I would have. I’m sorry, Sabryn . For all of it.”

“ You had years to drop hints or point me in a direction where I might figure things out. Why didn’t you?”

“ If being Saber was the only way I could be in your life, then I was going to take it. I wanted you to know all the facts because you deserved it. But that also meant I might lose you completely. Saber could keep you safe, unlike when I was Kurt .”

She wrapped her arms around her middle, her emotions still shredded.

She had demanded details from Kurt at the cottage, but she hadn’t actually listened when he spoke.

This time, she did. And there was no denying the misery, regret, or truth in his words.

If it weren’t for Corann and the Ancients , she didn’t think she would be here listening right now.

Did she dare believe what the Ancients had told her? Could the outcome really hinge on whether she forgave Kurt ? She thought back to their years in the Knights . They had all worked seamlessly. It had only fractured after she learned his identity.

Hope flared in his eyes. It was how he held himself still, waiting for her reply. He hadn’t been the one to kill her father. Granted , he had known what’d happened and hadn’t told her, but he had tried to stop it. And he had kept her alive.

“ We wouldn’t have made it this long without you. You’ve done an excellent job keeping us safe.”

His shoulders dropped slightly as if in relief. “ Are you okay from earlier?”

She looked at the ceiling and twisted her lips before dropping her arms. “ I relived all of your deaths, thousands of times, for what felt like lifetimes. I’m far from okay.”

“ What do you need?”

Your arms around me . She almost said the words, but they got lodged in her throat. She didn’t think she’d hesitate if this were Saber . And she wouldn’t if he was the Kurt from DC . Frankly , she was tired of carrying around the anger.

Sabryn walked to him. He enfolded her in his arms without a word, holding her tightly to his chest as she wound her arms around his waist. Tears burned her eyes as she nestled her cheek against him. It felt good to be held again—no, it felt good to be held by him .

She basked in Kurt’s warmth and strength. The safety of his embrace. With one simple hug, years of pain were eased. And the forgiveness she had withheld sat heavy on her tongue.

“ I forgive you,” she whispered.

With a sharp inhale, his arms tightened. As he released the breath, he rested his cheek against her head and stroked a hand down her hair. Those three words had relieved his burden, but it had also lightened hers.

The longer Sabryn was in his arms, the more relaxed she became and the more the tension eased from her muscles.

They remained locked together for a long time before she lifted her head to look at him.

The stark yearning and unadulterated longing she saw in his eyes made her heart miss a beat.

Kurt wouldn’t make the first move. He had bared his heart before, and she had slashed it to pieces.

Yet here he was, holding her because she needed it.

She could pull out of his arms now, and he wouldn’t stop her.

That wasn’t who Kurt was. But there was no way she could walk away. Not now.

Maybe not ever.

She didn’t want to deny what was between them any longer.

They had already been separated for too many years.

She rose onto her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his.

For a heartbeat, he didn’t move. Then he sucked in a breath and slanted his mouth over hers.

The desire erupted, singeing every inch of her.

One of his large hands slid around the nape of her neck to hold the back of her head as he deepened the kiss. Her body throbbed, ached. For him. The blaze of passion became a wildfire that would rage for an eternity.

His tongue swept into her mouth, tangling with hers in a timeless dance of longing and need. She moaned into his mouth when his hands caressed down her back to her hips before he lifted her. She wrapped her legs around his waist, bringing her throbbing center against his arousal.