Page 30 of Fall of Ruin and Wrath

Not having to worry about how I would explain the bruises would be a relief, but it was more curiosity than anything. I wasn’t sure how he could do this.

“You need to close your eyes,” he said.

“Really?”

“Really.” The starbursts in his pupils brightened.

Holding his stare for several moments, I nodded and then did as he requested. I closed my eyes. A heartbeat passed, then another, and nothing happened. I started to open my eyes but stopped. The fingers along the curve of my jaw . . .warmed.I felt his breath on my chin. Against my parted lips. I didn’t take more than a shallow, quick breath then. His breath moved up, and another tense second passed. Then I felt the soft press of his . . . his lips against the bridge of my nose. My entire body jerked.

“Stay still,” he ordered, his breath coasting over my cheek.

I tried to, but a tremor started, coursing through me. His mouth lifted. There was nothing . . . and thensomething— a strange tingling warmth. His breath played over the side of my throat and his lips followed. He kissed just below the wildly beating pulse. I sucked in a stuttered gasp as his hair grazed my chin, then his lips pressed against the other side. The shivery warmth blossomed to life there, and in a few moments, the aches I had forced to the back of my mind faded.

But the Lord didn’t move away.

His head remained bent, his lips pressed so softly against my throat, and a wholly different kind of warmth came alive once more, sending an aching pulse deep. This . . . this felt far more dangerous than being in the shower stall with him, but then his lips lifted from my skin. He drew back, and I wanted to feel immense relief. I should.

I didn’t.

Slowly, I opened my eyes. He remained above me, eyes half closed, and I thought . . . I thought I saw a faint golden glow around him, like I had thought I’d seen in the shower. Was it the lamplight? I didn’t think so. “Your kisses . . .” My voice sounded far too reedy. I cleared my throat. “Your kisses heal?”

“Some injuries.” The right side of his lips quirked. “Sometimes.”

I had the distinct impression he wasn’t being all that truthful. “I’m not sure if you realize this or not, but I think you’re kind of glowing.”

“It happens.”

“When . . . you’re feeding?” I guessed.

“Yes.”

I glanced down. My eyes went wide. “The wound on your chest is closed.” I glanced at his arms. Shiny, pink skin had appeared where the wounds had been in his biceps.

His fingers danced along the neckline of my borrowed shirt, while my own fingers were pressed flat against the bed, behaving themselves. They practically itched with the urge to touch him.

And why couldn’t I?

Well, there were a lot of reasons, likely ones I hadn’t even thought of yet, but I lifted a hand. Out of habit, I hesitated before placing my palm against his chest.

The Lord . . . hepurred.

Skin warming, I drew my fingers over the carved slabs of hard muscle. Never could I become accustomed to the feel of a Hyhborn’s skin.

Never would I become used to being able to touch someone so easily.

He held still above me as I drew my hand down his chest, lips parted. I knew this couldn’t continue. We needed to get out of here. I needed to return to the manor, but . . . but my fingers drifted down, over the tightly packed muscle of his abdomen. I reached the loose band of his breeches. The tips of my fingers brushed over a hard, rounded—

A dark, shadowy sound rumbled from the Lord as he caught my wrist, stopping my exploration. “As much as I’d enjoy allowing you to continue, I fear we don’t have time for that.”

My gaze lifted. He was right. My fingers curled inward. “I know.”

He dipped his head as he lifted my hand to his mouth. I inhaled softly as he pressed a kiss to the center of my palm. Our gazes locked once more. The blue had covered all the other colors, becoming an intense shade of sapphire.

Then he was gone from above me, standing several feet away. His head cut sharply toward the window.

“Stay here,” he said softly.

Swallowing hard, I sat up, feeling dizzy doing so. “Is everything okay?”