Page 130 of Aryn

I kneel in the water to wash his hair and work out the tangles left behind by the wind. He laughs even harder when I duck my head under the water and shake off like a dog, and I decide with absolute certainty I could listen to that sound for the rest of my life.

Once we’re both rinsed, he guides me back against his chest. His hands resume their slow exploration, drifting down my chest until his fingers roll over my nipples. Soft kisses trail along my neck, lingering on the mostly healed bite mark on my shoulder.

“I’ve never bitten anyone before,” he admits as those damn fingers dip lower on my belly.

After a long stretch, it’s obvious he needs a prompt. “You saying I’m special?”

“Of course you are,” he says, but instead of joking, it sounds almost sad. “I have to tell you something.”

My heart ramps up in my chest as I fight to keep my voice level. “Sounds pretty serious.”

He hums thoughtfully, pressing another kiss to my shoulder. “I wasn’t entirely truthful with you. My people don’t use our fangs often.”

“Why not?”

His fingers brush over my navel, teasing the hair before he answers. “It’s a claiming. Some view it as archaic.”

“You already claimed me,” I say with a quiet laugh. “The Fates claimed us both.”

“This is different. If another Dreven saw that bite mark on your neck, they’d take it as a warning to stay away. They might even smell it. In the old days, Dreven would kill someone just for touching their marked shaelin.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I don’t want any other Dreven, then.”

“I should’ve asked you,” he whispers against my ear, voice rough. “I just wanted you so badly.” His hand flattens on my chest, holding me tighter against him as his other fingers trace over my glowing mark. The attention feels… worshipful, almost.

Thankful.

My throat works in a rough swallow, and I wonder if he can feel the heavy thud of my heart beneath his palm. “You know,” I say, “if you’d asked me a year ago where I’d be today, this would’ve been the last thing I guessed.”

He chuckles softly. “What, you didn’t see yourself on an adventure between the worlds? Or was it the whole becoming the hero of the Fates you wouldn’t have believed?”

“Oh, being someone’s hero was already a given,” I respond, managing a grin. “That was always the plan.”

“So being here is the wild card?”

I take a shaky breath and gather my courage, covering his hand with mine and pressing it harder over my pounding heart. “Yeah. Being here. Being with you in this amazing place, trying to figure out exactly how to say what I need to say without chickening out.”

His hand stills for a moment before he resumes tracing the mark. “And what do you need to say?”

Another deep breath fills my lungs, though I don’t dare look at him. “I’ve never done this, Aryn.”

“There are things I want you to know, too,” he says softly. “I could—”

“No,” I interrupt. “No, I want to be brave for you.”

He presses a kiss to my neck that makes me shiver. “You are brave, rha khor. You are the bravest person I’ve ever met.”

“Yeah, with fighting and explosions and shit… not with love.”

He hums softly. “Is that what this is?”

“It has to be, doesn’t it? There’s no other way to explain how I lose my godsdamned mind when I’m around you. It’s like nothing else matters.” I risk a glance over my shoulder and find his brows pinched, almost like he’s in pain. “My whole life, I’ve told myself not to get attached. Shit gets taken away too easily, and I don’t…” I trail off with a sigh and drop my gaze to his chest. “I don’t want you to be taken away. I want to keep you.”

His fingers move from my arm to my chin as he gently forces my eyes back to his. “You can keep me,” he promises.

“I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know how to love you like you deserve. Fuck, I can’t even say it without turning into a rambling mess.”

“Love has no rules, Cato, and it doesn’t give you any say in the matter. Sometimes a fire-haired human shows up in your path and disrupts your entire world. Then all you can do is hope he feels even an ounce of what you’re feeling.”