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“Well.” I quirk a small grin. “Perhaps just one. But she’s a demanding little thing when she wants to…cross-pollinate.”
“Then let’s not get on her bad side.”
By the time he’s done with that, my insides are humming like a honeycomb on crack. Not such a shock after the man carries me across the room to the plush rug in front of the fireplace, where I watch as he strikes a match to the kindling beneath the logs. Can I be blamed for my continuing stare as he grabs a blanket from the love seat and spreads it across the area with gorgeous grace?
At once, I dismiss the rhetoric as the noise it is. I’d dare every saint in the books to ignore the sight of this magnificent male in this exquisite moment, especially when he glances over and flashes a smirk that belongs nowhere near a holy altar. He’s mesmerizing. Captivating. I could stand here all night in gawk mode and mark the time as a win.
But thank fate and all its fortune, my man isn’t in basic gawk mode. “I hope this’ll do as a nectar meadow?”
I follow the line of his downward glance and give in to a giggle. The blanket’s design depicts flowers and ferns. “It’s the most stunning meadow I’ve ever seen.”
“And you’re the most stunning woman I’ve ever known.”
He paces back over, unfaltering about his intention. And oh my God, I’m riveted with desire. More so when I trace every play of the gold and orange light across his towering form and chiseled face. Even in his dark T-shirt and jeans, he’s a mass of Olympus-worthy movement—and he’s focusing all of it on me. My bloodstream zings. My core constricts.
“Look who’s talking stunning, mister.”
Thankfully, my vocal cords still work—at least until he steps in closer, now just a breath away. My throat constricts to the width of a pin as he delves his hands into my hair.
“Nothing like what you did today for Kell and Jaden.” He extends his thumbs, stroking them along the crests of my cheekbones. “I’m nevernotproud of you, Kara. But everything today…it was next level.”
I gulp hard, managing at least a few syllables. “Well, as much as I like the versatility of catsuits, nobody’s lining up to fit me for a matching mask and cape.”Thank God.
“This has nothing to do with watching you access your powers. It was knowing what you had to do beforehand. Pushing past so many fears and insecurities. And acknowledging that you actually could.”
Everything he says is an affirming miracle. But I shake my head, unwilling to accept all the dazzlement. The truth here is too prominent.
“I did what I had to do, Maximus. I didn’t have much of a—”
“Choice?” He stops his caresses. His gaze narrows. “That currency’s not good right now. You very much had a choice—a lot of them, actually—and none of them easy. Best as I can tell, nobody got out a gun and pointed it at you for the decision.”
“Nobody had to. Rerek was wielding the worse weapon. And we had no time to strategize an easier plan.”
“Like there was one?”
I let his point stand. Theorizing an answer won’t be of any use now. “I’m just glad that Kell and J are safe.” I smile again, thumping his chest in a celebratory rhythm. “I’m happy that we really did it.”
“You mean thatyoudid.”
“No. I meanwe.” I slide my hands to the crooks of his elbows. “Without you and Arden, I probably would’ve been in a direct face-off with Rerek. Good chance that would’ve had me going catatonic.”
He huffs. “I don’t believe that.”
“I do. And before all of that, just watching you two charge into the villa, all bold and brave and badass…it was the rocket boost I needed, at just the right time.”
He slides a hand to the back of my neck and brings me closer again. “No pun intended, of course.”
A sigh spills from me. I already know his intention, as clear as the cobalt rings that intensify around his irises. “You’re my rocket fuel, Maximus Kane. The propellant for my flight. The wings to my spirit.”
He leans over until our foreheads are pressed together. “And you’re the bridge to my soul, Kara Valari.”
As those words sink in, there’s a burst inside my chest. A bloom of warmth that starts like so many others he’s inspired, only to quickly become something different. Incredibly, almost frighteningly, different.
Just as suddenly, I track the change back to…him. There’s a new layer to his aura, feral but beautiful, that’s never been there before. Its energy prowls closer to mine, daring the corresponding parts of me to slip free.
Oh, yes. So good.
I press up on tiptoes, making sure more than just our foreheads have contact. Our chests press and pitch. Our groins notch and throb.
