Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 104842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
“I’m very thankful.”
“We all watched over you, and Varic raged,” Hadrian told me. “He removed Zev as your champion and your guards from your service. He screamed at all of us for allowing you and the queen to be harmed. Of course, he was most angry with himself…and inconsolable.”
“But something changed, right?”
“Your color first, and then the scar on your neck healed and vanished, and Varic was able to leave your side and at least walk the perimeter of the castle. He spoke with Keres first, then Cirillo, and finally to Carice. He learned you had taken Keres as a courtier, and was pleased. He was proud of Cirillo for being your champion in the absence of Zev, and he even had kind words for Carice when he learned you spoke for her in the hall in front of the late Ødger.”
“Good. They were all great.”
“You kept them safe with your barrier and good company,” Hadrian assured me. “When the wounds on your back somehow became infected again, Varic was broken and called his father, who arrived quickly and, again, gave you his blood. The king has been a rock for his son through this, and we are all so very grateful.”
“A changed man that I did not believe I would live to witness,” Tiago told me. “To see him so adore the queen and give such support and love to his son…we are all in awe of him.”
“Almost losing your love will do that to you.”
I heard movement then in the outer room and rolled to my back so I could see, hoping for Varic, promising myself whoever else it was, I would be happy to see them as well.
But it was Varic, looking like an arctic explorer in a white parka with a fur-lined hood, boots, snow pants, goggles, a neck protector, and a beanie that he pulled off.
Tiago and Hadrian left quickly, closing the door on their way out.
“You look like you’ve just scaled Everest,” I teased him.
He stood there, staring at me, and then suddenly bent over, hands on his knees, trembling hard. I could hear the muffled crying.
Getting up, I walked over to him and gently put my hand on his back, rubbing slow circles there. “I’m here.”
Straightening fast, he took my face in his hands and stared at me.
I saw how red his eyes were, how haunted they looked, how wounded. The bags under his eyes were dark, and his spark, the one that made him confident and alluring, was completely missing. This was not the man I knew at all.
“You look terrible,” I told him. “But we’ll fix that.”
His eyes narrowed as he released my face. “I have not been myself.”
It wouldn’t do him any good to dwell on the past. Time to live in the here and now. “You know you’re gonna get way too warm with all this on.”
He started removing everything then, in a rush, and I stopped him before he fell down.
“Gimme a kiss,” I demanded, lifting for him.
He bent and captured my mouth, kissing me deeply, slowly, savoring the taste of me as a sweet moan came up from his chest.
“I love you so much,” I told him. “And I feel like I should say something more profound, but that’s it, right?”
“I love you with all that I am,” he husked, and pressed his forehead to mine so we were standing there sharing breath. “I was…lost. I cannot be parted. It is untenable.”
“Same,” I teased him, lifting my head to kiss him again, then wrapped my arms around his neck.
I got a chuckle in response from him, which was good, but he was careful when he hugged me back.
“A little tighter, please. I’m not gonna break, and I need the closeness.”
Clutching me to him, he held me tight, which was so soothing, I couldn’t even find words for the feeling of homecoming.
“I feel like I could fly,” was all I could say. “Though that might require more energy than I have at the moment. Maybe glide instead.”
He laughed into my hair, and I loved it.
THIRTEEN
There was an impressive pile of clothes at the end of the bed. Layers I hadn’t even realized he had on were thrown there before he shed everything and walked into the bathroom naked.
“Can I come watch?” I called out. “Because so far the show has been fantastic.”
“Just lie down in bed and don’t move a lot and don’t be funny.”
“I’m always funny.”
“Jason!” he yelled, and I laughed but stayed put.
Once he came out with towel-dried hair, he collapsed on the bed beside me, got under the covers, and soon I had all his skin pressed to mine.
“Why’re you naked?” he asked drolly.
“Because I like being naked with you,” I said, kissing him and then realizing that his thick black mane was going to soak the pillow. “I’m going to get a dry towel for the pillow and dry your hair a bit more as well so you don’t get pneumonia.”