“Some people consider it rude to stare.” He opened one eye to squint over at her. There was a slight roughness to his voice that they now knew would never completely go away. Kadaki had mourned the change for him, but Neiryn had told her not to be discouraged. It was a trophy won by surviving, he’d said.
She came closer, casting a shadow over his face. “Are you one of those people?”
He smirked. “No.”
“What are you doing?” she asked, struggling to distract herself from how gloriously nude he was. She still didn’t understand how a mortal man could be so beautiful.
“Sunbathing.”
“Bathing?”
“In the sun, yes.”
“Why?”
“Because it feels good. Would you like to join me?”
She snorted. Would she like to lie around almost-naked, outside? “No.”
“Come on. You’ll love it.”
His smile was very difficult to resist. She stretched out on the blanket beside him.
He rolled his eyes a little. “You have to take your clothes off. That’s the point of it.”
“Have to? Or is it just thatyouwant me to?”
“Both, obviously.”
She glanced up at the house, then out at the fields beyond the garden. There was no one around. “Someone could walk by and see us.”
“So?”
It was a surprisingly compelling argument. What harm would it cause if someone saw her bare stomach and legs? And what did it matter if someone saw them together and confirmed what was already public knowledge?
She stripped off her vest and pants and folded them beside her. Neiryn watched her every move with sharp yellow eyes. His eyes always reminded her of a cat’s. Watchful. Dangerous. Mesmerizing. Beautiful.
She lay down on the thin blanket, feeling the grass bend beneath it. She folded her hands uncertainly over her stomach and stared up at the clouds drifting across the sky.
As they lay there silently, she started to notice things she hadn’t paid attention to before. The soft shushing of trees swaying in the late summer breeze. The hissing of insects and intermittent bird calls. The smell of warmth and greenery and ocean in the air. And the sun gently heating her bare skin.
He was right. It felt good. Normally she was not the type to sit and do nothing during daylight hours, but she was beginning to see the appeal. Especially when Neiryn was there beside her.
She cleared her throat.“Aevyr aes andre en ferei,”she said uncertainly, repeating an Ysuran saying she’d seen in a book.The sun gives many blessings.
Neiryn sat up straight, beaming down at her. “Kadaki! That was lovely! Your accent is impeccable.”
She tried, and failed, to bite back an embarrassed smile at his approval. “Thank you.”
“Who taught you that?”
“A book.” She hesitated, not sure if she wanted to admit what she’d been doing. She still felt shy about it. “I’m… studying Ysuran. Not because I’m trying to assimilate—I just thought it would be nice to speak to you in your own language.”
He looked astonished. “I didn’t know you wanted to learn. Why didn’t you tell me? I could teach you.”
“I usually prefer to study independently.”
“Well, what have you learned? Show me.”
