Against all reason, she still loved him. He had betrayed her, lied to her, hurt her. There was a wound in her heart that stillbled because of him. But she was no longer afraid of him. And her heart was beginning to knit itself back together, bit by bit.
So she surrendered to him, and that alone was healing.
Gently, almost reverently, Taryel lifted Ru into his arms and spun her, settling her on the gazebo railing, between flickering lanterns. His arm around her was the only thing holding her steady, and she savored it.
So, too, did the artifact, flaring suddenly and brightly between them. She felt as if she were lit from within, so intense was the growing wave of her desire.
She wanted him. Every part of him.
His mouth moved to her neck, hot and soft. He pulled her collar aside, undoing the top two clasps of her dress to bare her shoulder to the cold. His lips left burning marks on her as he kissed her there, his fingers gently pulling her dress down, even lower, until she was shivering not from the cold, but with anticipation.
Anyone could have come into this secluded corner and seen them, Ru’s legs wrapped around Taryel’s waist. Anyone could have seen him running his hand up her thigh, pushing her skirts up around her waist, exposing her stockinged legs. All so he could press his body against hers, bring them closer, tighter.
In that moment, Ru didn’t care if anyone saw. There was nothing but her and Taryel and the fire of lust between her legs, the growing tightness at her core, the artifact blazing alongside.
Why had she fought him? Why keep him at arm’s length for so many weeks? She now understood that from the moment she had first heard his voice, from the moment she had first felt his touch, he was hers. Whether he was Fen or Taryel, he had always been hers. And no matter what reason told her, she could not hold back the tide any longer.
Then he hooked his hands under her knees, holding her steady while he rolled his hardness against her, and the feel ofhis body against hers stopped her breath, stilled her heart. She moaned into his neck, overcome by him. She had lost herself with him before, in that golden light of the dungeon. In the dark forest on her way to the palace.Was this the same? she wondered, even as he lowered his head to kiss her throat, to press hot lips to her exposed collarbone. As he hooked a finger over her bodice and pulled it down, down, until her hard nipple was exposed.
No, this was different. Before, she had been distracted, hadn’t understood the inexorable need between herself and Fen, hadn’t understood the artifact’s effect on her. This was a conscious surrender to Taryel. Shewantedthis.
The artifact mirrored her feelings, her desire, but did not overwhelm her. And she could see in the steadiness with which Taryel had unlaced her bodice that he felt the same.
She gasped at the heat of his tongue on her breast, at the intensity of it, the sharp explosion of pleasure that spread outward from between her thighs at the knowledge that she needed him. That he neededher.
“Taryel,” she breathed, holding him for dear life, her chest heaving, his tongue circling her nipple. “Please.”
He paused, lifting his head to meet her gaze, his pupils blown wide.
“I’m sorry,” he said and then glanced down at her bare, heaving breast. Hurriedly, he pulled her bodice back into place. Deft fingers secured the clasps on her collar. He lifted her from the railing, avoiding her gaze, smoothing her skirts. All respectful movements, apologetic, almost embarrassed.
“Taryel,” she said again, aching at the absence of his touch. “Why are you apologizing?”
“The artifact,” he said through heavy-lidded eyes. “I want you, Ru. Badly. But when I feel like this around you, when my heart… I can control myself, but I can’t control the artifact. Ican’t stop it from compelling you. My actions are my own now, but yours…” He glanced away again, lip curling as if he were disgusted.
“It’s not compelling me,” Ru said, reaching up to cup his face with a cold hand. His cheek was rough with stubble, but his skin was warm, a familiar balm. Her words were hurried, her breaths still coming quick and shallow with unspent pleasure. “I want this. I’ve wanted this since the moment I met you, Taryel. Don’t you?”
“Of course I do,” he said, his expression tortured. “My heart keeps pulling you toward me because I want you, and I’ve no idea how to save you from it.”
Ru couldn’t help it. She laughed, and Taryel shot her a hurt look.
“You don’t get it,” she said. “I’ve never been compelled tolikeyou. Maybe I wouldn’t have touched the artifact without its coercion. And maybe…yes, it encourages me sometimes. All right, a lot. Like that night in the woods when you asked me to leave with you. But when my mind is clear, I still like you. More than that, Iwantyou. Ever since that night in the dungeon, it’s almost as if…” she swallowed, unable to put into words the way she felt, how their souls were somehow entwined beyond life or death.
She stood on tiptoe and kissed the corner of his mouth softly. “It doesn’t matter why we’re bound, or what it is that binds us. Fate, Festra, your heart… I don’t care. Do you really believe that I’d give in so completely to something I didn’t truly want?”
Taryel’s eyes were shadowed in the night. “I’m not a good man,” he said. “I’m a god of destruction. My very existence has put you and your friends, your family, the entire world in danger.”
“I know,” she said.
“I’m not Fen Verrill.”
Her throat tightened. “I know. But… I don’t think I want you to be.”
His eyes widened, disbelieving. “Ru…”
“You’re Taryel Aharis,” she said before he could protest. “But you’re also the man who gave his cloak to a naked, helpless woman in the middle of the Shattered City. I should have seen it sooner. I didn’t want to accept it at first, that you were still the man I knew. I was angry with you and hurt, and stubborn. But your name doesn’t matter. And your heart’s effect on me has nothing to do with the fact that Iwantyou. Badly.”
His face broke into a grin, and he kissed her, as reverent as a prayer.
