Admiration fills my chest as I watch him. He’s risking everything for what he believes in and for the people he cares about.
As the warriors disperse and continue preparing for battle, Hector approaches me, his eyes searching my face. “I know you’re worried about Everly,” he says. “But I promise you, we will bring her back.”
I rise on my tiptoes and frame his face in my hands. “I refuse to believe anything else.”
ChapterThirty-Three
Hector’s army builds trebuchets, ladders, and battering rams. The sun rises and sets for seven days as they continue working, their determination unbroken in the sweltering heat.
Tomorrow morning, Hector will attack. I know all about his plans. He hasn’t held any information from me. Except, for the mission he sent Cenric and Hero on.
I spend my time training with Mildred, just like I did every evening while we traveled. She teaches me how to call on my Bloodstone magic, to wield it even when I’m not angry. Each time, I feel that magic growing stronger and consuming less of the flowers Tersah made for me.
It’s happening, everything I couldn’t do before. Maybe because I couldn’t accept that side of myself then. The side that is Bloodstone.
After I bathe in the nearby river, I try to rest next to Hector that night, but my mind is stuck on what will happen in the morning. There’s so much at stake. The future of all Tarrobane. Hector’s future. My future. Our children’s future. Everly’s future.
I stare up at the ceiling, watching the way the torchlight sputters across the linen. If only my mind were as peaceful as those shadows.
Hector sleeps like a rock next to me. I watch the up and down movement of his back and wonder how he does it. He sleeps like nothing changes tomorrow.
But I know everything will change. The impending war is not just any war. It’s a battle for survival. Hector’s army may be huge, but they are facing an army that will stop at nothing to conquer Tarrobane.
Fear slices through my veins as I close my eyes, trying to force myself to sleep. Hector’s steady breathing soothes me somewhat, but it’s not enough to calm my tumultuous thoughts.
As the moon rises higher and higher in the sky, I shake Hector’s arm, needing a moment of escape. He grunts and stirs, his eyes slowly adjusting to the dim light of the torches.
“Is everything all right?” he asks groggily, his voice hoarse from sleep.
“I can’t sleep.” I trace patterns along his chest. “I’m scared for tomorrow.”
“Do you want me to distract you?”
“Yes.” I run my fingertips up and down his bare skin, reveling in the feel of him beneath me. “Distract me, Hector.”
Hector pulls me until I’m straddling him, and I lean down, pressing my lips against his.
It changes everything—that kiss, that movement of his mouth against mine, that passion sizzling between us.
His hands roam over my body, igniting a flame within me. Desire replaces all thoughts of war and fear as I lose myself in him.
Surely, he knows it. What he does to me. What he does to my body. How with just a kiss, everything shifts, and he becomes the center of my world.
I buck my hips against him, urging him on. He responds with a growl, nipping at my bottom lip with his teeth. He slides a hand between us, cupping me through the fabric of my chemise. Dampness pools between my legs as my breaths come in quick, jagged gasps.
“More,” I groan out.
“Like this?” His fingers tease the material, skimming it just enough to make a jolt shake through my body.
“Yes.”
I try to grab his hand, to hold it against that need, but he refuses to be rushed. Instead, he teases, arouses, draws so much heat to my center, I dig my nails into his chest.
“Easy,” he murmurs against my lips. “I will give you what you want, but you have to beg for it.”
“Hector!”
“Beg,” he says, his voice a seductive rasp.
