Fatigue hits me like a freight train. I collapsed forward, breathing in Tovian’s scent. He cradles me, stroking my hair. I don’t want to admit it, but I need reassurance almost more than I need the sex.
“What about you?” I mumbled into the crook of his neck.
“You already took care of me.”
“I mean, what if you run off and I don’t see you again?”
“We’re going to get a handle on this war, and then we’ll take all the time we need, Sunshine.”
But what if things end for us the way they did for Zosia and Lorcan?I don’t want to lose our chance to be together, waiting for some perfect time when we’d be free to be together. If I’ve learned one thing, it’s that the perfect time will never come.
You take the happiness you can get when it’s there. Or you risk losing it.
I palm his still-hard cock. He moves my hand away, brings it to his lips, and presses a kiss to my knuckles.
“Let it be, Sunshine. Next time, we’ll do this right.”
“How do I know there will be a next time? You keep slinking away every time we meet. I never know when I’m going to see you next.”
He stills. “There’s no space for me in your world right now.” Kissing my temple, he says, “I’ll still be here when you’ve stabilized the country and found your friends.” Seeing my disappointment, he adds, “Let’s not rush this.”
“It’s been months since we first met.”
I hate and love how well he understands me. I cannot believe I stumbled across this man while fleeing for my life. I don’t deserve him. This can’t last.
But oh, how I want it to.
“That’s not the only obstacle. My tribe doesn’t take well to outsiders any more than yours does. When I claim the throne…”
I drop into heavy sleep mid-sentence, jolted briefly back to consciousness when he eases out from the bed.
“Where are you going?” I mumble. Tovian kisses my cheek. Sunlight streams through the flap when he pulls it back, but I can’t resist the lure of sleep for another minute.
“To speak with my mother. She needs more convincing.”
“Tovi.”
He glances up.
“I have to get back to the camp,” I mumble but my eyes were already falling shut.
He squeezes my hand. “Rest up, Sunshine.”
The flap falls, and I’m pulled under into dreamless sleep. When I awaken, it’s dark and I’m alone but for a small red dragon perched inquisitively on the end of the bed.
“Hello, there.”
It chitters and darts away.
Tovian.
He should have been back hours ago.
I bolt out of the bed, fumbling to get dressed, and storm out in search of my missing lover.
Chapter 13
“He left without me?”
