Grace and Glory (The Harbinger #3) - Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,163

dream. I’m holding you for real. You’re alive.”

“I am.”

Zayne touched the sides of my face reverently and then slid his fingers down the side of my neck. They stopped at where my pulse beat wildly and then he searched lower, pressing his palm to the center of my chest, over my heart.

Another shudder took him, and he dropped to his knees before me. My heart twisted. The beautiful wings splayed across the tile floor as he grasped my waist and stared up at me.

“You are all I ever wanted, even before I knew what I wanted. It was you. It was always you,” he whispered, voice raw. “And I lost you.”

“But you didn’t.” I dropped to my knees in front of him, cupping his cheeks. His vibrant blue eyes glimmered as they met mine, and my entire chest squeezed when I saw the dampness in them—the panic and grief, the spark of hope, and hardest of all, the fear. I recognized all of that, and I wanted nothing more than to take it all away from him. “This isn’t a dream. It’s definitely as crazy as one, but it’s real. I’m okay. I’m alive. Like really alive apparently, and I love you. I love you so much. I don’t say that enough. I know I don’t, because I’m weird and awkward, but I love you—”

Zayne’s mouth closed over mine in a kiss that washed away all the fear and panic of when I believed I was dying. It swept aside confusion and thoughts alike, leaving no room for anything other than how his lips felt against mine, the taste of him and the depth of what he felt for me. All the fear and grief he’d felt fed that kiss, as did all his love, and that love didn’t just overshadow the ugly. It obliterated it, and it amazed me how much a kiss could reveal when it was between two people who loved one another.

And we kissed and kissed, the tears on my cheeks mingling with the ones on his. He ended up sitting back, and somehow I was in his lap, his chest pressed against mine and his wings folded around me. I didn’t think we’d ever stop kissing, because there was a joy in it, a sweet relief that we’d both come too close to never experiencing this again too many times. We kissed for an eternity, and it still wouldn’t be long enough.

“It’s you.” The warmth of his breath touched my lips as he rested his forehead against mine, his chest rising and falling heavily. “No one quite gets as many words out in under a few seconds as you do.”

“It’s a talent,” I told him.

His laugh was full of relief. “How is this possible, Trin? You...” His voice roughened. “I was holding you. I could barely feel you breathing, and you couldn’t seem to hear me. Then you vanished.” His hands slid over my cheeks. “Just gone.”

“I’m sorry—”

“God, Trin. Don’t apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I know, but I also know what you went through, and I wish you hadn’t.” I turned my head, kissing the center of his palm. “I would change that if I could.”

The bridge of his nose brushed mine. “What happened?”

“My father,” I said, touching the curve of his jaw. “It’s, uh, it’s really out there, but you were right. What he did for you? It was the way he could show he cared, and this...why I didn’t die is because of him. The spell the Crone gave me? It did more than bring you to me. It bonded us together. That mark on my chest? It’s a bonding mark. Like the Protector bond but in reverse and stronger. Because of it, the angel blade didn’t kill me. Just wounded me. I won’t age. I won’t die unless something happens to you.” I pressed a finger to the center of his lower lip. “So, you’re kind of stuck with me for, like, eternity? Congrats.”

Zayne pulled back enough that our eyes could meet. “Are you...if you’re—you wouldn’t lie about something like this.”

“I wouldn’t.” I’d never heard Zayne so flustered before.

His eyes were wide. “I... God, Trin. I don’t know what to say other than how in the Hell could you even suggest that I was stuck with you?”

I laughed, and the rigidity in my muscles started to lessen. “Thought my aging wasn’t a big deal? You’d love me, broken hips and all?”

“I would love you broken hips and all,” he said, one