king's mouth as he was dragged forcefully from the room.
22
Lyana
His chest rose and fell beneath her palm, up and down, up and down, in a mesmerizing rhythm. Nestled against his side with her cheek pressed to his skin, Lyana listened to the steady beat of Rafe's heart. He was deep in slumber while she lay wide awake. Her mind buzzed too wildly for rest, and she slipped her gaze down the length of his bare chest, over the defined ridges of his abdomen, down, down, down to the very tips of his toes, and back up.
How could he sleep at a time like this?
Lyana trailed her fingers over his skin, amazed at the feel of him, hard and smooth. His muscles flexed at her touch, as though stirred to life, and a light trail of goose bumps followed her movement. In the deep grooves of his abdomen, light and dark battled, gaining and losing ground with each breath. She traced the shadows, wanting to linger in the night, in this moment. Every inch of his body was like untouched terrain, a new world just waiting to be explored. All her life spent searching for adventure, and here in his arms, for the first time she wondered if maybe it wasn't a place she should have been yearning for but a person instead, a man with enough mystery and wonder to fill the rest of her days.
She knew the moment he woke up.
His entire body tensed and his heart thundered. Lyana took her time swirling her rogue hand up his abdomen and his chest, until her fingers found the soft tendrils of his hair and she looked into his face. Two eyes watched her, as blue as the clearest sky, as warm as the sun, more tempting than any distant horizon.
"Ana?" His voice brought a shiver to her skin.
"Rafe."
She moved against him, inching closer, until their noses nearly touched. His gaze was steady and waiting, almost unsure, and she realized he didn’t know what was coming next. There was a hint of fear, as though he worried she was about to say goodbye. But the moon still hung low in the sky, dawn a faraway thing, and she preferred to keep it that way.
"I think…" Those three sacred words hovered at the edge of her tongue, fighting to be said, just as they danced across his eyes, bright and burning. Had they gone mad? Was that what this was? They'd only known each other for a few short weeks, mostly in stolen moments and secret meetings, yet here they were, free-falling into unknown territory together. Maybe it was love. Maybe it was something else. They'd never know for sure, their time like a dream cut short, like a blossom clipped before it could bloom, the smallest hint of something that could've one day been so much more. Saying those words would only make things harder, so she covered her sorrow with a grin. "You're snoring."
Disappointment flashed across his face, quickly replaced by relief. He, too, wanted to pretend their hearts weren't on the cusp of breaking. "I am not."
"You are. It’s horrible, like a monster clawing at my ears. I can't sleep."
"Poor princess."
"There's only one solution."
"What's that?"
Lyana shifted her face to the side, lips grazing his cheek, the softest caress, before she whispered, "You must stay up all night with me."
He inhaled sharply. She pulled back in time to see a slow smile spread across his lips, his eyes growing full and heavy with desire. Before she could move, his arm came around her waist and he rolled, pinning her beneath him. His wings fanned out above them, two black curtains shielding them from the coming sun.
"Is that so?" he asked softly, more playful than she'd ever heard him. The very sound brought a wicked grin to her lips. She scratched a nail down his chest, just to see the silver glimmer of his magic upon his skin.
"I dare you."
He kissed her, long and deep, as though they had nothing but time, his hands moving over her curves as if she too were a wonderland he ached to explore…
Lyana woke with a start, her breath coming fast, the memory hovering at the edge of awareness, so real and so vivid even as it slipped away. Sweat dampened her skin. A fever burned within her, but it wasn't the sort of illness she knew how to heal.
Rafe.
She pressed the heels of her palms to her eyes, not sure if she wanted to