Shadow Thief - Eva Chase Page 0,98

double-time, but it definitely wasn’t in fear. His musky, smoky smell had coiled around me, and every word that fell from his lips in that tone like low thunder was stirring heat in my core. The jolt of desire that’d rushed through me in the parking lot definitely couldn’t be blamed on just adrenaline.

My hand drifted from his wing to rest on his bulging bicep. “Haven’t you figured out yet that I’m not your average mortal?”

“It would be exceedingly difficult not to have noticed.”

I walked my fingers down to his elbow teasingly. “And you like me, irreverence and obstinance and all, as hard as it might be for you to admit it.”

He let out a sound that wasn’t much more than a wordless grumble, and then he proved what I’d just said by clasping the hair at the back of my head and tugging me to him. His mouth collided with mine, hot and steady and unrelenting. I held onto his tunic for dear life and kissed him back, my senses overwhelmed.

Maybe it wasn’t the sanest move I’d ever made. I’d already been canoodling with both of his companions, and just one monstrous lover was more than a handful. But—heaven help me even if it didn’t exist—I wanted them all, and after tonight, I deserved a little indulgence. It wasn’t as if any dalliance between a human and a shadowkind could turn into a real relationship in the long run. Once our battle with the sword-star bunch was over, who knew if I’d even see any of them again?

Thorn kissed me once more, with determined gentleness, before he drew back a few inches. His hand slid from my hair to stroke along my jaw.

“I almost didn’t get to you quickly enough tonight,” he said, with a rawness I could hear even through the reverb. “We still have farther to go to see this through. I won’t insult you by asking you again to back down, but I hate the thought that next time I might fail to protect you.”

“You’ve now saved my life at least a couple times over,” I said. “I’m pretty sure any debt you owed me is fully paid.”

He made a noise of consternation. “You’re worth more than any debt. I didn’t kiss you as repayment either.”

A flutter passed through my chest with a softer sort of giddiness. “I’m glad we’re on the same page, then. Maybe you take the whole protection gig to unnecessary extremes? All Omen could have asked was that you do your best, and I’ve never asked for anything at all.”

I…” His thumb that had been gliding along my chin halted. “I had friends in the war. Brothers and sisters at arms. I would have died for them—I should have—but I wasn’t there when the need was greatest, and now they are gone and I am still here. I don’t wish to repeat that mistake.”

He’d spoken in his usual formal diction, but the weight of that loss rang through the words. A lump rose in my throat. How long had he spent roaming the shadow realm alone, tangled up in guilt and mourning? He’d been carrying that wound for centuries, and Omen’s mission had brought the pain right back to the surface.

I touched his jaw like he had mine, finding the hardened planes of his face still had the warmth and suppleness of skin against my fingers. “I understand, but I swear to you that if something happens to me, I won’t blame you for it. All right?”

Maybe it didn’t matter what I thought if he’d blame himself anyway, but he inclined his head in acknowledgment. His wings vanished, his body contracting to his normal though still imposing height. The red faded from his dark eyes.

“The others might be back at any moment,” he said, with more his usual brusqueness. “Snap was right—you should be resting while you can.”

“Fine,” I muttered, but my shoulder was starting to ache more insistently again. I could be satisfied with a couple of kisses for now. Getting more involved with the third member of my monstrous trio—I’d decide later how sane that idea was. If we got a later after wherever else our schemes led us tonight.

I sank down on the edge of the bed. As Pickle scrambled up onto my lap to curl up there, my thoughts veered toward my own friends. My best friend, who’d wanted so badly to fight for me too, even if those efforts had ended in disaster.

I grasped my phone. “I