“Don’t worry, you can bring your forest lover as well,” Hagen said with a wink.
Aydra chuckled under her breath. “Thank you.”
Dorian came and took her from Hagen’s arms after another dance, insisting he go and ask Lex for a dance. Aydra laughed as Dorian spun her around over and over, attempting to dizzy her to the point that she could not see around her.
“You are glowing today, my sister,” Dorian said finally as he held her so she did not fall. “Tell me your secrets.”
Aydra’s chest filled, and she swallowed hard as she steadied herself. “One day, I hope you and your sister find the truth that was once written in these walls… how the first of our race was happy, fearless, and gracious to all the people of Haerland. Not what I was told was our truth, not what my Olders had been told was our truth… I have tried to protect you both for as long as I can remember. You deserve so much more than the past atrocities of this kingdom.”
His jaw tightened, eyes softening just so as he twirled her around again and then back into him. “You deserve everything, Drae. Love. Freedom. Happiness…”
A smile rose on her face and she did a double-take at Draven’s figure heading towards them. “Someone to walk this life equally with,” she added.
Dorian’s eyes squinted, and he turned her so that he could see exactly who it was she was staring at. She heard him laugh under his breath, and he shook his head knowingly. “Exactly.”
The smile on Draven’s face made her heart quiver, and it was as though she were seeing him for the first time—the swelling in her chest, jagged breath leaving her lungs…
Tunnel-vision surrounded her, and suddenly she was in the room with only him there with her.
Draven clapped Dorian on his shoulder. “Do you mind if I steal her?” he asked her younger.
Dorian let go of her waist and held out her hand to Draven. “By all means,” Dorian said, giving him a short bow.
Aydra hardly noticed her brother leaving as Draven pulled her hand to his lips, and he kissed her knuckles. The cold air brushed over her wet skin, causing her muscles to ache.
“My Queen,” he muttered against her flesh.
A deliberate warmth spread from his kiss up her arm, and then down her spine, and she felt her thighs squeeze as he stared through her core with dilated pupils.
“You really shouldn’t call me that when there are other people in the room,” she managed.
A quirk of a smile rose on his lips, and he slipped a hand around her waist, grasping her flesh just noticeably and sending heat directly to her stomach. “Why’s that?”
“Because I find myself dripping whenever you say it,” she breathed in his ear.
She felt the goosebumps rise on his arm, and he stared at her with a dark smolder that made her own hair raise. “If I can’t call you my queen in public—” he twirled her once and then pulled her back into him “—then you certainly can’t say things like that.”
She almost laughed. “We’ll call it even.”
She could feel the eyes of those around them staring, heads turning as they danced in circles, him occasionally spinning her out and then into him just as the men had done that danced with her previously in the night.
But her chest swelled every time he would smile at her, pull her flush against his torso. And more times than once, she felt her heartbeat quicken when he would touch the bare flesh on her back.
“I need to tell you something,” he said in a breath.
Her eyes narrowed just slightly. “Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for one of the Blackhand women already,” she mused in a playful tone.
He chuckled under his breath and shook his head. “As appealing as they’ve made themselves, no. Nothing like that.” He pulled her close and held her hand against his chest. She could see a seriousness rise in his gaze, and he sighed audibly.
“It’s actually more of a question,” he clarified.
She eyed him. “Okay…”
“Will you help Nadir with one of the water serpents?”
Her face faltered, and she wanted to slap the rising smile off his lips. “Seriously,” she muttered, unable to keep herself from smiling. “You are such an ass, Draven.” She pushed his chest slightly as he continued to chuckle at her, pink rising on his cheeks. “I thought it was something serious!”
“I am serious,” he argued. “He wanted me to ask. Apparently it’s terrorizing the children because of the ships.”
She shook her head and felt her lips twist up at his grinning face. “Maybe it is he who is terrorizing it,” she uttered. “I can’t believe you just tricked me like that. I thought something was wrong. Like you were suddenly going to tell me you didn’t love me or that—”
“If I ever tell you that, something is very, very wrong. Someone is trying to kill me or worse,” he interjected, squeezing her hand. A different seriousness rose in his gaze, and he swallowed hard as he stared at her. “Aydra, you… You are my equal core. My partner. My comforted darkness in a world of deafening light.” He paused as they swayed, and she watched him exhale deeply and give her a small shake of his head. “Shrouded with you in the shadows of our Sun is the only place I ever want to be.”
A rasp of a breath left her as her heart caved in her chest. “How am I not supposed to tell you I love you when you say things like that?” she whispered.
His jaw tightened, and he cupped her cheek in his hand. The glistening in his eyes made her own tear up, and he looked as though he would shake his head again, but instead he sighed audibly.
“Restraint,” he uttered.
She almost laughed, and she shook her head slightly at him, feeling her eyes dance as she gazed up at
