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Who’d made this box? Ash? Possibly his father? Nektas? Someone else? Whoever it was, the time it must have taken to craft such intricate lines made me think it was something one would use to store important items.
Knowing I was being a complete snoop, I cracked open the lid. My lips parted as I peered inside. The realm seemed to hold its breath for a moment. As did I. A slight tremor went through my hands as a mixture of disbelief and elation swept through me.
I didn’t know what I’d expected to find, but it wasn’t—in a hundred years—the answer to where all the hair ties had gone after Ash unbound my hair.
Now, I knew.
They were all in this box. I didn’t know why that delighted me so. Why it felt as important as learning the Rot had been stopped. But there was no suppressing the wide smile that spread across my face. For there to be so many stowed away—about a dozen of them—it had to mean that he had been keeping the ties since the very first time he gently unwound the braid in my hair.
Even when he was angry.
Actually, I knew why this moved me so.
A Primal of Death had been collecting my hair ties, treating them as if they were prized possessions—treasure.
It was such a small token, something most probably wouldn’t even think twice about. But these little hair ties had belonged to me, and Ash had sought to keep them close to him—to keep a part of me close to him.
A rush of tears hit my eyes as I quietly closed the lid and returned the box to where I’d found it. I lay back down, blinking the dampness from my lashes.
Those hair ties…they were further proof that Ash had been falling in love with me long before my life was truly on the line—long before I’d been willing to admit that I’d been falling in love with him. They were further proof that our hearts, our souls were truly one.
When Ash returned from speaking with Rhain, he immediately joined me. Bracing himself with one knee on the bed, he caught the back of my head and brought his down to mine. His lips tasted of desire as he claimed my mouth in a languid and tender kiss. Every touch of his lips sent shivers down my spine.
“I think you missed me,” I said when we parted. I felt a little breathless.
He trailed his fingers across my cheek. “I did.”
Thinking about the collection of hair ties, I smiled against his mouth. I didn’t doubt for a second that he spoke the truth.
“Did anyone see me naked?” I asked.
“Lucky for them, no,”
I shook my head. “Is everything okay, then? With Rhain and everyone?”
“It is.” A lock of hair fell across his face. “Rhain was a little concerned after Nektas told him I threatened his life.”
I gri
“I have a feeling that amuses you to no end.”
“It does.” I nodded for extra emphasis.
“Knew it.” Ash kissed me again and then pulled back. He cupped my cheek, tilting my head back. His gaze met mine.
“Your eyes are beautiful, liessa.”
Feeling my chest warm, I smiled. “Thank you.”
Ash settled onto the bed beside me. His hands roamed over my body, ru
“I still have things I want to talk about.” His hand slid over my hip, cupping my rear. He tugged me closer to him. “And you’re being distracting.”
“Me?” I shivered as the tips of my breasts grazed the cool hardness of his chest.
“Yes, you.” His fingers pressed into the flesh of my ass.
“You’re the one who kissed me,” I reminded him, drawing in his fresh, citrusy scent as I worked a leg between his. “And you’re also the one groping my ass.”
“That’s only because I don’t want your ass to get lonely.” He nipped at my lower lip. “I’m just being thoughtful.”
I laughed, loving this rare, playful side of him. “So incredibly thoughtful.”
He murmured an agreement that was lost in the sigh he drew from me as his lips found mine once more. This kiss was just as slow and sweet as the one before, an unhurried dance that spoke volumes of love and longing. We were both breathless this time when our lips parted, our hearts pounding.
“Remember when I said I needed to tell you several things?” he said, tucking some strands of my hair back.
I nodded.
A moment passed, and when he spoke again, there was a change in his tone—a richer, fuller timbre I wasn’t sure I would’ve picked up on before. “I love you, Sera.”
My lips immediately split into the same wide, goofy smile that seeing the hair ties had provoked.
“And you love me.”
“I do.” I wiggled an inch closer.
His stare caught and held mine. “You’re my wife.”
“Hearing you say, ‘I love you,’ has become my favorite three words of any I’ve heard you speak,” I told him. “’You’re my wife’ is a close second. Or maybe they are tied?” I wrinkled my nose. “No. I love you is my favorite.”
“Stop being cute.” He kissed the bridge of my nose. “It’s also distracting.”
I gri
“One you’re currently not helping with,” he pointed out, letting go of my hair to place his hand atop mine. It was his left and my right. Our imprints touched, and I could’ve sworn our skin hummed. “I’m your husband,” he repeated. “You’re my wife. And I know I don’t have a whole lot of experience in this, not even secondhand…”
Neither did I. Even though my mother had remarried, their marriage had been more of a necessity. I wasn’t even sure she and King Ernald loved each other. Maybe they simply tolerated one another.
If I were honest with myself, my stepfather carried more than just a fondness for my mother but she…she was still in love with my father.
That made my heart ache as I focused on Ash.
“And even though I never allowed myself to consider what it would be like to be in love with another and be married, I know what kind of marriage I want.” Ash drew his lower lip between his teeth. “Or I know what kind of marriage I want with you.”
My heart started doing that skipping thing again.
“I want us to trust each other,” he began.
“I trust you,” I told him. “Irrevocably.”
A small smile appeared, softening his features. “I know, but this…I think this is a different kind of trust, one that allows us to share everything with each other. The easy and the hard—especially the hard.” Only a faint glow of eather pulsed behind his pupils. “The kind of trust where we know we can be honest and feel comfortable knowing that anything we share will not change how we see each other.”
My stomach hollowed as my gaze fell to where his hand still rested atop mine. I looked at the imprint.
“We have that kind of trust already, don’t we?” Ash asked, his breath cool against my forehead.
I nodded, my throat thickening. “We do.”
“So, you know that, no matter what, I will always see you as being as strong and brave as you are clever and fierce.” His fingers pressed between mine. “That my attraction, my need and want of you, will never be lessened, no matter what happens.” He paused. “Or what has happened.”
My lower lip trembled, and the edges of my fangs scraped against the back of my lips as I pressed my mouth closed.
“I know who you are, Sera, and what you mean to me. And that is everything because you are everything to me.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “And that will never change.”
A shudder went through me.
“It would be impossible for that to happen.” He shifted so his forehead rested against mine. “Because even if we weren’t mates of the heart, what you made me feel from the moment you stood in the Shadow Temple years ago to every moment between then and now, would’ve still made me fall in love with you. Your courage and strength, your beauty and utter fearlessness, your humor, and most of all, that softness of yours you share with me. It would’ve made sure my kardia somehow came back. I believe that—I know that—because you’re the first person I have ever felt has truly accepted me, no matter what I’ve done in my past or what has been done to me. You’re the first to refuse to allow any more drops of blood to be inked into my flesh. You were the first to ever make me feel anything that mattered,” he swore. “You’re…you’re simply my first, Sera, and you will be my last.”