Chapter 52
FIFTY-TWO
ELAINA
Elaina couldn’t sleep. Something thrummed beneath her skin. She stood at the window, watching shadows shift between the trees.
Ever since that mutant beast attack, Cyan had barely let her out of his sight. At first, Elaina loved having him close. It was what she wanted, even if it wasn’t… all of him. But he was trying, and she saw that, and even just his presence grounded her somehow.
But there was this familiar itch to make some space. It wasn’t his presence that she was trying to get away from—it was the way he kept her from wandering in all the ways she’d been used to. She understood it. Cyan was only trying to protect her. And she’d been good. She’d stayed near the house, always in sight.
A gust of wind rattled the windowpanes. Behind her, the bed creaked as Cyan stirred.
“Come back to bed,” he said, his voice rough with sleep.
She turned to find him propped up on one elbow, watching her. Moonlight carved shadows across his bare chest. The sword lay within reach, as always, but his eyes were focused solely on her .
“I can’t sleep,” she admitted.
“I know.” He held out his hand. “Come here.”
The quiet command in his voice sent heat pooling low in her belly. Elaina went to him, letting him pull her onto the bed. His hands warmed her as they slid beneath her nightshirt. Their mouths claimed each other, rough and mechanical. Neither of them was there—not really. Even as his hands roamed her skin, her attention drifted to the window.
She straddled him, grinding against his hardness. His grip tightened on her hips, holding her in place as he sat up to capture her mouth again. There was possession in his touch. Each stroke of his hands was a branding, keeping her anchored to him even as the forest’s song tried to pull her away.
Cyan grabbed her chin in one hand, and she met his gaze, finding something wild and afraid in those silver eyes.
In one fluid motion, he flipped them both, pressing her face-down into the mattress. His weight pinned her there as one hand tangled in her hair while the other shoved her nightshirt up her back. When his mouth found her neck, the kiss was savage.
She arched beneath him and his grip tightened in her hair. He kept her pinned as he pushed her thighs apart with one knee.
He entered her hard, driving deep, and she buried her cry in the pillow. They moved together with rising urgency, the bed frame protesting beneath them. Each thrust was a desperate defiance of the distance between them. His teeth grazed her shoulder as he drove harder, chasing release.
When she came it hit like a lightning strike. He followed moments later with a hoarse groan, his body crushing her into the mattress as if he could keep her there forever .
Afterward, they lay tangled in the sheets, her head on his chest. His fingers traced idle patterns on her back, but she could feel the tension in them. Even now, in their most intimate moments, part of him was preparing to lose her.
Gaia whispered at the edges of her awareness, patient and knowing. Soon , she thought. But not yet. For now she let herself sink into the warmth of Cyan’s embrace, pretending they had all the time in the world.
And yet the forest whispered. As Cyan’s breathing deepened into sleep, Elaina lay awake. His arm across her waist was suddenly too heavy, a constriction rather than a comfort.
She just needed some fresh air, and some space, to get her bearings.
Elaina held her breath as she extracted herself from beneath his possessive arm. She grabbed her boots and wrapped one of Faera’s old knitted shawls around her shoulders. At the door, she paused, looking back at Cyan's sleeping form.
A soft whine made her jump. Priad stood in the shadows, his silver eyes gleaming.
“Shh,” she whispered, though she knew the warg wouldn’t give her away. He’d been keeping watch just as much as Cyan had. But she needed to be alone. She was just going as far as the tree line anyway.
“ Sitka ,” Elaina mouthed silently to the beast, motioning a palm to the floor. The warg’s head twisted sideways, ears flapping for a moment before straightening back to sharp points on its head.
“I’ll be back soon,” she assured him. She slipped from the room, easing the door shut behind her.