Chapter 42
AURORA
Thalric’s powerful arms close around me, pulling me roughly against his chest. His golden eyes are ablaze, his heartbeat pounding like thunder beneath my fingertips as he carries me into his cave.
I’ve missed being in his arms. Warmth floods my veins even as he scowls at me, a low, furious sound rumbling through his chest.
“Aurora, what in the seven hells were you thinking?” he demands, his voice rough with worry. He sets me down on my feet but his hands are around my waist, as though he fears I might vanish if he lets go.
“I wanted to see you.” I lift my chin primly. “You’ve seen my room, but I hadn’t seen yours yet.”
He narrows his eyes, growling under his breath. “You could have fallen. You could have—” He clenches his jaw. “You never think, Aurora. You’re reckless, stubborn, impulsive…” His voice trails off, frustration clear in the rigid set of his shoulders.
I bite back a smile, strangely warmed by his list of familiar complaints. Even angry, he cares deeply. Even furious, he is always protecting me. “Yet you’re glad I’m here.”
His scowl deepens a moment before he loses the battle to remain stern, and his expression softens. He releases a sigh of frustration. “You shouldn’t be.”
A smile tugs at my lips as I walk further into the cavern, taking in his new home. It’s cozy, filled with soft furs and thick blankets carefully arranged into a nest in the back corner.
A familiar flash of white catches my eye, and my lips part in shock when I realize it’s one of the pillows from my bed. Beside it is one of my silk nightshifts.
Heat floods my cheeks, and my heart pounds fiercely as I slowly turn toward him. His eyes are wide, and he’s frozen in place. “Thalric?”
“You—you shouldn’t be here,” he says gruffly, clearly deflecting. “If Ryllen found out—”
“Ryllen knows my heart belongs to another,” I interrupt. “He knows I’m in love with someone else.”
“But he doesn’t know it’s me.” Thalric steps closer, desperation flickering in his eyes. “If he discovers this, Aurora, he might keep us apart… even if nothing has truly happened.”
I lift my chin defiantly. “I’m in charge of my own destiny. Not him. Not my parents. Not some prophecy.”
“You can’t say such things lightly,” he says, jaw tight. “The consequences—”
“I mean every word,” I insist. “We need to run away, Thalric. Somewhere Malvara can’t find us, somewhere we can just be.”
“We can’t, Auri.” Vulnerability flashes in his gaze before he turns away, fists clenched at his sides. “It’s impossible.”
“It’s only impossible if we decide it is.
” I move to stand directly in front of him.
“Please, Thalric—” The words catch in my chest. I cannot bring myself to say the rest. Begging him not to give up feels useless now, when every shadow in his eyes tells me he already has.
My voice falters, trembling as I draw in a shaky breath.
“Can’t we just… pretend? Just for tonight, that things are still the way they were? ”
He studies me intensely, his eyes full of grief, longing, and the love he’s trying so desperately not to show.
I brush my fingers over his cheek; the rough warmth of his skin grounds me even as my heart breaks. “Close your eyes,” I whisper. “Just for a moment. We’re back in Oakvale, in our cave.”
My throat tightens painfully as he closes his eyes.
My gaze travels over his face, studying the strong lines of his cheeks and heavyset brow.
“Somehow you always knew when I needed you.” My voice cracks as I trace my fingertips along his jaw.
“I’d come to you when I’d had a nightmare, and you’d hold me until sunrise.
You’d tell me I was safe, and I believed you.
” A tear slips down my cheek. “I always believed you.”
His breath catches, a rough, uneven sound that makes my chest ache. For a moment, I think he’ll step back—that he’ll remind me of duty, or curses, or every impossible thing waiting to tear us apart—but then his shoulders relax as the tension leaves his body.
Resting his forehead against mine, he reaches a trembling hand up to cup my cheek, and his voice breaks on my name, “Auri, please—”
“I’m not asking you to betray your duty,” I murmur. “I’m just asking you to hold me. To pretend that nothing else exists this night but us.”
His golden eyes search mine, and I see the moment his resolve crumbles. The world seems to still as he closes the space between us. Tenderly, he wraps his arms around me, and I melt into him with a shuddering breath, pressing my cheek to the warmth of his chest.
His heartbeat thunders beneath my ear, strong and solid. And my breath catches because it is the sound of home. His wings unfurl and sweep forward to cocoon me in shadow and warmth. His masculine scent of rain fills the space around us.
A low purr builds deep in his chest, the vibration thrumming beneath my ear. It eases some of the pain in my heart, soothing what words never could. This is the language that belongs only to us. A sound of devotion that cannot be spoken aloud.
As I nestle against him, his touch is both possessive and tender as he curls his tail around my ankle and tightens his wings around my form.
“Just for tonight,” I whisper against his chest.
He presses a gentle kiss to my temple and murmurs, “Just for tonight.”
Wrapped in his arms, I close my eyes and pretend that love might somehow be enough to hold back curses and fate.