Chapter Twelve #3
It was a long time before I came down from that high.
Before the blinding light around us dimmed and the twin pulses of our hearts, both wreathed in my sweet, sated fire, finally eased.
Caelan stood behind me still, holding me now, stroking gentle lines between the burning paths that snaked my arms. Eventually, with a contented sigh, I reached down to pull my skirt over my hips and felt his valiant attempt to do up his trousers without releasing his hold on me.
“It’s alright,” I laughed softly. “I really do have to clean up now.”
“No,” he groaned into my shoulder, then kissed it, his lips unharmed by the flames that flickered over my skin. “I meant what I said, let me do it in the morning.”
“You have to get up for the hunt –”
“I don’t.”
“What do you mean?”
Though I couldn’t see his face, I could feel his hesitation, the way the sliver of air between us seemed to snap taut.
And in that moment, I was ready for the Dagda to strike me down – because I was so gods-damned tired of the revelations.
I didn’t think I could take another one, couldn’t take the slowly building dread that smothered the magic still simmering between us –
“It’s over. Roy slipped past us. Anonymous tip. He was spotted in a known Class X haunt in Kingsborough. I’m to debrief the King before his Coronation.”
–And out it went, the fire on my skin and his, snuffed like a candle.
“You’re leaving.”
His hands tightened on my waist, but I ripped through his hold and whirled to face him. Part of me relished the way he flinched back at the fire in my eyes, but he had the gall to open his mouth all the same.
“Rosie, don’t jump –”
“You couldn’t have told me right away?” When my magic flared along with my burst of rage, I imagined it flickering in my eyes, underlining the hurt and anger in every word. I made myself sneer at him. “I suppose you thought you’d fuck me one last time first. Did you get it out of your system?”
“ –to conclusions,” he groaned.
“What?” I slapped his hands away from my waist, but he just grabbed my wrists instead, holding me still before I’d even made the decision to storm off.
“Always jumping from one fucking conclusion to the next,” he gritted out. “Doesn’t it get exhausting, all that leaping about?”
I froze, Flame waning enough that I actually heard him.
“I don’t do that.”
He snorted and when I scowled at him, he seized my moment of silence to take my waist again and drag me closer.
“I have to make a trip to Kingsborough,” he said slowly, eyes flicking over mine to make certain I was hearing him now. “I’ll be back in a few days.”
“You will?”
“If you’ll have me.”
“I don’t understand. If Roy’s escaped – if the hunt is over – why would the King send you back to Stormsby?”
Caelan shrugged, but the movement was a little too stiff to be as carefree as he pretended.
“He won’t. He’ll likely dismiss me, seeing as I’ve made such an utter bollocks of this whole thing. And even if he doesn’t, I plan to resign.”
I stared at him, teeth scraping absently at my lip.
“Why would you do that?” I whispered.
I knew what I hoped he’d say. My Flame knew what we hoped he’d say. And I swear, in the split second before he replied, we held a collective breath. I think perhaps he did too – his voice was low and hoarse when he finally said:
“Because I want to be near you. I think – I think I even need to be near you.”
My breath remained caught in my lungs. Everything inside me stilled. Perhaps my heart even paused for a moment, just to quiet the rush of my pulse in my ears and allow me to better hear every word.
And Caelan laughed, but it wasn’t that deep, thunderous laughter I’d grown so fond of. It was no less lovely. The sound was soft as a breath, and oh so vulnerable. That same vulnerability shone in his eyes as he stepped in and cupped my jaw, thumb smoothing over my lips like the ghost of a kiss.
“I’m always looking for you. I might be losing my mind a little bit. Every moment I’m not with you, I swear I could turn around and find you within arms reach if I only looked hard enough. And gods, I want you to be there, Rosie. So –”
He took a breath and leaned down, pressing our foreheads together so he could whisper the words against my lips. It was quickly becoming the easiest way for us both to say the hardest things; just press them into a kiss.
“So let me stay. I don’t want to spend my life looking over my shoulder for you. I want you at my side.”
The space between our chests was alive with gentle flames that I hadn’t even known were spilling from me.
They stroked gold over Caelan’s cheekbones, shimmering over his scar and scattering shadows beneath his eyelashes.
And if the uncontrollable, overflowing glow of my chest answered his question, he didn’t take it for granted; he waited for my word.
“Stay,” I breathed, and felt his lips curve beneath my own.
“Yes?” He whispered back, such hope in that one word that it made heat prick beneath my lashes.
I could do nothing more than close my eyes and kiss him.
And when we stumbled into bed, when he made me burn again, when I in turn filled him with my fire, it was harder than ever to call my Flame back. It was as though it had taken root beneath his heart. So that I might always be with him, just as he’d asked.