Chapter 40
Kiera
Tingles swept over my skin at the warm grasp of his hand.
I forgot all talk of kings and queens, battles past and future. He gently led me to one of the great trees that fed its web of roots from the stream. Long, thick branches extended over us like benevolent arms.
I tilted my chin up and spotted clusters of white, like little moons, hiding under the dense leaves.
“Are those . . . moonblood fruits?” I breathed, hardly believing my eyes.
“Yes.” Aiden’s smile was clear in his voice. “I spotted these trees when we went to spy on the camp. Normally, they only grow in the heart of Twaryn, but Viridana wanted to spread their sweetness.”
I grinned up at the fruit, excitement trickling down my spine. “I never thought I’d see one in my life.”
“You’re going to do more than see it.”
I dropped my gaze. Aiden slowly backed me up to the tree trunk, our boots shuffling together. His eyes searched mine in a way that made my knees tremble.
Gods, I missed him.
We’d been together every day. Every night. We’d trained together again. We rode and slept side by side.
But I missed him like this. When we both blocked out the rest of the world. When I could forget his last name . . . and mine.
I missed him because I kept losing him. Yet we also seemed to keep finding each other.
“What are you thinking?” he whispered.
I drew in a shaky breath. “That you’re going to make me do something dangerous.”
“The only dangerous thing here is you.”
His lips were so close. When had I risen to my tiptoes? Perhaps at the same moment I slid my hands up to his broad shoulders.
“That’s not true,” I murmured.
He grasped my hips and spun me around so my back was pressed into his hard chest. His bristled chin teased the sensitive skin of my cheek as he whispered into my ear, “I will never let you fall, Kiera.”
Chills seared across my skin.
I will never let you fall.
His words from the Temple roof just before we walked out onto the parapet to touch the bells.
I will never let you fall.
And he never had.
Suddenly, he lifted me toward the nearest branch. I gasped and wrapped my arms around it like I was a hundred feet in the air, not ten.
His hands slid under my ass and pushed. My cheeks burned as I flailed my legs around the branch like I was mounting Ozlow.
The branch didn’t even creak with my weight. It was thicker than Aiden and I combined, but I still sank my nails into it like a cat as I glared down at Aiden.
“A warning would’ve been nice,” I said.
He grinned up at me, erasing my glare. “Perhaps I just wanted to hear that sweet gasp you make.”
My skin now felt like a wildfire was coursing over it. “Am I to pick the fruit for us or—”
“Shift forward,” he commanded.
Inner thighs trembling, I inched farther out onto the branch. “I still don’t know how—”
Aiden backed up a few steps, then charged at the tree. I gaped as he ran up the trunk and grabbed my branch, swinging himself up on it.
He chuckled low and deep at the dumbfounded look on my face.
“Teach me that,” I breathed.
He shook his head. “I like our way better.”
I huffed and made a show of looking around my perch. I spotted a few moonbloods dangling overhead. I could reach them if I scooted further forward.
Jaw tight with determination, I stretched my arm as far as I could, my fingertips brushing the soft skin of the fruit.
Just a little bit . . . more . . .
I lunged, swiping at the fruit, and started tipping sideways off the tree. Before I could cry out, a powerful arm banded around my waist, anchoring me to the branch.
“So eager to test my promise?” Aiden murmured in my ear.
I scoffed like my hands weren’t desperately curled around his arm. “How about you grab one, then?”
His arm slipped from my grasp as he stood up. He plucked one of the moonbloods. “Thank you,” he murmured.
“Are you speaking to the tree?”
He sat down behind me again and drew back to lean against the trunk. He patted the bark in front of him.
Palms growing sweaty, I twisted around and crawled over to him. We sat facing each other, our knees and boots brushing together.
“Yes,” he said. “When I was younger, I believed the trees were always dancing and whispering to each other. That they growled and creaked when danger was about. Moaned when they were sad.” He looked down at the white fruit in his hand.
“I always try to treat them well, and they treat me well in return.”
I smiled, imagining a dark-headed boy with forest-green eyes whispering back to the trees. “Viridana must love you.”
He shrugged. “These woods have given me a lot. There’s no harm in being thankful, whether it was by her will or not. The legend says the goddess bled a few drops into the earth under a full moon and one of these trees sprouted on the spot.”
I thought of the knife made of dead night sky in my boot. Of the fireflowers that burned on Arduen’s Mountain. “I like having pieces of them with their stories. Makes them feel more real.”
“Exactly.” He pulled a knife from his belt and sliced through the moonblood. Dark juice ran down his fingers. He licked his knife clean, which did strange, burning things to my stomach.
My thighs tightened around the branch.
He must’ve noticed, because he smiled as he stowed his knife. “Close your eyes.”
My heart trilled a warning, but I obeyed.
A breeze wafted through the tree branches, carrying the scent of wet grass and something deeply sweet. The leaves around us shivered as the crickets sang. It felt like peace.
Aiden pulled my hand toward him and placed something soft in it. A piece of fruit. “Don’t look at it. Just taste it,” he said softly.
I put the moonblood to my lips and nibbled at the sticky flesh. Gods, it was . . . it was . . . the sweetest thing I’d ever tasted. Like dark berries mixed with the lightest sparkling wine. The juices ran down my throat, quenching my thirst more than the water had. It made me hungry for more.
I opened my eyes, and my stomach swooped low and hard. If I was hungry, Aiden looked painfully ravenous. The rest of the fruit continued to drip through his fingers, but his gaze was fastened to my wet mouth.
Was it stained?
I wiped it with the back of my sleeve, my tongue darting out to sweep my lips clean. His nostrils flared as his eyebrows slammed together.
Oh. Oh.
I finished my piece of fruit and dropped the empty peel to the ground. Then I slid forward, hesitating when I couldn’t get closer without—
He placed the rest of the moonblood beside him and lifted my legs over his, nestling me in his lap.
My heart pounded like I was in the heat of battle. But there was no fear. Only excitement. And something deeper, warmer, as I gazed into Aiden’s eyes. Something I’d felt with him in Aquinon. In The Hollow. In stolen moments like this.
Something I thought had died a swift death the moment I realized he’d killed my mother.
But the feeling persisted.
“You should . . . you should have some moonblood,” I whispered raggedly. “It’s delicious.”
Eyes burning with intention, he grasped my sticky fingers and slid the first one into his mouth.
I gasped, a bolt of heat shooting straight to my core.
His other hand tightened around my knee, pulling me closer. He sucked hard on my finger. My body shuddered and rocked against him involuntarily, loving every hardened ridge.
A low growl rumbled in his chest as he released my finger. “You’re right. Absolutely delicious.” Then he stole another finger, working his lips around the tip.
Heat stacked in my belly, ember by ember.
His tongue swirled around my finger. My control snapped.
I yanked my finger out of his mouth and crushed my lips against his.
His responding groan poured into me as he kissed me back like his next breath depended on it.
He clenched his arm around my waist and seized the nape of my neck. As if I would go anywhere.
All I tasted was sweetness and heat. I was drunk on it. Craving more. His lips coaxed mine into a dance that felt perfect and familiar, new and dangerous all at once.
I plunged my fingers into his long, raven-wing hair, tugging him closer. His tongue curled into my mouth, deepening the kiss.
I wished it would go deeper. I wanted to feel him everywhere. His stubble rasped over my lips. I wanted it to burn over my aching breasts and between my thighs.
He dragged his mouth away and trailed searing kisses down my throat to my collarbone and behind my ear.
“Gods, I’ve missed you,” he murmured between kisses. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted to do this? How many nights I’ve dreamed of this? Fucking Four, I don’t think I ever stopped wanting you, Kiera.”
For some reason, tears burned behind my eyes. “That can’t be true.”
He captured my chin between his thumb and forefinger, pulling me to meet his gaze. “It is true. It will likely always be true. Maybe I’m a fool for it. Maybe I shouldn’t want what I can’t have. But you make it impossible to care about consequences.”
I love you, Aiden.
I startled at the unbidden words in my mind. I pressed my lips together in case they tried to escape.
But it was true. I’d known the feeling, but now I’d named it. I loved him.
I didn’t know for how long. I didn’t know where it started and stopped. It simply . . . was.
My heart squirmed in my chest, uncomfortable with the heavy weight of this new truth.
Because he was right—we shouldn’t want what we couldn’t have. We had a job to do. A kingdom to save. People to free.
Nikella said I could have a future with love and happiness, but right now, it was marred by battles yet to fight.
This moment was likely all we’d get. And even then, it couldn’t be everything I wanted.
What if you were queen?
I’d panicked, unsure what Aiden had meant with those words. But he wasn’t asking me to be his.
My newfound feelings for the future king would likely remain just that—secret, unspoken feelings.
His thumb brushed my tight lips, his eyes growing sad and then guarded.
No, no. Don’t leave me yet.
I grasped his tight jaw. “Kiss me again,” I whispered.
His face softened. He cupped my face in his hands, his gaze roaming over it like he wanted to memorize every detail.
Agonizingly slow, he brought my lips to his. He kissed me, long and hard. Then soft and short. Fervent need and small caresses. I savored every single one. Warmth pulsed between us, drenching my mind with happiness.
Perhaps it was my imagination, but even the tree seemed to sway with us, whispering and singing through its leaves and long branches.
Like it was acknowledging the moment I realized I was in love with Aiden Falcryn. And that brought it nothing but joy.
Even as I mourned the future we would never have.