CHAPTER TWENTY
ELIAS
Elias traced his fingers across Cadi’s back as she slept.
Her skin was soft and warm beneath his hands, and he knew that he could live forever just like this, with her body pressed into him, her tired breaths light against his chest. A smile spread across his face at the gentle flutter that stirred behind his ribs, awakened by the simple truth that she finally existed in his life.
Careful not to jostle her, he shifted to brush a stray curl back from her face, his smile growing when a soft snore escaped her lips.
He still couldn’t believe that she was real, that she was here with him.
That despite the odds, she had found him worthy and let him so close.
Everything about her drew him in: the sound of her laugh, the way her curls spilled across her cheek as she slept, the faint trace of jasmine that still clung to her skin.
She was more than he ever could have dreamed of.
Not even the gods knew beauty like this.
His head still swam from the high he’d reached the moment he slipped inside her.
The feeling of her body wrapped around his was absolute heaven, and he would do anything to make her come alive like that again.
It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
Since the moment she had walked into his life, he’d known that everything would be different.
She was made for him, and there was no question in his mind that every part of him belonged to her. Completely.
But as he watched her, a familiar heaviness crept over him, and his smile faltered at the reminder of everything that still waited for him, and everything he now stood to lose.
He knew that this peace he felt with her tucked into his side was fragile and fleeting, even more so now that she had started to ask questions.
If only Sera had missed that train, then Cadi never would have seen those fucking sigils and then, maybe, they could have stayed wrapped in this bliss until he had figured things out.
But ever since that day, Sera had been more on his ass than ever about telling Cadi the truth.
She hated lying to her. Fuck, he did too, but …
He just wasn’t ready to give this up. Not yet.
Even though he knew it was only a matter of time before Cadi’s patience reached its limit and she started demanding answers—or worse.
It would split him open, but Elias couldn’t blame her if she left.
It was no secret to him how difficult it was for her to put her faith in people, and now here he was, knowingly betraying the delicate trust she had given him. It made him sick.
He was playing a dangerous game.
Outside, the storm had begun to calm, its powerful torrent tapering to a steady drizzle against his bedroom windows.
If only life could be this simple forever, but he knew that wasn’t possible, not for him.
His choices had brought him here, and now he would have to deal with the fallout.
Cadi grumbled softly in her sleep, and Elias tightened his grip to pull her the smallest bit closer.
Agony burned through his chest. He wanted to give her everything, to be everything she would ever need.
But the ghosts of his past still lingered, grinning wider with every move he made to break free of them, and if he wasn’t careful, Cadi could end up directly in their path.
The best thing he could do for her was to make sure she was prepared, he knew that to his core.
And he would. Just not yet, not tonight.
Tonight he just wanted to hold her and savor what they might have been in another life.
Leaning down, he pressed his lips to her hair and breathed her in.
No matter what dangers awaited him, he couldn’t let them get to her.