Chapter Thirty-One Paying Debts #3
She made her way up the steps and into the tunnels.
The moment they were out of sight of the crowds, Caelan put his hand on her back and urged her faster.
She took the hint, picking up her pace. They were out of the cellar doors and down the alley before she could blink twice.
They’d barely turned the corner when he pressed her to the wall, arms caging her in.
His mouth hovered over hers in an almost-kiss that felt more like a snarl. And that primal part of her reveled in the show of dominance.
“I’m all right,” she said onto lips she could just barely feel.
“He touched you.” Caelan sounded feral. And Reya didn’t think she had ever seen him this crazed. “You smell like him.”
Reya had never minded Gavin’s scent—not that she would ever tell Caelan that—but she had to admit that now she didn’t enjoy it combined with her own. It was wrong. Like a bitter taste in her mouth.
She was keenly aware of the eyes that were likely watching them right now, but she knew she needed to calm Caelan down before he stormed back in there and burned the Bear and the Bard to the ground with Gavin and Lennox inside it.
So she tried to reach him in the way they had always found each other.
And not just for him but for herself, too, knowing it would be yet another memory she was sure to recall when she was old and gray—however long from now that was. “So make me smell like you.”
Teeth bared and body trembling with restraint, Caelan curled his hand into her hair, tipping her head to make sure she was watching as he pulled her hand—the hand Gavin had held—to his mouth.
Caelan held her gaze as he slid his tongue along the length of her palm, lightly at first, like he was trying to tease her, then laving the skin between her fingers before he slid her thumb between his lips and bit down.
Her lips parted on a gasp. Why the rotting hell was this so hot?
Caelan hummed against her index finger as it slid between his teeth and into his throat.
He did the same to every one of her fingers before moving on to the back of her hand, tracing the scar there with a reverence that bordered on debauchery before going to her wrist, sucking on the skin until it changed color, leaving a mark in the shape of his mouth.
Only then, when Gavin’s scent was eclipsed, did he grunt in satisfaction, as if the act had truly helped him relax.
Reya heaved a curse she’d heard Caelan use many times in the First Language.
His brows rose. “Do you even know what that means?”
“Haven’t the slightest.”
He huffed a laugh. “I can teach you if you like.”
She would have said yes to anything in that moment if only he promised to do other things with his tongue. “I think there’s plenty we could teach each other.”
He nipped at her jaw. “Say the word, thief.”
It would have been so easy to say yes. She was desperate for him. Because I would choose you. But she would not accept pieces of him. She wanted it all. That was just the kind of thief she was. “I don’t think you’d enjoy others hearing the sounds I’ll make.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” He moved to her earlobe. “I would have taken you right there in front of him just to prove your point if you would have welcomed it.”
All-Gods above.
A bustle of laughter from a group of passersby reminded her that they were not alone.
There was a festival going on. And there were probably people watching, people who did not wish them well.
She laid a gentle hand on his abdomen, applying just enough pressure to pull his focus.
Caelan followed her silent command, giving her space even as he was the picture of male satisfaction, knowing he’d put her in that state from merely licking her hand.
But his expression turned understanding at the retreat in her eyes.
He carefully straightened the waves he’d tangled, still her friend now and tomorrow. And that was everything. “You have no idea how hard it was for me not to drag you out of there.”
She did know. He was more of a Guardian than she would ever be.
And she knew it had killed him to sit there and do nothing.
All because she’d asked him to. Because he respected her enough to let her stand on her own.
From the beginning, he’d wanted to teach her to swing a sword rather than wield one for her.
“We better get out of here before Lennox finds out who lit those curtains on fire.”
“He’s lucky I didn’t go for the cushions.” Reya let out a peal of laughter, and Caelan nudged her temple with his own. “Are you all right?”
It was as though a massive weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She was free. And yet she couldn’t deny the consequences of what she’d just done. Couldn’t pretend she was fine. “It’s done.”
That didn’t seem to satisfy him.
She ran her fingers through her own hair, parting it to one side.
“For all he is—he saved my life. Whether it was for selfish reasons or not, and even if he has put it in danger more times than I can count. He’s the closest thing I’ve known to family for a long time. Please don’t judge me for that.”
Caelan shook his head. “I understand.”
The silence that followed was the most comfortable she’d ever experienced.
“Come,” he said. “Omira and Thance are waiting. Let me buy you a drink.”
Reya smiled. “Oh, hell no. First, I want my coin back. Then I’ll buy you the drink.”