Chapter 16 #2
Thorne and Gisela entered their room upstairs in the tavern.
The musky smell had her wrinkling her nose.
A single candle flickered on the wooden nightstand, its weak light barely reaching the corners.
Beyond it, the room lay sparsely furnished, with little more than the essentials and a narrow bed at its center.
“One bed again,” Gisela said, staring into the room.
“I can crawl into bed with Silas. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind,” Thorne said sarcastically.
She rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I’m saying.”
“Then what are you saying?”
“Nothing. An observation, is all.” Gisela tossed her bag aside and collapsed onto the bed with a sigh. “Oh, I know. You could go to room two. I’m sure Sabrina would love to have your company.”
Thorne’s expression darkened. He stepped closer, the dim candlelight flickering over his face.
Gisela was suddenly aware of how vulnerable she looked lying there. She sat up.
He extended a hand toward her face, stopping just short of touching her. “Do you actually think I want anything to do with her?” His voice was low, rough. “Or anyone else?”
Gisela hesitated, looking away. “Thorne, I didn’t mean—”
“Look at me,” he said, not a command, but a plea.
She did.
His hand found her chin then, gently tilting her gaze up.
“I know the kind of man people think I am.”
She forgot how to breathe, her focus solely on his words and his calloused fingers on her chin.
“And I know why you wouldn’t want that,” he continued. “Why you shouldn’t.”
His eyes didn’t waver from hers. “But I don’t care what they think they know. I just want you to know me,” he said, his thumb shifting across her jawline. “I don’t want anyone else. Not Sabrina, not Ruby, not anyone. Only you.”
Gisela held herself perfectly still, fearing any movement would shatter the fragile confession. She took a shallow breath. “Thorne . . .”
“I know you feel it too,” he murmured. “The dreams after the awakening. The chill down your spine. The burn down mine. The awareness of each other. It’s always been there.”
Gisela swallowed hard, tears prickling her eyes. She had felt it—the pull of a tide she couldn’t fight, flooding her veins whenever he was near.
He let his hand fall. “If you don’t feel it, if you don’t want it,” he said. “Tell me.”
Every instinct told her to protect herself. Another part of her refused to let him go.
“I do,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. “I feel it too. But it scares me.”
“I don’t want you to be scared of me.”
“I’m not scared of you,” she said, gathering air that trembled in her chest. “I’m afraid of losing you.”
As the words slipped out, she wished she could take them back.
Not because they weren’t true, because they were.
That was what terrified her the most. This was Thorne Alderose.
He was the boy she once avoided, the one who made trouble everywhere he went.
But now, she feared he was the man she couldn’t be apart from.
He didn’t move at first, as if giving her time to change her mind. When she didn’t pull away—when her hand gripped his shirt instead—he exhaled.
Only then did he climb onto the bed, guiding her back beneath him. His hand slid through her hair and grasped the back of her head.
She drew a sharp breath as he lowered his body over hers. The last of the air between them vanished as she arched into him.
Thorne searched her eyes. “Being with you . . . it makes me feel like I’m finally where I’m supposed to be.
” He swallowed hard. “You make me want to be a better man, Gisela. But I—I don’t know if there’s anything left to build from.
” He drew a slow breath. “I care about you more than I’ve ever cared about anyone.
It’s as simple and as complicated as that.
Every part of me is drawn to you.” His lips brushed her ear, sending a shiver through her body.
She reached her hand to the back of his head and stroked her fingers through the soft black strands.
He groaned, closing his eyes, savoring the touch. He pressed his forehead lightly against hers. Their noses barely grazed. They opened their eyes together, like two people lost in the same dark room, hands outstretched, suddenly colliding with the light.
And realizing they were never alone in it.
The world outside vanished, and there was only them.
“You’re beautiful.” He swept his lips against hers, only the slightest touch, waiting for her to close the distance between them.
She pressed her lips to his, softly at first, then the subtle chill of her touch mingled with the heat of his. A current of energy flowed between them.
His hands roamed her body, studying every dip and curve.
She tugged his tunic off and let it fall to the ground. Her fingers outlined every ripple of his muscles, feeling the heat radiating from his skin.
He lifted her tunic over her head and tossed it aside, her chest bare for him to see.
She instinctively covered herself.
Thorne caught her wrists and guided them above her head. “No,” he said. “Don’t hide from me. You’re perfect.”
He leaned closer, kissing her collarbone before trailing up her neck.
She drew in a breath, arching, responding to his touch.
The sudden rap of knuckles against wood shattered it all.
Thorne stilled over her, their breaths tangled, neither of them willing to be the first to pull away.
The knocking continued and he cursed softly under his breath and pushed back.
They reached for their discarded clothes, the air between them gone cold.
“Gisela? Thorne?” Silas’s voice called out from the hallway.
“Uh, yeah, just a minute,” Thorne stammered as he dressed. He ran a hand through his disheveled hair, opening the door to see Silas’s eyes widen.
The awkward silence stretched, and Silas averted his gaze.
“We have to go. Now.”