Page 55 of Born of Blood and Ash

“Just give me a moment to—” I squeaked in surprise as Ashappeared in front of me. “I’m so going to do that to you every chance I get,” Iwarned, trying to sidestep him.

“Looking forward to it,” he replied dryly. “We don’t have tomeet with anyone right now.”

“I know.” I crossed my arms. “But I want to.”

Ash arched a brow.

“What?” I challenged as Reaver landed on the arm of thecouch.

“I don’t think you realize how much you project.” He ignoredthe glare I shot him. “Your anxiety spiked.”

“My anxiety is always spiking.”

“It doesn’t need to be right now.” His eyes searched mine.“And you don’t need to be bothered right now.”

“It’s not a bother, Ash.”

Eather pulsed in his eyes. “We will have to disagree onthat.”

“This is a responsibility.”

“One that can wait,” he argued.

“Ash.” I wrapped my hands around his arms. “I appreciatewhat you’re doing right now. I do. It’s sweet.” I stretched onto my tiptoes andkissed him. When I settled back on my feet, I saw that his eyes were now likepools of warm silver. “Not only am I ready to do this, I feel fine. But if Istart to feel like I’m hiding, I won’t feel fine.”

“You’re not hiding.” His fingers trailed over my cheek. “I’mhiding you.”

“You’re hiding me because you don’t want me to getoverwhelmed.”

“Damn straight.” His jaw hardened. “You’ve been through alot, Sera. They can fucking wait.”

I stared at him for a moment, my heart feeling like it wasturning to goo. “Gods, I love you. And honestly, if we didn’t have thismeeting, I would throw myself at you.”

The streaks of eather whirled.“Meeting is canceled.”

“Reaver is right behind me,” I reminded him.

He dragged his teeth over his lower lip as his gaze droppedto my mouth. “He can join Jadis in terrorizing Bele.”

I laughed. “We’re going to have this meeting. We need to.Kolis may be holed up in his Court recovering, but he won’t stay that way formuch longer. We can’t waste any time.”

Ash held my stare. “Fuck,” he muttered, his lashes lowering.

Knowing I had won, I smiled. “I just need to do somethingwith my hair.” I waved in the general vicinity of my head. “I’m sure I looklike a madwoman.”

Reaver made another low chuffing sound. Little brat.

“You look beautiful,” Ash replied. “But I’ll grab a brush.”

Before I could say anything, Ash disappeared into thebathing chamber and returned quickly, comb in hand. He gestured to one of thechairs. “Sit.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked as I went to oneof the dining chairs and sat. Reaver followed, taking up position once more bymy legs. “It’s a real pain to untangle.”

As Ash carefully worked the comb through the curls andwaves, holding the strands above the comb so my head didn’t jerk, I felt Reaverrest his head on my knee. I reached down and gave the back of his neck ascratch. A soft purring sound radiated from him. “You like that, Reaver-butt?”

His vivid blue eyes closed, and he let out a happy littletrilling sound. I smiled at his reaction to his nickname, relieved to see himin a better headspace than last night.

My eyes drifted shut as Ash quickly and painlessly freed thetangles. He was far gentler than I was with my hair, and there was somethingincredibly soothing about him combing it. I practically tore the thing throughthe strands, impatient and annoyed with how easily it tangled.

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