Page 96 of The Hunt of Night

“Do the guys know?”

He nods. “Yes, but no one else. It’s not safe for me,” he admits, making my eyebrows furrow in concern.

“Why?”

Sweeping his tongue over his bottom lip, he looks out over the balcony before settling his gaze back on mine. “I’d be nothing but a tool for others to manipulate.”

It is such a simple and vague sentence, but the weight of it lies heavy on my shoulders, as if it is my own secret to keep.

“I won’t tell a soul,” I promise, hand on my chest above where my heart is.

“I know you won’t, Princess.”

“How?” I cock a brow, surprised by his certainty, and he shrugs.

“Because my dragon trusts very few people, but none more than it trusts you.”

“Me?” I breathe, pointing a finger at myself as his statement leaves me in awe.

He steps closer, cupping my cheek as my blood simmers with a heat that is the complete opposite of anger.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get there in time to stop you being hurt at all.” His brows furrow, rage and despair warring in his eyes as I gape at him.

“That’s not an apology for you to make,” I insist, but he shakes his head.

“It is.”

“At least you don’t regret letting me leave Cassian’s room altogether,” I muse, pressing my palms flat against his chest as he brings me in closer.

“Oh, I do, but I wouldn’t change it. You’re your own woman, and I respect that. If anyone understands the desire to be alone to think, it’s me.” His words send my pulse thundering in my ears.

I can’t stop blinking at him, the air swirling with the heat that surrounds us.

“Do the others know we’re here?”

“Yes.”

“Are they mad?”

He gives me a pointed look, which is answer enough. “Don’t ask silly questions, Princess.”

“What are our chances of prolonging their wrath until tomorrow?” I have no idea what time it is now, but I’m desperateto cling to this moment. Just the two of us. It feels like I’ve waited forever for it.

“For you, anything.”

“What if what I want is you?” My voice is barely more than a whisper, thick with my desire as I peer up at him.

“I’m already yours.”

His lips descend on mine in the softest kiss that has ever existed, and I succumb to it, to him. His hold on my chin tightens as he shifts me into the perfect angle to offer him control. He can have it, all of it; I just need him.

As if sensing the need inside of me, he lifts me in the air, my feet dangling as he pins me to his chest, moving us without lifting his mouth from mine. I feel the drapes drag across my skin as the world goes dim, and it’s just the two of us.

He lowers me to the bed gently, with more care than I want or deserve, but it’s worth it when he releases my lips to look deep into my eyes. His hands trail under my nightdress, pressing against my thighs as I gasp, my muscles clenching beneath his touch.

“I want you, Addi.”

“Are you sure?” I instantly regret asking when the panic of him changing his mind comes into my thoughts, but the way he nods settles the sudden rush of uncertainty.

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