Page 77 of Bloodguard

“I know you will.”

She saved my baby sister.

No. Maeve saved them all.

It doesn’t matter if the terrace is dimly lit. It’s clear Maeve is blushing. I cock a brow. “Is there something I should know?”

“You mentioned earlier today that Dahlia never had a doll,” she says. “So, I went ahead and placed an order to get one made and sent to her.”Is this why it took so bloody long to pick out estrella toys this afternoon? She was ordering a custom doll, too. “One with big brown eyes and short black curls, as you described her. Oh, and with the green leather shoes you said she always wore—”

I haul her to me and kiss her. It’s not a hasty kiss. I take my time, passing my lips over her lush mouth. With this woman…I’m lost.

I cup the base of her head and encircle her waist with my free arm.

Maeve’s stunned pause is brief, and then her body melts against mine.

Her fingers slide into my hair, her lips moving in concert with mine.

Then there’s no time for thoughts.

There’s only the feel of her skin and the sounds that she makes, those little breathy moans that I feel down to my bones.

I’m lost completely in the feel and taste of her. The way my arm fits perfectly around her waist, and her pounding heart as it beats against mine.

I nip at her throat, and she releases a gasp. I silence it by feathering my lips over hers.

One pass.

Two.

Three.

That’s all the restraint I have in me before I devour her.

I press myself tighter against her, bowing her back, my tongue seeking more of her taste.

Her impassioned moans stir awake fireflies as large as my hand. They flutter up and out from deep within the garden, circling us as silver cicadas and glen-berry frogs greet the bright moon with a serenade.

I’m barely aware of them. Beneath the moon, the stars, the dark-blue sky, there’s only Maeve…

chapter 28

Leith

That kiss marked the first of many.

It’s not something I meant to happen the first time—or many times thereafter—but I won’t regret it. With Maeve, each moment seems to take on more meaning. Or maybe it’s just that time is not on our side.

Maeve’s birthday draws near.

Only a couple of weeks away.

Soon, I’ll be called back to the arena. If it wasn’t for this Memorial of the Phoenix festival, I could’ve been summoned to fighttoday.I’m healing but not near my normal bearing. I can only hope I regain as much of my strength as I can during this reprieve.

“This is foolish,” I tell her. “If you wanted to attend the parade, you should’ve gone in your carriage with your father and sister and a full regiment of guards, as your station demands.”

“I wanted to go with you,” she says simply.

I let those words settle over me.

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