Page 21 of The Immortal Covenant

Sarilian swallowed down the ball of lead that had formed in his throat. Part of him wanted to hurl himself between Malorg and the rift, no matter how irrational the gesture might be. Malorg had obviously known about this breach into the Shroud for some time. If he’d intended to enter, he could have done so long before they’d ever met.

Besides, Malorg was right—it wasn’t up to Sarilian to save him from his despair. That burden lay squarely with Malorg himself. Still, that didn’t mean Sarilian couldn’t demonstrate his support.

“An ending, huh?” Sarilian forced a lightness into his tone he didn’t feel as he crossed his arms, conjuring a weak grin. “I don’t know. Seems to me like you’d be missing out.”

Malorg blinked. He turned away from the Shroud’s azure surface to face Sarilian with a raised brow. “On what? On more pointless battles against an unbeatable foe? On day after day of struggling in vain to find some reason for living beyond sheer stubbornness?”

“On a chance to accomplish the impossible together.” Sarilian straightened his shoulders, meeting Malorg’s slate-gray eyes despite the nerves churning in his gut. “Because like it or not, I care about you, Malorg. And I’m not ready to give up on that future without a fight.”

Malorg shook his head, the lines on his face deepening with sudden weariness. “I never should have brought you here. Return to your Dawnlands. Forget we ever met.”

“No.”

The fierce word hung in the charged air between them. His jaw tightening with determination, Sarilian stepped forward until a mere finger’s length separated them.

Malorg held his ground. His nostrils flared as Sarilian met his stormy gaze. With a touch as tender as a whispered promise, Sarilian reached up, tracing the scar on Malorg’s left cheek. A hiss escaped Malorg’s lips, a mix of surprise and anticipation.

“There is nowhere else in this realm I’d rather be right now than here with you,” Sarilian said. Then, giving Malorg an eternity of chances to pull away, he leaned in.

Malorg remained locked in place, as still and lifeless as a shadow while Sarilian brushed their lips together. For an agonizing moment, doubt nibbled at the edges of Sarilian’s certainty. Had he misjudged the situation yet again? Was he about to face another rejection?

Then, like a dormant ember igniting into a blaze, Malorg came alive, returning the kiss with rising fervor. Sarilian let out a soft groan as Malorg’s teeth found purchase on his bottom lip. Their tongues entwined while their hands roamed, mapping the hidden contours of each other’s bodies.

Somehow, Sarilian ended up pressed against a wall with Malorg grinding atop him. Careful to give the rift into the Shroud a wide berth, Sarilian set aside his lingering inhibitions and abandoned himself fully to the desire that had been brewing between them all day—and, unless he missed his guess, for some time before then.

“This. Isn’t. A. Good. Idea,” Malorg managed between bouts of kissing.

“You’re right,” Sarilian panted, struggling to think with Malorg’s lithe body gyrating against him. He moaned as Malorg nibbled his neck. “You must have a place to stay in the city, right? Somewhere a bit moreprivate?”

Malorg hesitated, uncertainty flashing over his features before he nodded. He grasped Sarilian’s hand, and they burst into shadows. This time, Sarilian’s impatience drowned out any discomfort from the duskwalking. Malorg must have been equally eager because in no time at all, they’d slipped up the stairs of an angular building to a small apartment near the top.

As they melted out of the shadows, Sarilian dismissed his conjured clothes with a thought. Malorg followed suit an instant later, and for the first time, nothing stood between them. Hands clutched for purchase as they tumbled together onto the soft collection of pillows that must pass for Malorg’s bed. Since Immortals didn’t require sleep, all they really needed was a place to lounge…and to indulge moments like this.

“Merciful Light, you’re beautiful,” Sarilian murmured, reaching up to cup Malorg’s scarred cheek. Malorg’s eyes darkened as he took Sarilian in another heart-stopping kiss.

When they eventually broke apart, Malorg pulled back. Alarm spiked through Sarilian, replaced by confusion when he noticed Malorg’s raised hand crackling with duskflame.

“What are you doing?”

“I want to see the real you.”

A shiver of desire arced through Sarilian as Malorg pressed his shadow-infused hand to Sarilian’s bare chest. The illusion coating him snapped apart, revealing his normal bronze skin faintly glowing with suppressed dawnflame.

The sharp lines of Malorg’s narrow face softened as he pressed a surprisingly gentle kiss to Sarilian’s forehead that sent a shudder of pleasure racing down his spine. “Much better.”

Growling softly, Sarilian bucked upward and sealed Malorg’s mouth once more with his. Dawnflame and duskflame swirled between them, threatening to consume them in a frozen conflagration. Yet, as Sarilian let his head fall back, moaningwhile Malorg’s fingers slipped lower in a fervent caress, he could not imagine any way he’d rather go.

“I don’t want to leave,” Sarilian said once his breathing and heartbeat were back under control. His fingers played with Malorg’s soft, raven-black hair. “But I should.”

They lay side by side, their limbs still tangled together. At some point, constant contact had dulled the conflicting sensations of their magic into a tentative equilibrium.

Part of Sarilian longed for Malorg to say,Then don’t. To ask him to stay. But the Infernal simply nodded, moving to rise.

“Wait.” Sarilian tightened his grip around Malorg’s stomach, relishing the feel of his taut, battle-hardened muscles. “Just a little longer. Please?”

Malorg sighed but relented, sinking back into the pile of pillows. Sarilian snuggled contentedly into his side.

Soon, he’d have to return to the Dawnlands. Even if he was willing to shirk his responsibilities to his fellow Celestials and the people of Allaria, he could only imagine the diplomatic crisis his discovery here would cause. Not to mention his weakening reserve of dawnflame the longer he remained in the darkness. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t savor this moment while it lasted.

---