Page 120 of What Lies Within Blood & Heirs

Like a damned fool.

He suddenly realized why he was so nervous.

Because descending that staircase … she was a Stars Eternal dream.

White hair glowing with ethereal beauty was sculpted in a crown of braids. Loose curls spilled over the dark silk draped around her shoulders. Breath-taking beauty swept across her face, those incredible eyes, and he had to battle the vicious urge not to drop to his knees in surrender.

This was an urge far greater than keeping the serpent darkness at bay,this… this was impossible.

He almost forgot who he was. Almost forgot his starsdamned name or where he stood?—

“I’ve never seen you drop your sword. Not once,” Thalon interrupted.

But still Garrik could not speak. Unable to form anything but her name.

Alora.

She descended the staircase in front of Jade. Time seemed to be this distant, enduring thing. A moment long-lived as his gaze slowly swept over her. From her bare feet on the crimson rugs, up the smooth silk of onyx fitted tight to her curves. Over the gemstones scattered like stars in the night, the flowing scarf draped delicately around the curve of her shoulders.

Garrik’s dilated eyes fell on the plummeting neckline caressing the swell of her breasts and stopped above her navel.

Curse the stars. Garrik’s sanity almost escaped him.

But he felt her then. Sensed something like panic rippling through her mind when he noticed the terror she desperately attempted to hide. A terror he had seen so many times, knowing exactly why her knees were shaking. Why her knuckles whitened around the railing and the torment caused her skin to blanch with each trembling step.

He stepped forward.Fuck.He should have met her upstairs. Silver burned into her, and those eyes like gemstones found his when he called to her across their tether,You are staring. It is making me quite uncomfortable.

There she was, those sapphires widening when she heard his voice.

How could I not?she retorted.You take up the entire room. Hard to look at anything else.

In such a short time, she descended ten more steps, never faltering.Thinking about my body, clever girl? You scandalize me so.

Five more. Only eight steps from the bottom now. He stepped closer to the base.

She scoffed, but her cheeks swelled with that gorgeous smile that always brightened her eyes.In your damned dreams. I should light your ass aflame for that remark.

So, it is my ass you are thinking of? If you want it that badly, you need only ask.

Three more steps remaining.

I know what you’re doing.

Oh?Garrik hummed in wicked satisfaction as he extended his palm, waiting for the moment her soft skin met the calluses of his.

Alora’s palm found his, and he tightened his grip, ushering her to the rugs below as she said, “Thank you.” Alora’s smile beamed.

He regarded her slight hesitation—and how her lips rolled between her teeth and her gaze flickered to his cheek as if to kiss it. Later, he intended to remind her what that little gesture did to him.

Garrik warded off the urge to adjust his buckle. Warded off lifting his thumb to run it across her lips as he drawled, “I have no idea whatever for.” Tightening his jaw to keep from grinning,the silver in his eyes darkened, raking over her. And for a moment, the only thing he focused on was her breath. The near-silent sound she made when his thumb brushed the back of her hand.

Alora released his palm and rolled her lips between her teeth, nervously—and he needed her tostopdoing that.

“I didn’t want to fall. It’s been a while,” she said.

The shoes, he noted, clattered together as they hung from the straps in her hand.

She breathed a nervous chuckle as scarlet warmed her cheeks. “And training boots wouldn’t flatter this ridiculous dress.”

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