Page 86 of The Other Side of the Mirror

I let her feel every bit of my confidence through our bond. And when she kissed me, it was soft but sure.

There was no way to keep myself from her after that. I barely managed to get my pants off before I was inside her, pulling her legs around my hips as she gasped my name. I took her against the wall, hard and fast, our hunger for each other cresting with a wild fervor of nerves and adrenaline.

Eva cried out as she found release, and I was unable to help but join her as she shuddered around me. I fell against her, pressing her into the wall, kissing her neck as she panted in my ear. She melted into me as though we might stay like this forever.

But it was time. As much as I didn’t want to risk her going back there, I knew she wouldn’t be left behind. Not with her twin at risk. Just as I knew she would face her fears head on.

I helped Eva into her fighting leathers, the sight of the black fabric molding to her skin threatening to bring me to my knees. She attached her sword to her side, her eyes on me the entire time. Then I was lifting her into her saddle and double checking each buckle before mounting Smoke.

My saddle felt strangely empty without Eva in front of me, my body already bereft of her touch. Myanimahad claimed her own midnight steed.

As we rode out into the daylight, I tried not to allow myself to dwell on the fear that I hadn’t been enough to save my parents from their ends, and if it came to it, I wouldn’t be enough to save her either.

I wondered if anyone else saw that my hands were shaking.

Chapter34

Bash

The setting sun painted the sky in magnificent shades of orange and pink, the pines reaching up in black brushstrokes against the colorful backdrop. We had ridden past the midway point before finding a spot to camp for the night. Knowing tomorrow, with all its dangers, would come soon enough.

Yael and Rivan gave me all too knowing smiles as I deliberately set up Eva’s and my sleep mats as far away from them as possible, hiding us behind a group of trees. Rivan deliberately tapped the point of his ear when we said goodnight. Eva snorted at the devilish look on my face as I simply smirked at him in response.

I pulled our sleep mats next to each other, so it formed one large bed, and Eva laughed.

“What?” I asked, unable to help my smile as her light, easy mirth flowed over me.

“Well, I don’t know…” Eva grinned impishly as she bent over to straighten the bedding. “Maybe I should face the other direction and almost hold your hand for old time’s sake.”

A growl rumbled in my chest, and I yanked her against me, her ass intentionally wiggling in the air too inviting of an invitation.

“Oh, I don’t think I’m going to let you get away with that again,” I murmured in her ear, feeling her entire body shiver.

When I took her earlobe in between my teeth, she let out a perfect little whimper, leaning back into me. I nipped my way down to her neck, placing a kiss directly on the pale band where she had been collared, and heard her breath catch.

“How goodexactlyis fae hearing?”

When she laughed again at the expression on my face, I stole it right from her mouth. She pushed me away, but her hand grabbed mine, tugging me toward the bedrolls. As we settled under the blankets, she melded into me, her breath warm against my cheek in the chill night air.

But when I looked at her, those bright eyes had shuttered, and I knew I had lost her to thoughts of tomorrow. Of what, and whom, we might have to face.

“Hey,” I whispered, stroking her cheek almost pleadingly. “Stay here with me.”

She blinked twice, our bond drowning in trepidation. I had felt it there all day, taut and coiled at the impending threat as we galloped closer and closer to Morehaven. The worry in her expression made my heart sink as I pulled her into my arms.

“I like being back here with you, even knowing what’s waiting for us,” Eva said with a shaky smile. “Especially now that you know how much I need you.”

“I always need you.” My thumb caressed the side of her face in long, tender strokes. “Every moment. Even before I gave in to what my heart always knew and the rest of me was too foolish to understand sooner.”

Eva sighed, and I hated that she looked away, even for a moment. “I wish we’d figured things out faster. If we had…”

My heart clenched at the thought that I could have spared her even a second of her ordeal.

“Nothing has ever scared me more than the thought that I might lose you.”

Those hazel eyes met mine, the gold in them glimmering in the moonlight. “And if things don’t go to plan tomorrow?”

I tried not to focus on the way her voice cracked when she said it.

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