Page 21 of Garlands and Gauntlets

“About?”

I hesitate, stroking my thumb over the little wooden fox in my pocket. “About what comes next,” I admit.

Vaelin stops mid-step, turning to face me fully. His dark hair falls slightly across his eyes, and I can’t resist the urge to reach out and tuck it behind his ear, grazing my thumb over his cheekbone.

It feels good. Too good.

“So…what comes next,” he finally says. “You mean after Hearthwynd?”

After me?

The look on his face makes my chest ache. I nod, swallowing hard. “Yeah. I need to start looking for answers, and my next destination is set.”

“So you’re definitely going looking for your father.”

I nod again. “I don’t know much about him, but I think it’s time I found out. My mother never really talked about him, and after everything that’s happened with Cedric…it’s time I stopped running.”

Vaelin studies me, his green eyes flickering in the lantern light. His expression is unreadable, and the silence stretches between us until he finally speaks. “That’s a big quest.”

I laugh. “It is.”

“And you’re just going to go alone?”

The question catches me off guard. I nod, though the thought makes my chest tighten. “I have to. It’s not the kind of thing I can ask someone else to do.”

“Why not?”

I blink, startled by the implication. “Because it’s my journey.”

“Yeah, but…” He trails off. “You shouldn’t have to do it alone.”

I’m ready for him to say it–to offer to come along, because Ireallywant him to, because I think we make a good team. He’s a pessimist where I’m an optimist; he’s sneaky where I’m clumsy, I’m big where he’s small. I could protect him and he could protect me.

But neither of us says anything.

I start to lose hope.

“Well, I guess…” I start.

Then Vaelin reaches out and takes my hand. “You should come back to my place,” he says.

I search his gaze for something more, for that offer I’m looking for.

He doesn’t make it.

I don’t care.

Without giving him a verbal answer, I pull him closer, sweep him into my arms–and I kiss him.

This is nothing like the first time; it’s more intense, urgent. Our mouths collide, the kiss rough and demanding, as if we’re both trying to pour everything unsaid into this single moment. I clutch him to me with one hand at the small of his back while I tangle my other hand in his silken hair–and when I stumble, he helps us catch ourselves on the wall of a building.

The world fades around us–the cold, the snow–and all I can feel is him. The press of his body, the heat of his lips, the way his breath hitches when I slide my roaming hand down and find his tight, muscular ass–

The thought surprises me. Because I know I should be respectful…but I want him so, so bad.

“I don’t live far from here,” he says, somehow tearing himself away. “Come home with me.”

That’s exactly what I want to do, but I have too much decency to trust that he means it–so I ask, “Are you sure?”

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