Page 141 of The Iron Flower

“The way you spoke to Valasca initially,” he says, “it felt like you have doubts about her ability to do this.”

“No,” I say, shaking my head. “I don’t. She just surprised me, that’s all.”

He hesitates, as if in danger of revealing part of a secret. “But...there’s a tension I’m sensing between the two of you.”

“It’s nothing.”

He stands there, obviously conflicted and unconvinced.

Out with it, Elloren. Just say it and be done with it.“This...thing happened,” I reluctantly tell him. “Valasca was my guard while we were in Cyme, and she saw that I was feeling out of sorts, so...she offered me spirits. I’d never had them before, and I drank too much, even though she warned me not to. And...we told each other a lot of personal things.”And I told her how much I want to kiss you. An uncomfortable burn starts along my neck. “I told her...about my feelings for you.”

Yvan’s fire gives a hard flare, and he looks away, as if suddenly at war with his emotions.

“Yvan,” I venture, concerned by his unease.

He shakes his head tightly, his eyes pinned on the forest.

I draw closer to him as he struggles to maintain his focus just past me and keep his fire tightly restrained.

“I’m sorry,” I tell him. “I never meant to share such private thoughts with her.”

“It’s not that,” he says, and I can sense how much holding back is costing him, his fire straining toward me like a bucking stallion.

An impassioned rebellion rises and I dare to put my hand on his arm. He swallows sharply, the muscles of his neck tensing, as I inwardly rail against our situation, against the entire Western Realm.Why do things have to be so difficult between us?

Seeking to comfort him, I slide my arms loosely around his waist and rest my head lightly on his shoulder, tears stinging at my eyes.

Yvan’s rigid posture abruptly loosens and he wraps his arms around me in a caress, his fire shuddering into my lines. “Elloren,” he says softly.

He leans down to inhale the scent of my hair, and I nuzzle my cheek against his graceful neck, his skin so hot to the touch. Unable to resist, I tilt my head and press my lips lightly against his neck.

He inhales sharply, and his fire sears over and into mine, his slow, careful touch giving way to a harder urgency as he pulls me close, his hands gripping my back, his lips on my hair.

I kiss him just below his jaw, and his breathing deepens, his fire flaring so riotously hot it raises a prickling line of heat straight down my spine.

Then I bring my lips toward his.

Yvan’s hands abruptly come to my arms, muscles tensed, holding me at bay. “We can’t do this.” His voice is ragged.

I blink up at him, hurt and confused and completely at a loss.“Why?”

He swallows hard, his gaze scorching. “If I kiss you,” he says, his voice low and rough, “there is no way I’lleverbe able to let you go.”

“Then don’t let me go,” I say fiercely, his fire grasping at mine with ardent heat.

“A kiss... It isn’t a simple thing for me,” Yvan says haltingly. “There’s...powerin it.”

I’m thrust into a deeper confusion. “Is this a Fire Fae trait?”

“Oh, no,” he says bitterly. “It’s something uniquely my own.”

“Yvan...”

“If I kiss you,” he says, struggling to find the right words, “it will...bindus.”

“What do you mean? Bind us how?” That secret pain again—I can see it in his eyes. “Yvan, please. You need to be honest with me.”

“I can’t,” he agonizes, his hands rigid on my arms. “There’s no happy ending for us, Elloren. There are things...things you don’t know...that you canneverknow. I’m dangerous to everyone you love...to everyone I love, as well.”

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