Page 152 of Ash and Feather

“It seems that way,” I said, holding out the letter to him. “Though maybe I’m biased and looking for positive things that aren’t really there.”

He took the parchment and read it silently. Then read it a second and third time before he finally gave it back to me. “It sounds…somewhat promising,” he admitted.

I folded the letter up and slipped it into the inside pocket of my coat, letting it rest right above the scar left by Andrel’s knife.

Somewhat promisingwas better than nothing.

And for now, it would have to do.

Chapter 36

Karys

I couldn’t sleep.

Sunrise was only hours away, yet it felt like it would never arrive. Like I was trapped in an endless night that kept repeating itself over and over and over.

Dravyn dozed soundly at my side, one arm draped over my stomach.

I kept still for as long as I could, trying not to disturb him, but restlessness eventually got the better of me. Slowly and silently, I sat up, scooting toward the edge of the bed.

Dravyn’s hand closed around my hip, pulling me back. His eyes stayed closed. His breathing remained easy and even. He mumbled my name and something else, but he was clearly still asleep.

Even in his dreams, he was still reaching for me.

Still choosing me.

I warmed at the thought and reached for him as well, intertwining my fingers with his. He squeezed my hand and shifted onto his back, pulling free of the blankets that hadbunched between us and putting his bare, impressive chest on full display.

I stopped moving toward the edge of the mattress, caught up in the sight of him.

My gaze swept over the moonlit ridges of his abdomen, up the corded muscles of his arm, along the powerful lines of his shoulder. My stomach clenched at the sight of the new scars he’d gained in Mindoth. Or maybebruiseswas the more correct term. They were a strange combination of both—dark splotches of discolored skin with a scattering of raised, angry slashes in some places.

Tentatively, I ran my fingers along the longest of the raised marks. As I touched it, I would have sworn I could see the arrow that had caused it, bright and flashing in my mind. I could feel its sharpness. The burning it left behind…

A wave of anguish shot through me.

Dravyn stirred, clearly sensing it. I froze, cursing myself for not having better control of my thoughts and feelings, as he blinked his eyes open. Several emotions played across his face in the span of a few breaths.

Disoriented at first.

Then came a flash of guarded panic as he took in the symbols of his old life that surrounded us.

And then—finally—relief overtook him as his eyes found me.

“I’m sorry I woke you,” I said.

“You didn’t.” His voice was a whisper. One husky with sleep—and maybe something more, given the way his gaze dipped to the plunging neckline of my nightgown as he spoke. “This still feels like a dream to me.” He brushed his hand along my arm, hooded eyes still drinking me in. “And I think I’d like to stay asleep.”

His voice reignited the desire I’d felt on the rooftop earlier today. I smiled and eased closer, moving my attention from hisshoulder to his chest, kissing a trail across it, then down along the hard ridges of his stomach.

My hands slid down along with my mouth, tracing his sides, following the muscular lines that dipped out of sight beneath the low-slung, loose-fitting pants he wore. I paused at the top of those pants, my fingers hooking around the waistband.

I planted a few more teasing kisses on the skin just above that band before arching up and bringing my face back toward his. One of my hands braced against the bed beside him. The other, I kept at his waist, drawing tantalizing circles with my fingertips, caresses that slowly slipped lower and lower.

I brushed that lower hand against the stiffening outline of his cock, pulling a soft groan from him.

Catching his breath, he asked, “Is this the suffering you warned me about on the roof earlier?”

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