Page 76 of Beneath the Desert Bloom
Of breath.
Of blood.
Of bone.
Asher lifted his head to look at her. The glow in his eyes had dimmed, but hadn’t disappeared. They were still gold. Still vast. But now there was something softer in them.
He reached out and brushed his thumb along her jaw.
He pressed a kiss to her shoulder, right above the mark he’d bitten, and closed his eyes.
She felt something surge where his mouth met her skin.
A pulse.
A heat.
A low thrum rising from the soles of her feet into her chest.
She tilted her head toward the window.
Outside, the wind stilled and she saw something shimmer in the bright moonlight. A bloom. White, wide, open to the night. A desert flower that shouldn’t be in season.
She gasped.
Asher lifted his head to look at her, eyes wide.
“You’re… glowing,” he said softly.
She looked down. Her arms shimmered faintly, light flickering at her fingertips.
“It happens when I want you,” she said softly. “But also when I feel… different. When I’m not sure who I am anymore.”
He met her gaze.
“It’s not just a response,” he said. “It’s a recognition. The land sees you.”
He hesitated.
“And that scares me.”
She didn’t answer. She didn’t have to.
And she wasn’t afraid.
She rose slowly, Asher watching her like she might vanish if he blinked.
She wrapped herself in a blanket and stepped outside barefoot.
The night was warm. Still.
And the yard was blooming.
Not just a single flower now, but dozens.
Moonflowers. Cactus blossoms. Ghost blooms edged in lavender and silver.
Impossible. Wild. Alive.
