Page 42 of A Kiss of Embers
“Why?” he laughed. “Because you finally realize how charming I can be?”
Instead of answering out loud, a smile lingered on her lips as she set the brush down and rounded on him. “Hold still,” she ordered and tried to ignore her shaky fingers as she began unbuttoning his vest and slipped it off his shoulders.
“What are you doing?” he breathed when she started on the buttons on his shirt next, overly aware of his piercing gaze watching her every movement.
“I believe you have several wounds you’ve received in the past few days. I’m not about to let them fester any longer.”
Emotion clogged her throat when she helped shrug him out of the garment, only to face the muscles hiding beneath. Her fingers brushed against the hardened planes of his chest and down to the defined muscles of his stomach. She traced each dip and groove, relishing the warmth of his skin.
“Ser,” he rasped, startling her out of her musings.
“Oh, uh, right. Bandages.” She turned abruptly and knocked several items from the cabinet until her fingers closed around an old, rolled bandage and a jar of ointment. With far more concentration than she needed, she redressed the bandage on his muscled arm and took care in wrapping his shoulder.
“I apologize for doing this to you,” she said, lightly tracing the skin around the place where she’d stabbed him.
“You are not forgiven. It hurt like hell.”
But when she lifted her gaze, the twitch of his mouth gave away his jesting words. It seemed he had forgiven her, but it didn’t appease much of her guilt. If it had been anyone other than Bastien, how differently would this scenario have ended up?
With a tug of his hand, she instructed him to lay face down on the bed while she inspected the quick patch job he’d done on his thigh over his trousers. From her vantage point, the cut didn’t seem deep but rather shallow. It was a good thing the bolt Zephyr had struck him with hadn’t been poisoned.
Because if it had been her, each of her bolts would have been coated with a potent poison. Much like the two knives currently sheathed to her thigh strap.
“Well?” Bastien asked as he rolled over, hands behind his head. “How does it look, nurse?”
She tipped her head and gave him a pointed stare. “I can’t tell with your trousers on.”
He waggled his eyebrows. “Do you want me to take them off?”
But instead of giving into his teasing, heat burned inside her core as she carefully climbed onto the bed with him, on her hands and knees, her hair draping over one shoulder like an ebony waterfall.
His playfulness turned to seriousness in an instant moments before she closed the distance between them. Their lips collided in a rush of sparks, of emotion, of passion. Not at all similar to the sweet kiss Bastien had bestowed upon her earlier. But a kiss that burst every fiber of her body into flame.
“If this is how you say goodbye,” he murmured against her neck, “then I’ve no complaints.”
“I’m not saying goodbye.” She threaded her fingers through his hair as she deepened the kiss, loving how his touch on her arms, her shoulders, her waist stirred the cauldron of flames within her belly until every breath that escaped her was fire. She was fire.
Bastien’s mouth trailed across her jaw, to her throat, and then her collarbones. She took that time to control her breathing, knowing any mistake might hurt him if she burned too hot.
But then she gasped when his fingers brushed against her wings. He quickly snatched them back.
“Sorry.”
She shook her head, unable to form words, as she grabbed his hands and guided them along the edges of her wings. The membrane was thin and sensitive, but he was so careful and gentle.
A shaky breath left her lips as she ran her hands over his shoulders, down his arms, and along his chest. When she reached the waistband of his trousers, she wanted to throw caution to the wind. To give everything to this perfect moment in time, one which she might never get to experience again. Not like this. Not with him.
But then Bastien startled her when he grabbed her hands, breathing heavily as he shook his head. All too suddenly, she noticed the rain pattering on the rooftop over their heads and tree limbs groaning beneath the howling winds.
“No,” he said adamantly as he held her at bay by the shoulders. “You told me what your people will do if you don’t remain untouched. I will not put you in such a position.”
“I have already been put in such a position, and not by your doing.” She released a long, sad breath as she thought about what her future might hold. “I want to choose my own path. Just once. Before the rest of my life is forced upon me in some way or another. And…” Her voice wavered. “If I had to choose, I would choose you.”
Bastien’s lashes fluttered closed, followed by a swallow. He remained quiet for far too long, and only then did she realize he was wrestling with his emotions. Finally, when he spoke, his eyes opened to reveal an unmistakable sheen, and his words escaped as a rasp.
“Those are not words I thought I’d hear in my lifetime. Not directed at me.”
“Why not?” she whispered, resting her hand on his chest.
