Page 44 of A Kiss of Embers
When they broke apart, a look of uncertainty stared back at him as Seraphina bit her lip. “And you would be all right with it?”
“With what?”
“With the…Pri situation.”
He picked up a strand of her hair and inhaled the sweet floral aroma. The black tresses were a knotted, tangled mess, but he loved the way it gave her a wild look. Wild and passionate and untamed. He wanted to paint her. Just like this. To never forget this beautiful moment.
With a shrug, he answered, “Why not?” And then he grimaced. “I can’t say I’m the best fatherly influence…”
“Oh, blazes,” she laughed, and warmth filled his entire body when she kissed his bare chest. “I can’t say I’m the best motherly influence. But I do my best.”
They stared at each other for a long moment before jesting in unison, “Grandfather.”
Bastien’s chest rumbled as he chuckled. “We’ll leave the child-raising to my father. He seems to be good at it.”
She pinched his side. “Is he? Because he raised you, after all.”
Although he wanted children someday, he wasn’t ready for them. And from how it seemed, neither was Seraphina.
In an alternate world, of course…
The thought broke his smile until it disappeared altogether in favor of the sobering feelings of reality. Because this wasn’t their truth, only a distorted sense of a happier life far out of reach.
He held her closer when he realized he was going to lose her. Forever. What would it be like to see her on the battlefield the next time their people went to war with each other? He couldn’t fight her when all his instincts would scream to protect her.
“Can you…give your power to someone else?”
But the hope spurred in his chest deflated the moment she shook her head. “My death will transfer the power to the next female heir in line. I don’t feel like dying.” Her finger traced his chest and down to his belly button. “Rivers of magma run beneath our lands, and the heat gives life to my people. We cannot live without our fire. If my magic dies, then so do my people.”
Frustration furrowed his brows as he glanced away from her. Of course, he’d known from the beginning that getting too close to her was a mistake. But the mistake was made. And he would fight the impossible the entire way to the next battle.
“Then why are they so strict about killing you if you were to have premarital relations?”
“Because legitimacy must not be questioned when the power passes to the next generation. The power must remain pure.”
“Annnnd a Forest Fae will corrupt such purity?”
“Bas…” she murmured, lifting up on her elbow to gaze down at him. A sweet softness lingered in her eyes, a refreshing sight compared to the constant playful mocking and anger in her expression. He liked this side of her. “What do you think I could do? File down your ears? Dye your hair black? Change the color of your eyes?”
“I don’t want you to have concubines.”
He scratched behind his ear as frustration and hopelessness ate at him. Envy had never been a good look on him. But when he imagined her with her three future concubines, his blood boiled with rage.
She said nothing but rather slipped her fingers through his and stared at their hands while wearing a troubled expression. After several long moments of silence, she finally spoke, “I should have gone after the other man in your party. Sylvain. It might be better if we were still enemies.”
Bastien threaded his fingers through her hair and pulled her down for a kiss, which she returned with an eager mouth. All he wanted was to kiss her until all their fears and worries disappeared. But delaying the inevitable would change nothing. “I don’t regret knowing you.” His breath mingled with hers in the small space between them. “Not for a single second.”
“Neither do I.”
Over the rest of the day and into the early morning of their final day together, they made love several more times, each with more heartbreak than the last. Because they both knew they would have to say a final goodbye. And Seraphina knew she wasn’t ready for it.
Perhaps she would never be ready for it.
Because she was falling in love with the one person she should have kept her distance from. Love was never supposed to be a factor when she’d stabbed him and dragged him through the forest.
But now?
She never wanted their time to end together.
