Page 119 of Path of the Dark
Ryana swallowed, trembling under his touch. “You don’t want to rejoin the celebrations?” she said, trying to keep her voice steady. “They’ll have brought out the sweets by now.”
Elias’s mouth quirked, and he leaned forward, placing his lips to where her pulse fluttered at the base of her throat. He then breathed her in. “We too have something to celebrate,” he murmured against her skin. “And I don’t want sweets … I’d rather feast on you.”
Later, they lay naked together upon the bed, bodies entwined. Ryana’s clothes and the leather pack lay discarded on the floor, while the late afternoon sun streamed in through the window, warming their skin.
Outdoors, laughter filtered up from the bailey below, as did the shrill notes of a bone whistle. The celebrations had moved outdoors it seemed. The people of Veldoras would celebrate long into the night.
“It must feel strange,” Ryana murmured as she lay nestled into Elias’s shoulder, “for you and your men to still be here … the defeated enemy in a liberated city.”
“Aye, it does,” Elias admitted. He stroked her back—a soft, sensual caress. “I’m not entirely comfortable with it … the sooner we depart for home the better.”
Home. The way he said that word made warmth seep through Ryana.
“You once said you hadn’t been back to Mirrar Rock in years,” she replied. “What’s the thing you miss most?”
Silence stretched out while Elias pondered her question. “The air,” he said finally. “It’s warm all year round. During the day it smells of the sea and frying garlic, but after dark the scent of night flowering jasmine drifts through the city.”
Ryana smiled at his description. She liked the idea of that. “The Royal City smells of pine and wood smoke,” she murmured. “It’s a different world.”
“Will you miss it?” he asked after a pause.
Ryana shook her head. “You can’t miss a place that never really felt like home.”
“You’ll like Mirrar Rock,” Elias assured her.
His confidence made her smile widen. “How can you be so sure of that?”
“Because it’s bold, sultry, and earthy … like you, my love.”
In response, Ryana laughed, the sound filtering across the chamber and into the bright afternoon.
