“Are you comparing me to rum because too much of me and I’ll give you a headache and make you throw up?”
“No. I think you’d burn me. But I’d welcome that burn as I drank you in, indulging in your every drop of fire.” Rowan stopped in front of me. “You’d fill my veins and consume me, and gods, you’d make my head spin. You already do.”
I stayed rooted in place, confused by my own thoughts. A part of mewantedhim to be closer. Wanted to feel his mouth on my skin again. “Why are you here, Rowan?”
“Why?” Rowan stood so close I felt his breath on my lips. “Because I couldn’t stay away any longer. I tried. Gods, how I tried. I left Bremloc and traveled to other cities. But just when I thought I got you out of my head, something would remind me of you and bring you right back.”
“Something reminded you of me?” I whispered, chest tight. “Like what?”
“This shade of green.” He ghosted his fingers beneath my left eye, still not touching me. “Apples.”
“Apples?”
Rowan’s smirk returned. “Like the demonic apple you ate in the dark wood. The one I had to hear you whine about for hours.”
“Hey, it wasn’t for hours. It was like five minutes. And it was justified whining. You can’t blame me for freaking out. I’m still afraid I’ll grow horns or something from eating it.”
He released a raspy chuckle and dropped his head to my shoulder. The physical contact created electric pulses in my bloodstream. “I missed you.”
Fuck. Those three words swept through me like a strong summer wind. Warm but intense. “I still have your dagger. It’s on my nightstand.”
We had been attacked by a horde of demons while in the dark wood, and he’d lent it to me. He’d said it was special to him and that he’d come to retrieve it someday. However, on the balcony at the autumn ball, he’d told me to keep it. Because he wanted me to have something to remember him by.
“Your nightstand?” He lifted his head and tossed me a crooked grin. “You should carry it with you. That’s the purpose of a dagger.”
My cheeks heated. “I’m, uh, not really good with pointy objects.”
“Thank the gods I returned this to you, then.” Rowan touched the stone around my neck. I half expected it to repel him, but it didn’t. Proof that he had no intentions of hurting me. “You’re like a defenseless baby rabbit.”
“It saved my life, you know. A Fenrir attacked me in the dark wood not long after you left. Before its teeth made contact, the thing went flying.”
“I know,” he said. “I saw you jump in front of that knight, risking your life to save his. Foolish.”
“I’d do it again too.” I touched my necklace. “Even without this.” Maddox. Briar. Lake. I’d sacrifice anything, including myself, to keep them safe.
Rowan scoffed. “This cloak…” He smoothed his hand over the clasp that held it in place. “Does it belong to him? The knight?”
“His name’s Maddox.”
“It’s too big for you.” He leaned in and brought his mouth close to my ear, his breath whispering over my skin as he exhaled. “Mine is a better fit. Remember that for when winter comes.”
The heat in my cheeks radiated down and flooded my veins. Any response I might’ve had died in my throat. My brain wouldn’t work.
“I should leave before your men come looking for you.” Rowan stared at my lips. “The wolf will catch my scent soon.”
My men.
After having been through this three times already, I was ninety-nine percent sure Rowan was one of them too. We were drawn together. Connected.
“So that’s it? You’re just going to pop in to say hi and then leave again?”
“You sound disappointed.” His cockiness returned, adding a spark of mischief back to his topaz eyes. “Have you fallen in love with me, little treasure?”
“No.” I sneered. “You’re an Evan-napping, dagger-wielding bandit with questionable motives and a bad-boy attitude. You’re basically a walking red flag. An army of red flags.”
The more I rambled, the more his smirk blossomed into an amused smile. “We’ve been over this before. I’m not a bandit. I’m simply a man who does what he has to in order to get by. Andyou forgot to mention my magic in that little description of my unfavorable attributes.”
“Because it’s not unfavorable.” I shifted my weight between my feet, finding the porch floor suddenly interesting. Anything to keep from meeting his eyes. “I actually like that about you.”
