Torin tugged the horse’s reins, slowing her to a halt outside the temple. He dismounted first, then gripped me around the waist to lift me off.
I stared down at my bloodstained, dirty body and took a quick plunge into the river, washing off the grime, the blood, and gods knew what else. I drank a few palmfuls of its clear water. I’d never take water for granted again. But I didn’t have much time to waste here, so I stepped out again.
Hope lit me up as we crossed into the temple. At the far end of the truncated columns, an altar stood. Just as Cala had said, a mirror hung above an empty forge, beaming with morning rays of light. My chest unclenched as I stared at it. At last, I’d be freeing Torin from this place.
I turned back to him, his perfect features gilded by morning light. Only now did I have the space to think about what this would mean, and a lump rose in my throat. This would be the last time we’d see each other. Or at least the last time we’d touch, until sometime in the future when we no longer felt the incandescent heat of love.
“Go on,” I rasped. “Just say the name of the place you want to travel to.”
Torin turned to the mirror, hands planted on either side of it. My heart cracked, and I sucked in a deep breath.
“You should go first.” He turned back to me .
I shook my head. “Go.” Because there was one more thing I wanted to do, and I wasn’t sure that he would approve.
He brought his hand up to my cheek. “This is the last time I can touch you, Ava. I know we need to leave here, but I just need a little more time.”
My heart started to race, and I tried to sense the vibrations of oncoming horses or soldiers through the soil. I didn’t feel anything.
“Of course, I’ve thought you were beautiful since the first time I met you,” he said, “but it changed into something else when I saw you in the tournament, letting Eliza get hits in on you just to save her honor. You hardly knew her, and the Seelie hadn’t given you the warmest welcome…that was the moment I knew I was lost for you. And I should have stopped it then. I should have ended it all, called off the marriage.”
My throat was tight. “There’s no point in punishing yourself for decisions you made in the past, Torin. All we can do is move forward. We’re both alive, and that seems like a miracle right now.”
“I can’t leave you without kissing you one last time.” A jagged edge of sorrow cut through his voice.
He leaned down, lips hovering over mine. He slid one hand into my hair, threading it between his fingers. He pressed his lips against mine, and my back flattened against the cold stone wall.
One last time…
The words hummed through my heart like a bittersweet song. A final kiss, a final embrace.
His tongue darted in as the kiss deepened, and desire swept through my body. His primal power, warm and vibrating, skimmed over my skin, and I had to drink it up because this would be the last time. The loss of him pierced my chest, and I wanted to devour him whole.
River water dampened my body, and every inch of me felt alive, kissed by the rich forest air. I was acutely aware of every place the wet dress clung to my skin.
With one hand in my hair, his other moved to my waist. The way he kissed me with an exquisite heat, like he wanted to memorize my lips, told me he was as heartbroken about our parting as I was.
Slowly, he pulled away, his blue eyes smoldering with the possessiveness of a king. “I wish I could take you with me.”
I reached for his tattered shirt, unbuttoning it. Was this really the last time my fingertips would trace over his chiseled abs and the whorls of tattoos on his skin? “Torin, so do I. You have no idea.”
Even as sorrow twisted through me, my desire for him coiled off my bare skin like steam.
Gently, he pulled down one side of my dress, exposing my breast. He reached up, caressing me and making my nipple go rock-hard against his palm.
He lowered his mouth to my throat, licking the river water off me.
I tried to memorize his scent as I breathed it in, the mossy, magical scent of an enchanted forest. This was the last moment his primal, earthy magic would twine around me. I needed to memorize the feel of him, the smell of him. Because when he left, I’d be living in a world of shadows.
I arched my back, my breast pressing into his palm. Every one of my sensitive nerve endings burned with a startling truth: that I was his, and he was mine. Curse or not, we belonged together, joined by a bone-deep connection. And the idea that this was our last moment together was impossible to bear.
One hot, lazy kiss after another scorched my throat where his lips met my skin. He moved at an indolent pace, holding back, but I could feel the desperation behind every searing kiss. The way his fingers went tight on my body, the rigidity of his muscles. The Seelie king was warring for control over himself.