She lifted herself onto her elbows, unable to keep from fidgeting. “Does it weird you out? What I said?”
“Why should it? I reciprocated, didn’t I?”
“Maybe you felt bad for me and wanted to make it less weird.”
“I’m not the kind of person who lightly tosses those words around.”
“Me neither.” She reached over and Hunt leaned toward her hand, letting her brush her fingers through his hair. “I’ve never said it to anyone. I mean, like … romantically.”
“Really?” His chest became unbearably full.
She blinked, her eyes like golden embers in the darkness. “Why the surprise?”
“I thought you and Connor …” He wasn’t sure why he needed to know.
That fire banked slightly. “No. We might have one day, but it didn’t get that far. I loved him as a friend, but … I still needed time.” She smiled crookedly. “Who knows? Maybe I was just waiting for you.”
He grabbed her hand, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. “I’ve been in love with you for a while. You know that, right?” His heart thundered, but he said, “I was … very attached to you during our investigation, but when Sandriel had me in that cell under the Comitium, she put on this fucked-up slideshow of all the photos on my phone. Of you and me. And I watched it and knew. I saw the photos of us toward the end, how I was looking at you and you were looking at me, and it was a done deal.”
“Sealed with you jumping in front of a bomb for me.”
“It’s disturbing when you make jokes about that, Quinlan.”
She chuckled, kissing his jaw. Hunt’s body tensed, readying for another touch. Begging for another touch. She said, “I made the Drop for you. And offered to sell myself into slavery in your stead. I think I’m allowed to joke about this shit.” He nipped at her nose. But she pulled back, gaze meeting his. Hunt let her see everything that lay there. “I knew the moment you went snooping for my dildos.”
Hunt burst out laughing. “I can’t tell if that’s the truth.”
“You handled Jelly Jubilee with such care. How could I not love you for it?”
He laughed again, ducking to brush a kiss to her warm throat. “I’ll take that.” He traced his fingers down her hip, the threadbare softness of her old T-shirt snagging against his callused skin. He kissed her collarbone, inhaling the scent of her, his cock stirring. “So what now?”
“Sex?”
He grinned. “No. I mean, fuck yes, but I don’t want an audience.” He gestured over his shoulder and wing to the wall behind him. “Shall we get a hotel room somewhere in the city?”
“Somewhere on another continent.”
“Ah, Quinlan.” He kissed her jaw, her cheek, her temple. He whispered into her ear, “I really want to fuck you right now.”
She shuddered, arching against him. “Same.”
His hand slid from her waist to cup her ass. “This is torture.” He slipped his hand under her oversize shirt, finding her bare skin warm and soft. He traced his fingers along the seam of her lacy thong, down toward her thighs. Heat beckoned him, and she sucked in a breath as he halted millimeters short of where he wanted to be.
But she placed a hand on his chest. “What do I call you now?”
The words took a moment to register. “What?”
“I mean, what are we? Like, dating? Are you my boyfriend?”
He snorted. “You really want to say you’re dating the Umbra Mortis?”
“I’m not keeping this private.” She said it without an ounce of doubt. She brushed her fingers over his brow. Like she knew what it meant to him.
Hunt managed to ask, “What about Cormac and your ruse?”
“Well, after all that, I guess.” If they survived. She whooshed out a breath. “Boyfriend sounds weird for you. It’s so … young. But what else is there?”
If he had a star on his chest, Hunt knew it’d be glowing as he asked, “Partner?”
“Not sexy enough.”
“Lover?”
“Does that come with a ruff and lute?”
He swept a wing over her bare thigh. “Anyone ever tell you that you’re a pain in the ass?”
“Just ye olde lover.”
Hunt hooked his finger under the strap of her thong and snapped it. She yowled, swatting away his hand.
But Hunt grabbed her fingers, laying them on his heart again. “What about mate?” Bryce stilled, and Hunt held his breath, wondering if he’d said the wrong thing. When she didn’t reply, he went on, “Fae have mates, right? That’s the term they use.”