I gnawed on my lower lip as I considered his words.
“Can we not talk about it anymore,” I whispered.
“Of course,” he said.
“Let’s just enjoy the nature.” I breathed deeply and reveled in the warm scents of summer.
He squeezed my hand three times.
An hour later, I shifted self-consciously because he was staring at me again.
“What?” I asked.
He propped his head on his hand. “Do you know how unique you are?” He wet his lower lip. “Aran.”
I pursed my lips and tried to hide my smile at how liberally he was using my name.
“You’re just realizing how special I am, Corvus?” His name felt weirdly intimate on my lips.
He leaned his head over and whispered against the sensitive shell of my ear, “Say it again.”
“Mitch?” I played dumb.
He lunged and tickled my sides. I gasped and shrieked as I kicked against him with futility.
“Say it again,” he demanded.
“No.” Gasp. “You have to.” Gasp. “Earn it.”
He stuck out his bottom lip and pouted. “Come on, Aran.” He stopped tickling me.
“I’m not falling for it.” I flopped over and lay on my stomach, eyes closing with exhaustion.
He gave me a gentle kiss on my forehead.
When I leaned in for more, he pulled back with a playful smile. “With time, darling,” he drawled.
I rolled my eyes.
This was the same man who’d pulled his pants down and fucked everyone he could at Elite Academy. The same man who wrapped his hand around my neck and pinned me to my bunk bed. For sun god’s sake, he’d almost taken me in a public dressing room.
Apparently fighting in war had transformed him from a pervert to a prude. Distressing.
I wanted to demand that he ravage me. However, I didn’t want to ruin the peaceful vibes that had settled around us.
A long moment passed, then a heavy weight settled across my back.
He’d repositioned himself to sleep and had tossed his arm over me. “So we’re really just going to lie here and sleep all day?” he asked skeptically. “Even after we just slept all night?”
“Yep,” I smiled. “It’s called relaxing.”
He pressed his side against mine, body heat warming me through our clothes. “Sounds good, Aran.”
Birds chirped above us, and the leaves rustled.
The air was pleasantly warm.
Everything was golden.
I smirked into the pastel blanket. “Keep it up and I just might forgive you in the next decade, Corvus.”
He stopped breathing. Every muscle in his body tensed and he asked slowly, “Do you mean it?”
“Yeah,” I said. “You just have to shower me with gifts and prove you’re not an ass for the next decade.”
“Done.” He tickled my side.
“You’re ridiculous,” I squealed as I kicked at him.
He tipped his head back and laugh, “And you’re mine, Aran.”
The warm feeling inside my heart expanded, and it felt like I was flying.
“That means you’re also mine, Corvus.” I rolled his proper name on my tongue.
He buried his face in the blanket and groaned. “Fuck, you’re driving me insane. I can’t keep my hands off you.”
He said it like it was a problem.
“Then, don’t,” I said. “Ravage me.”
A soft snore echoed, and I flopped back with a sigh.
He was already asleep.
He hadn’t heard me.
Chapter 65
Aran
HORSES
Oscitancy （noun）： drowsiness.
I woke up to find drool on my face and Corvus sprawled atop me like I was a bed. If I’d been a smaller woman, I would have been crushed by his excessive weight.
Good thing I was big-boned.
I tried to push him off, but he just grumbled in his sleep and reached for me. He didn’t wake up. After ten minutes of kicking and pushing, he finally rolled off.
I sat up and studied him.
Sunlight filtered through the rich green leaves, and his skin shone like polished bronze.
He seemed younger.
Softer.
Gentler.
He didn’t seem like the same man that had stalked down dark corridors, setting people alight as he expertly wielded enchanted swords.
His features abruptly scrunched up, and he whimpered. He flinched and rolled on the blanket like he was under attack.
His arms flailed. He yelled out like he’d been stabbed.
I knelt on top of him.
Using all my strength, I grappled with his flailing limbs and crossed his arms over his chest. Then I pushed down.