Page 67 of A Kingdom Restored

She swallowed, leaning toward him. “Believe me, I know.”

Then his arm was around her, and he’d pulled her flush against him. He didn’t immediately press his lips to hers, however. The fingers of his free hand brushed her chin invitingly, and she readily tilted her head up toward him. For a long moment his eyes searched hers, as if drinking in her presence, memorizing every line of her face.

A reckless impatience raced suddenly over Merletta. How many times now had she thought she’d reached the end of her good fortune, only to be given one more stolen moment with Heath? It couldn’t last—it never did. She didn’t want to waste a second of it.

She surged up, flinging her arms around his neck as their lips met. Heath’s grip on her tightened, and his lips moved urgently against hers. Merletta responded in kind, hardly aware of it as the strength of his embrace lifted her almost from her feet, her weight pressed into him. They were clasped as close as they’d ever been, but it was never close enough. No number of stolen moments would ever be enough. The undeniable reality blazed through Merletta, its impossibility making it as searing as dragon fire. She wanted forever with him. An unbroken, unconditional future, not just these erratic snatches of a beautiful but tantalizing present.

“What’s wrong?” Heath had pulled back, his voice husky and his words coming in pants after the intensity of their kiss. “Merletta?”

His thumb traced her cheek, following the track left by a single tear that had escaped her control.

“Nothing,” she gasped, trying to pull herself together.

Heath searched her eyes for a moment, then leaned his forehead against hers. Closing her eyes, she allowed herself a few seconds of just breathing him in, accepting the gift of being together for what it was, without letting herself feel the bitterness of the inevitable parting that would come.

“Let’s go,” she said once she’d collected herself.

She pulled away and saw his confusion as he studied her face. Giving him a small smile, Merletta tipped forward again, pressing a light kiss to his lips. He made no move to draw her back against him. He must feel it too—their stolen moment had passed, and all the impossible obstacles once again stood between them.

“Let’s get Sage, and get to the city,” she said briskly. “There’s work to be done.”

Chapter Twenty

“But they have no things except my old dresses. How did theygethere?” Laura leaned forward across the breakfast table, her eyes fixed shrewdly on Heath’s face.

Only the two of them were present at the table—no one else had yet emerged for the meal. Probably because it was two hours earlier than the normal breakfast hour. At least Laura had twin infants to blame for her sleepless night. Heath, meanwhile, had lain awake thinking about Merletta asleep a mere few rooms away.

“I told you,” Heath insisted, “a dragon carried them. As a favor.”

“You may as well say Rekavidur,” his sister responded skeptically. “It’s not like your friendship is a secret.”

“It wasn’t him, actually,” said Heath. “It was Elddreki. Not that it really matters.”

She frowned at him. “But did he bring them across the land, or across the sea?”

“Across the sea,” Heath said shortly.

She narrowed her eyes. “Are you telling me the truth, Heath? I know all those rumors that circulated last year were nonsense—about Merletta and her guardian being from some little-known Thoranian island.” She named one of the kingdoms that formed the South Lands continent.

Goaded, Heath put down his spoon with a flourish. “You want the full truth?”

“Obviously,” said Laura shortly.

Heath glanced surreptitiously to the side, waiting as a maidservant who’d just carried in a steaming bowl of porridge edged back out of the room. Once they were alone, he turned to face his sister.

“Fine. The truth is that Merletta—and her friend Sage, whom I hadn’t met before yesterday—come from a kingdom hidden in the middle of the ocean. She’s gotten on the wrong side of those in power there, because she’s made it her mission to expose their lies and corruption. She had just been sentenced to execution when she was rescued yesterday by Elddreki.”

Laura just blinked at him, her mouth hanging open well before the end of his matter-of-fact speech.

“How can there be a kingdom that close by which I don’t know about?” she demanded at last.

Heath sighed. “You know the East Seas are impassable—no one can sail further than three days in that direction. Well, there’s a reason for that. There’s actually a magical barrier there—dragon-made, from what we can tell. It’s like how human ships can’t sail through the waters surrounding Wyvern Islands. But as in that case, dragons can fly straight through with no problems. Reka and I discovered the kingdom by accident a few years ago, and we were the only ones who knew about it, up until last Winter Solstice Festival.”

“What happened then?” Laura asked warily.

“The dragons saw Merletta and her guardian, and they realized her civilization is out there. Now they’re determined to kill them.”

“Kill who?” Laura asked, aghast. “Merletta and her friend?”

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