Page 43 of A Reign of Embers

The tenderness of the words sends a pang through my heart. “I always wanted this.”

Marc’s voice roughens more. “I know. And I made it a battle. I?—”

He glances away from me, his gaze catching on his reflection in the nearby mirror. “I can accept that it was my fault, and that I ruined what we could have had.” His next laugh holds no humor. “And how can I expect to ever recover what I threw away now thatI’mruined?”

I furrow my forehead. “What are you talking about?”

He waves toward the vanity. “Why wouldanyone, let alone an empress, want a man who looks like this? It’s all right. I can moderate my expectations. I played unfairly and I lost, and this is what I’m left with. It’s not as if I could have counted on earning your full forgiveness even if I wasn’t a warped version of myself. I’ll take whatever I can get.”

Does he really think I look at him with revulsion because of that strange stain on his skin? The pang expands until a lump fills my throat.

He’s been trying so hard to be everything I need—and nothing that I don’t. To leave behind all the parts of himself I did revile.

How can I not admire that—and how well he’s succeeding?

“Marc…” I ease toward him, setting my teacup down on the vanity.

My hand rises of its own accord to rest against his discolored cheek. Marc stares at me as if transfixed, his stance rigid, his gaze unwavering.

I stroke my thumb over the smooth skin of his odd scar. “The way you looked before—that was the face of the man who tormented me. This is the face of the man who saved me. I’ll always prefer this one.”

A smolder lights in Marc’s eyes, but he holds himself perfectly still, his hands at his sides. Absorbing my touch but afraid of sending me running.

I swallow hard, caught in a crash of conflicting emotions. One thread of desire pierces through them all.

Before I can second-guess the impulse, I bob up on my toes and brush my lips to his.

It’s one of the chastest kisses we’ve ever shared. Our mouths merely graze each other, Marc tipping forward slightly to meet me but restraining himself from a more emphatic claiming.

All the same, heat blooms under my skin all the way down to my toes.

Part of me wants to lean right into him, to grasp his jacket and meld our mouths more firmly together. To find out what a full kiss might feel like.

Just picturing it sends a skitter of panic through my veins alongside the quiver of desire.

I pull back, my hand dropping, cutting off the contact between us. My gaze locks with his again. I don’t back away.

The hunger in Marc’s expression sets off a fresh tingling straight to my core. Ever so carefully, he touches my cheekthe way I did his. At the stroke of his fingers, my heart thumps harder.

His voice has gone hoarse. “And this will always be the face of the woman who conquered me: body, mind, and soul.”

“Not heart?” I can’t help asking.

His wry smile returns. “I don’t know how much of a heart I can claim to have. But however much is there, it’s yours too. However long it takes. Whatever you need from me. We were meant to do this together.”

I draw back then, slowly so it doesn’t seem like an outright rejection. My heart keeps thudding on.

How can those words feel so undeniably right?

Chapter Sixteen

Aurelia

In the small basement room, I light the enchanted lantern and perch on the settee. As I wait in the wavering light for the panel in the wall to open and admit my princes, my hands twist together on my lap.

The image of Marc’s face when I told him I was going to meet them swims up from my memory. His jaw clenched, but he kept his voice even.Why not here, where you’re properly guarded? I should at least come with you.

No one will know I’m there except them. I’ve got nothing to fear,I told him.I’m allowed an occasional private conversation.

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