Page 87 of Ember and Eclipse
When he was through, the last loc looking much better and snug than the first one he’d worked on, he pulled her into his lap. He moved her hair over one of her shoulders before trailing his hands down her body to land on her hips.
And then he was kissing the marks on her back. It was something he did often—always tenderly and devoutly.
“Will it always be like this?” she asked him with a contented sigh.
“Like what?” he asked, his hand coming up to cup her breast as he continued to place the softest of kisses across her shoulders.
“Where we need each other all the time? How will we ever get anything done?”
His low laugh sent shivers down her back as his breath fanned across her neck. “What is there to accomplish? The world doesn’t exist anymore. It’s just you and me.”
“And the crocs and the plants,” she added as she shifted until she was facing him and moving her legs to either side of him.
“And the crocs and the plants,” he agreed breathily. “In this swamp.”
“Are you happy with that? Are you happy here in this humid place where there’s nothing to do but make love to me and rest?”
“I have had enough of war and hurting and being hurt for a lifetime. And that’s all that lies outside of here. We could live in a one-bedroom shack in the middle of Heigar’s Pass, and I’d be content. You are my home, Rel,” he murmured against her lips.
“And you are mine.”
Within each other, they recovered the things stolen from them. The shattered and delicate things. They laughed, they cried, theyhealed. But more importantly, theybelonged. In softness, in happiness, in this lop-sided cottage in this lush and tranquil swamp.
Their very life together was a rebellion.
She framed his face with her hands and planted a gentle kiss on his mouth. They’d shared a thousand kisses by now, surely. Yet each one was a new language.
And all were a revolution.
Chapter XLVII
4 Moons Later
Relwascuttingtheseason’s first batch of storm mint when Devdan stood up. A familiar look stole across his features. He was listening, sensing something.
An old fear went through her. “What is it?”
“Someone is here.”
Armed, they took the boat. Whatever it was, they would face it together. Devdan remained impassive, not wanting to worry her, but she knew him so well now. Though he could somewhat hide his emotions outwardly, the bond never lied.
He led them through the woods, following his senses. But what she noticed were the sounds of the swamp. It hadn’t gone silent but took up a low, curious hum that felt like anticipation.
The swamp was in the midst of new growth, everything rising and reaching, the earth almost completely covered in radiant moss and bursts of wildflowers.
A new beginning.
It made traversing the landscape a little more cumbersome, but it wasn’t long before they found the intruders.
Three people stood in one of the smaller clearings, two much closer together. A woman stood separately, half her head razored, and the rest of it covered in sleek purple hair. The first thing Rel noticed after taking them in was an ancient willow swaying in their direction, its boughs attempting to touch them.
A shiver went down her spine.
“What’s your business?” Devdan asked, looking between the three of them.
“We followed your call,” the woman said, her voice raspy as she dipped her chin respectfully.
Lunae.
