Page 85 of Obsidian Dream
She hesitated for a second before she took it from him, wrapping it around herself and turning around.Talik looked down at her.His messy bun was damp, with loose strands of soft curls hanging over his face and along his torso.
Shirtless, he still wore his sweats.Damp against his skin, they did nothing to hide his erection.
“Come on, before I change my mind and decide not to be a gentleman.”
Khalida snorted, the sound not very aristocratic as she walked out of the shower, hugging the towel closer to her.The cool air sent goose bumps along her exposed flesh as she entered the room.
Talik placed his hand on his chest in mock outrage.“You wound me.”
Stopping at the bed, she eyed her clothes rumpled on the floor.She did not want to put them on again, but she also had no desire to wander back to her room wearing only a towel, no matter how much it covered.
“Here.”
She accepted the clothing without looking at it, slipping the dark T-shirt over her head before she dropped her towel.The shirt was barely mid-thigh, but it would do.
“Talk, Khalida,” he softly demanded as he found the tray of antipasto that had been placed in the fridge while he had been in the shower.She hadn’t noticed what was on it when she slipped into Talik’s room, but the platter was identical to the one delivered to her room.Warmth spread through her at Talik’s consideration.
She waited until he had placed the tray on the small circular table next to the only other furniture in the room, a large plush dark-green two-person sofa.When she had first visited Talik’s room, she had noticed the marble fireplace, but she hadn’t paid attention to the wooden star carvings that were haphazardly scattered across it.She picked one up, tracing the outline of the shape, recognizing it instantly as the North Star.It had been Sidra’s favorite star.
She tore her gaze from the handmade ornaments and looked for Talik.He had moved to the window.The moonlight cast his face in shadows, obscuring his expression.The reason she had originally come into Talik’s room was to get answers, and now she was about to get them.A small part of her wondered if she was ready for what he would say.
Waiting would not make it any easier.
She took a breath and forced her shaky hands to her sides.Without her swords, she felt even more vulnerable and open.“What was your fault?And don’t give me the bullshit excuse that it was throwing the grenade.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
TALIK
Talik blinked at thequestion.
He had been expecting a hundred different questions, but not the one that Khalida had started with.It punched him in the guts and threatened to make him see double.He looked at her, the slightly oversized dark gray T-shirt barely covering her tempting curves and legs that went forever.
“Talik?”Khalida repeated as she crossed her arms.A hint of vulnerability crossed her features.He expected it to last a second before she hid behind her normal haughty expression, but it didn’t change.Instead, she stayed open and unguarded, and it was slowly breaking him apart.
He moved without thinking, pulling her to him as he maneuvered them toward the oversized sofa chair near the fireplace.“Khalida, I...”He stopped.Holding her for a moment, he breathed in the scent that was uniquely hers.She wouldn’t let him get away without answering, but this would buy him time—hopefully enough to come up with a coherent answer that wouldn’t lead to more heartbreak for her.Ninhursag’s hold on him would preclude them from ever having a future together.But he owed Khalida the truth, no matter how painful it was to him.He had promised himself he would give her whatever she wanted if they found a way out of the cavern.It didn’t matter if she wasn’t aware of the promise.“Let me figure out how to say it.”
