Damn, I hadn’t even heard her move.
“Where, uh, are your clothes?” she asked softly, as if reading my mind.
Her fingers continued to explore my back, running over the long scars I’d earned during my time in the ring. Fighting without powers didn’t protect me from the harsh edge of a blade.
“You burned them off, sweetheart,” I said with a grin, making sure not to turn around. She didn’t need to see all of me. Yet. “I don’t suppose Elana keeps extra pairs of pants around here?” It was more of a rhetorical question since I doubted Claire knew.
She drew in a soft gasp, and then I realized she was laughing. “Are you going to have to walk out of here naked?”
I finally turned enough to peer over my shoulder and raised a brow. “You sound far too pleased by that idea.”
Her gaze dipped, and I knew she wanted to see what I’d been keeping from her last night, but that was our intimate link pushing her—or her grief. I wouldn’t take advantage of her again, even if I thought for just a moment that I could help her forget everything.
That maybe she could help me forget everything.
Clearing my throat, I forced myself to bring up the one topic that would dispel the moment, to remind her of our predicament.
“Exos might have some clothes I can borrow.” The words hurt, but they had to be said. This was the connection between us driving her emotions and reactions. She was too inexperienced as a fae to understand that. Taking advantage of that would be wrong.
She hesitated before her touch retreated, leaving me cold. The impulse to lean back into her overwhelmed me for just a moment before I doused the growing flames in my chest.
“Exos.” She repeated the name as if she’d just remembered last night. “I… I’m connected to him, too.”
The raw emotion in her voice ha
d me glancing back to find her cheeks flushing pink. Her blue eyes snapped up to find mine, reminding me that she was a Spirit Fae, better suited to one of her own kind.
No.
The very thought of leaving her to fend for herself against Exos—one of the only potential mates left among the Spirit Fae—made me cringe. She may have linked with him, but she needed me to keep him in line.
Gods, I didn’t care if she bonded with a fae of every element, as long as I could stand by her side. We shared fire. That was the hottest of all the matings, one no fae could share with her, apart from me.
Taking her hand in mine, tiny flames sparked between us, causing her eyes to widen. “Yes, you’ve created a connection with him. But our bond is strong, even for a courtship,” I admitted.
She smiled, making something inside me flip a switch. “Stronger than my bond with Exos?”
She meant it as a tease, but I sensed the tension beneath her words. Even though she couldn’t possibly know what it really meant, she clearly felt some guilt at having bound both of us at the same time. Her eyes searched mine, pleading for my approval and assurance.
“Not stronger,” I said, drawing the words out slowly as I ran my fingers up the soft curve of her elbow. “Just different.”
Her gaze dropped. Not the answer she wanted to hear. “He barged in last night. How did he…?”
I lightly traced her shoulder before cupping her cheek. Her eyelids fluttered closed as she leaned into my touch. She wasn’t going to like my response, but Claire deserved the truth. She needed to know what it meant to be bonded.
“He sensed your desire,” I said softly. “Whenever you are, well, aroused, he’ll know. As will I.”
She flinched away. “Well, that’s embarrassing.”
Chuckling, I wrapped a blanket around my waist. I was so busy trying to cover myself to prevent tempting her that I forgot she was completely naked as well. She allowed the charred fabric to pull away from her, revealing lush, sensual skin that glowed with the heat of our connection. She watched me, waiting to see what I would do.
It took every ember of willpower to look away from her. If I indulged myself even for a moment, I’d toss away all my reservations and take her right now.
She’s grieving.
She’s scared.
She needs you to be strong.