Page 64 of The Never List
My eyebrows rise at that.
“We told you that first night, Rylee. With us, it’s your choice—just as you chose me for your first month. If you’d feel more comfortable with me tagging along to the Sapphire Cove for the first few days, or even the entirety of your month there, I will.”
Relief uncoils a tight thing in my chest. “Won’t that…upset Axl?” I ask.
“No,” he says. “I promise you, he won’t mind. I knowhim better than anyone, and I can say with confidence that he wants you to feel comfortable and safe. If that means I come with you, then I come with you.”
I sigh as the notion settles deep inside me. “Axl doesn’t make me feel unsafe,” I explain. “Not at all. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious about him.” A flush rakes over my cheeks, our previous flirtatious moments igniting a lick of flame beneath my skin. “It’s just hard to let you go.” That admission feels like a risk, somehow, as if I’ve given him a piece of me I should’ve protected.
Kal pulls me closer, the embrace a warm comfort as we continue to dance to the music. “I understand,” he says. “You don’t have to decide now. Sleep on it and tell me what you want tomorrow.”
“You’re too kind,” I say, meaning it. I shake my head. “You’re probably ready to be rid of me. I shouldn’t be asking you to extend your time—”
“Even a night away from you will feel like a lifetime,” he cuts me off, nothing but sincerity in his eyes.
My heart skips. No one has ever spoken to me the way Kal does—without fear or judgment, with nothing but pure passion and support. It’s hard to get used to, and I definitely don’t have the right words to say back.
“Axl will take excellent care of you, though,” he says, laughing to himself. “If you decide to go alone. I want you to know that.”
“Should I be worried?” I laugh with him.
“No,” he says. “From what I’ve learned about you, you’re going to love his antics. I know I do.”
A warm tendril works its way down my center at his playful, endearing words about his friend. An image of thetwo of them together, me between them, makes me flush with need. The more I picture it, the more I’m leaning toward asking Kal to come with me to the Sapphire Cove.
“Any tips?” I ask.
Kal considers, twirling me again. “Try to sleep when you can,” he answers when he draws me to him once more. “Axl runs at full speed ninety percent of the day. When he finally goes down to rest, you need to as well, or you’ll kill yourself trying to keep up.”
Goddess.
“I’ll be sure to do that,” I assure him as he slides me closer, every hard muscle pressing against my softer ones.
“Now,” he says as the music fades and switches to a new melody, “I have one important thing to ask you.”
“What’s that?” Apprehension and excitement tingle beneath my skin.
He leans down so his lips graze the shell of my ear, sending a delightful shiver of along my neck. “Do you trust me?”
The answer clogs in my throat. Do I trust him? With my body? Absolutely. With my heart? My soul? How can I possibly give him those, when not two hours ago I heard them talking about the Ashlanders like they were a separate people from Lumathyst? How can I be sure he wouldn’t chuck me off this balcony if he knew the truth?
Kal plants kisses along my neck, soothing the panic whirling in my mind.
“Yes,” I finally answer, though it’s only a partial truth. I trust him with pieces of myself, and that will have to be enough for now.
“That’s good,” he says, nipping at the soft patch of skinbeneath my jaw, causing me to close my eyes and sigh as I arch against him, giving him better access. His arms slide around me, holding me to him in a way that makes me ache in all the right places. “You’re not afraid of heights, are you?” he asks, shoving some of the lusty haze away from my mind.
“No.” There were countless times I’d been selected to go to the highest peaks in the mountains in the Ashlands in search of the rarest minerals or gems. I grip the lapels of his suit jacket, wanting him closer.
“Open your eyes,” he says, shifting away from teasing my neck.
I meet his eyes first, then immediately gasp as I take in our surroundings.
We’re so far above the roof, I can barely make out the candles flickering on the table where we had dinner. There is nothing beneath us but tons of sky, the stars twinkling around us like midnight silk.
“Kal.”I breathe his name as he gently moves us forward, one of his hands shifting from my back to my hip.
“Too much?” he asks, genuine concern in his blue eyes.
