Page 235 of Burn Her They Said
His resulting laugh heals something in me. “I meant the restraints placed upon us by the Emperor.”
My lips press into a line at the mention of our captor.
He nudges me. “It is enlightening to know how free you feel to express yourself when it’s just us.”
“I always feel freer around you.” His eyes search my face as his expression shifts, taking in my meaning. “But that’s the problem, isn’t it? After all, you are my ‘great distraction’.”
His stomach muscles clench and rumble with my sad attempt at humor, apparently helping to break whatever spell he was under.
“I’m going to fly higher. I will alert you when it is time to descend to your balcony,” Minea says in our minds.
I stare up at the sorcerer who saved me, unable to keep from mirroring his grin. Tingles cascade down my limbs as we close our eyes and breathe each other in, our foreheads pressed together and barely a breath between our lips.
I grunt and adjust my hips, eliciting a groan from him.
Varic jerkily shifts, realigning his position where he lies between my thighs.
“Did I hurt you?”
“No, just—if you could keep from moving your hips.” His throat bobs as he pauses to swallow. “Like that. I’d appreciate it.”
The heat in my cheeks increases as he looks at me with heavily hooded eyes, which darken in a way I have yet to observe in him.
“Did you orchestrate this?” I ask in jest.
“What are you accusing me of this time?”
“Did you have someone go into the forest to make that Gods-awful noise so you could swoop down with the purpose of securing me in this position?”
“I am neither that enterprising, nor can I claim any credit. Though, after proving myself incapable of keeping my eyes off of you all morning, I understand why you would think me desperate enough to orchestrate something this salacious.”
His words stoke the fire in my chest until it’s running up my neck, blazing higher and hotter than before. “Oh, come on. You can’t possibly expect me to believe you have gotten me to straddle your lap and allowed you to restrain both of my wrists by coincidence.”
“A happy coincidence, yes.” His tone is playful, yet he can’t hide the grit as his weight presses into me from the way Minea curves in a wide arc.
He lets out a groan as he shifts himself, and I suck in a sharp breath, too close to his ear to sound pleasant.
Time passes too quickly, and we finally reach my balcony, feeling wholly unprepared for this to end when Minea slows to a halt, pumping his wings to hover as close to the gray marble railing as his wingspan allows.
A familiar sinking feeling settles in beneath the stony stare of the Emperor’s statue boring into me. The statue of the tyrant looms outside the wall of the citadel, increasing that sense of dread contrasted with the sparks scattering down my neck from Varic’s lips grazing the edge of my ear.
“I’m going to release myself first,” he says, and I shake my head. “I will drop down to the balcony, then I will have you slide down Minea’s side where I will catch you.”
I give in and nod, as there is no real way to refuse this plan. My muscles clench when he nudges the horn to loosen the restraints around his legs and our arms, pressing all four pulses before releasing my hand. The corner of my mouth rises in a small smile as he unbuckles the belt with the hand he extracted from my own before he draws back to set it on the other side of the harness. He takes his time to relinquish my other hand, trailing his fingers down over my arm until he sits upright, keeping those impossibly bright brown eyes trained on me the entire time.
The most vibrant smile overtakes his face, while a slight flush spreads across the peaks of his cheeks and nose. He pats my hip before slowly unwinding my leg from where it has been braced around his waist and gently guides my boot to rest with my other. His whole body pivots as he tips his chin before descending off the side of the Dragon.
My lungs freeze mid-breath as I strain to hear the soles of his boots meet the stone. Needing to know he’s made it safely down. To know that he’s okay. That he’s simply waiting for me.
His boots plod down, and I release a breath.
“Alright, Tasch, if you will?—”
Frustration rises, boiling my blood. “I don’t need you to explain how to extract myself, Imperial Lead?—”
“Please, don’t,” Varic groans.
I pause, heart hammering as I wait for him to tell me what he needs.
