A Trickle of Soulfyre

Chapter 7 - Intruders

Lyrani moaned softly as Nash traced his thumb around her nipple. His tan hand was stark against her brown skin. He studied her, her closed eyes rimmed by thick lashes, her rumpled black hair spread over the silken pillow, her teeth gnawing at her lower lip.

She had acquired a scar at the edge of her jaw on a mission a few months ago. She wasn't perfect according to the definition of the word, but Nash had never seen someone so beautiful. Sometimes, he still couldn't believe that she was his.

Still drawing circles on her soft skin, he kissed her neck. "Feeling better, Lyr?"

"Yes." Lyrani opened her eyes with a small smile. "I'm sorry that I got jealous. It's not that I don't trust you... It's just...I don't know." She looked away from Nash, staring up at the ceiling.

At night, the stars gazed down at them, but in the afternoon, the roof's tint was still active, keeping out the sunlight that would make Nash's midday naps impossible and bleach away the dark colours in his room.

"I guess I just didn't like that Advisor Lach knew more about the threat facing you than I did. She seemed so smug about it too." Lyrani rolled her eyes.

Nash kissed her earlobe before pulling away to look at her. "Anesse is very confident about her worth as an advisor and her ability as a negotiator with the other clans, but she isn't anything more than that to me. You have nothing to worry about."

"Now I feel silly for lashing out as I did in the meeting." Lyrani shook her head as she curled against Nash's side, resting her head on his chest.

"It's not silly to be jealous, Lyr. It happens." Nash pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear as she tilted her head up to look at him.

"Does it now?" Lyrani slid her arm over Nash's waist, pulling him as close as they could be just short of their bodies meeting, intoxicatingly so.

"Yes."

She raised her eyebrows, a question in their movement.

Nash sighed, drawing Lyrani closer to him than he deserved. "Do you think I don't worry that you'll go off on a mission and meet someone who's better for you? Someone who doesn't need you to risk your life to save him constantly?"

He was the weak link in Lyrani's life. She was surrounded by strong, independent people who fought for the causes they believed in. And then there was Nash.

He hadn't even been able to resist his grandmother's spirit. He had killed countless beings across the realm because his will hadn't been able to overwhelm hers. He had nearly killed Lyrani because he wasn't the fighter she was, the sort of man she deserved to be with.

"Nash." Lyrani brushed her mouth against his. "I don't like that you're always in danger, but I don't mind rescuing you. I love that you're so kind and gentle." Her eyes latched onto his and held them there. "You know, when the palace was burning down over a year ago, an ECISI agent would've probably left me to burn with it and saved themselves, love be damned. We've been trained to recognise situations where saving someone else involves too much risk to us. But you still saved me even though you could've gotten yourself killed. I've never met another man like you, Nash, and I know I never will. I love you too much to try." She cupped his face in her hand.

"Then you know how I feel about you." Nash kissed Lyrani's wrist before propping himself up on his elbow. "Any other ECISI agent would've left Vlitavia once they knew they were facing Rayn. They might've even killed me in the hopes of stopping her. It would've been easier and probably safer for them, but you took a different path."

Lyrani stared at him as transfixed as if this wasn't their story he was telling but one that she had never heard before.

"You saved me at grave risk to yourself when I didn't believe I was worth the effort. You gave me a chance I didn't deserve and a love I deserved even less."