A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes, #2)

by Sabaa Tahir

Laia’s half on top of me, half wedged between the coffin and the crypt wall.

hehehehe 🤭

The combination of cobwebs, crypt, and warm girl throws me, and I’m barely even capable of stuttering, “Are you cra—”

warm girl? 🤨🤭

I flip Laia under me, my arms on either side of her head to shield her from the blast.

giggling rn 😍🤭

He puts a finger on my lips, drawing my gaze to his.

AHHHHHHHH 🤭😍😘❤️

I remember the last time I looked at him like this—just before we kissed.

oo la la 😻

I grasp his hand and pull myself up behind him, my face heating at the close fit. The saddle is enormous, but Elias is not a small man. Skies, where do I put my hands? His shoulders? His waist? I’m still deciding when he puts heels to flank and the horse leaps forward. I grab on to a strap of Elias’s armor, and he reaches out to pull me flush against him. I wrap my arms around his waist and press into his broad back, my head spinning as the empty desert streams past.

heheheeheheh 🤭😍

For an awkward few seconds, he holds his arms away from me, as if I might take umbrage at his closeness. So I lean back against his chest, feeling safer than I have in days, like I’ve suddenly acquired a layer of armor. He relaxes, dropping his forearms to my hips, and the weight of them sends a flutter up my spine.

safer than you have in days 😻

My hands are filled with her—waist, hips, that cloud of sugar-scented hair.

EHEHEEHEHEHEHEH 🤭😍

A Tribal trader and his sister.” “Sister?” She crosses her arms. “We look nothing alike.” “Or wife, if you prefer.” I raise an eyebrow at her, unable to resist. A blush rises in her cheeks and blooms down her neck. I wonder if it goes any lower. Stop, Elias.

wife, i prefer wife 🙋🏻‍♀️

Perhaps I’d follow the words by easing her toward me, running a finger along the golden line of her collarbone and up her long neck. Gathering her hair into a knot and pulling her close slowly, so, so slowly—

i volunteer! 🙋🏻‍♀️ I volunteer as tribute!

I take Laia’s hands in mine. Cool. Strong. I would keep them here, kiss every callus on her palms, nibble the inside of her wrist so she gasped. I would pull her closer and see if she too wished to give in to the fire that burns between us.

stop 🤭 (don’t stop)

The intensity of his pale gaze makes my heart stutter, but I don’t let myself look away. There’s a loneliness to him that makes me ache.

yea my heart would stutter too

After a moment, Elias lets out a breath and leans his forehead against mine.

🤭 blushing rn