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“I’ve got you, Violet,” he promises, his breath ragged pants against my lips. “Let it out.”
“Did I…” “Set the curtains on fire?” He lifts a brow. “Yes.” “Oh.” I can’t find it in me to be embarrassed, so I brush the backs of my fingers across the stubble along his jaw. “And you put it out.” “Yes. Right before I destroyed your throwing target.” He grimaces. “I’ll get you a new one.” I glance over at the armoire. “And we…” “Yep.” He lifts his brows. “And I’m pretty sure you need a new chair, too.”
“That was…” I didn’t even get the man’s pants entirely off, and my dressing gown is haphazardly hanging from one shoulder. “Frighteningly perfect.”
“When did I ever give you the impression that I give a fuck what people think?” I use his earlier words against him and sit up, curling my hand around the section of his neck that bears his relic. “Stay with me, Xaden. Don’t make me beg.”
“We both know this is a bad idea.” “Then it’s our bad idea.”
“I just don’t trust my temper if anyone says—”
I brush a kiss over his mouth, silencing him. “I know what you’re saying. It’s…sweet.”
“I’m not sweet. Please don’t mistake any part of me for soft or kind. That will only get you hurt, and whatever you do…” He buries his face in my ne...
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“Don’t leave me.” “Never. I’ll burn him alive before he takes a single step toward you.”
There’s nowhere in existence you could go that I wouldn’t find you, Violence.”
“I swear it didn’t look quite that ruined in the darkness when I left this morning. Turns out you set more than a few trees on fire last night, too. Took two water wielders to get them out.”
“You want me.” I put my hand on his chest and feel his heart pounding. “And I know that scares you even though I want you just as badly.”
“But here’s the thing.” I hold his gaze, knowing he could bolt at any second. “You don’t get to dictate how I feel. You might give the orders out there, but not in here. You don’t get to tell me we can fuck but I can’t fall for you. That’s not fair. You can only respect what I choose to do. So we’re not doing this again until I want to risk my heart. And if I fall, then that’s my problem, not yours. You’re not responsible for my choices.”
he can avoid it all he wants, but we’re going to end up right here time and again until he’s willing to recognize what this is. Because if there’s one thing I know for certain, it’s that I’m going to fall for this man—if I haven’t already—and he’s halfway there, too, whether he realizes it or not.
“Seriously. I can’t think when you look at me like that.”
“You’re still looking.”
“I’m over here keeping my hands and memories to myself because you asked me to, and you’re fucking me with your eyes. That’s not playing fair.”
“If you’d just man up and admit there’s something between us, I would strip down to my skin so you could see every single inch of me. And once I had you begging, I’d drop down to my knees, undo those flight leathers you’re wearing, and wrap my lips around—”
“You’re going to be the death of me.”
Xaden’s done more than save me. He believed me when I told him Amber led the unbondeds to my room. He had an entire arsenal of daggers crafted just for me. He designed a saddle for Tairn so I can ride into battle with my peers. He’d protected me when I needed and taught me to defend myself so I wouldn’t require protection forever.
And when others are quick to stand in front of me, Xaden always stands at my side, trusting me to hold my own.
“You are a good friend, Liam Mairi.” I rest my head on his arm. “You saved my life, Violet. The least I can do is grin and bear it through a fucking party.”
I’m in love with Xaden.
It doesn’t even matter that he warned me not to fall for him. It’s not an infatuation, our physical chemistry, or even the bond between our dragons that keeps me reaching in every way possible for this man. It’s my reckless heart.
“You’re seriously going to be the death of me.” His fingers flex at my waist. “Go back.”
“Only if you do. I want to be wherever you are.”
“You want me,” I say, looking him in the eyes. “And no, I’m not just talking about in bed. You. Want. Me, Xaden Riorson. You might not say it, but you do one better and show it. You show it every time you choose to trust me, every time your eyes linger on mine. You show it with every sparring lesson you don’t have time for and every flight lesson that pulls you away from your own studies. You show it when you refuse to touch me because you’re worried I don’t really want you, then show it again when you take the time to hunt down violets before a leadership meeting so I don’t wake up feeling
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“You think we don’t have a future because you’re scared that I won’t like who you really are behind all those walls you keep. And I’m scared, too. I can admit it. You’re graduating. I’m not. You’ll be gone in a matter of weeks, and we’re probably setting ourselves up for heartbreak. But if we let fear kill whatever this is between us, then we don’t deserve it.” I lift one hand to the back of his neck. “I told you that I was the one who would decide when I’m ready to risk my heart, and I’m saying it.”
“I know there’s no one else. I wouldn’t be walking the parapet in the middle of the night if I thought you were playing me.”
“Then what made you even think that? Have to admit, it pissed me off. I’ve given you exactly zero reasons to think I’m in anyone else’s bed.”
“You’re jealous.” He bites back a smile.
“I know the feeling well.”
“And you are strong and fierce and have a ruthless streak, too. Not to mention you’re the smartest person I’ve ever met. That mind of yours is sexy as hell.
Imogen and I are just friends. Trust me, she wasn’t looking at me, and even if she were…” He pauses, his hand slipping to cradle the back of my head as h...
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“Gods help me, I’m only looki...
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Are you done pushing me away?”
“You done putting yourself in harm’s way to get your point across?”
“There’s only you, Violence. Is that what you needed to hear?”
“Even when I’m not with you, there’s only you.
If we’re going to do this, then we have to trust each other.”
“And you want to do this?” I hold my breath. He sighs, long and hard, then admits, “Yes.”
“I can’t make you any promises, Violence. But I’m tire...
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“What do you mean you know the feeling of jealousy well?”
“Oh no, if I have to trust you and tell you what I’m thinking, then I expect the same from you.” I’m not going to be the only vulnerable one out on this ledge.
“I saw Aetos kiss you after Threshing and nearly lost my shit.”
If I didn’t already love him, that might have pushed ...
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“You wanted m...
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“I’ve wanted you from the first second I saw ...
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“Don’t ever put your life at risk over something as trivial as talking to me again.”
“Pretty sure everyone already knows—we set half the forest on fire that night,”
