Page 7 of A Kiss of Flame
Barith’s gaze flicked to the daemon’s elaborately ringed fingers as they settled on Levian’s waist. “Did you find it?” he asked, barely more than a growl.
“What?” she questioned.
“What ye came here for.”
Levian hesitated for a moment before she nodded. “I did, yes.”
“Good,” Barith grunted.
“That has yet to be determined,” she told him before letting out a slight sigh. Levian wrapped her arm around the daemon’s shoulder.
“I’m afraid you’re too large for my brand of magick,” Car said, looking Barith over again. “But I do hope you’ll join us for a soak. It would be nice to catch up like civilized hedonists.”
Levian swatted at Car’s obnoxiousness before looking at Barith. “I’m fine, as you can see,” she said. He was sure she would tell him to go home, but instead, she briskly offered, “If you would like to join, you are welcome. If not, it was good to see you.” She paused, then added, “I wish you and your future mate many blessings.”
Barith bristled at how hollow sentiment, his jaw tightening.
“If you don’t come,” Car added before Barith could respond, “I also wish you a brood of fat offspring and a mate with a backside as round as a—” Levian elbowed him clear in the ribs. The daemon winced in pain and cursed under his breath.
“Take care of yourself,” she said, finally meeting Barith’s gaze.
Something in her violet eyes churned his insides. She looked earnest but sad. Resigned. It made him feel like a right arse. They’d barely spoken in months, and it’d been heated the last time they had. He wanted to apologize, to explain, to say a thousand things.
“Vi, I—” was all he managed before a swirl of ashen smoke enveloped them, and they were gone.
Barith cursed loudly and looked up to the sky. Carvatticus was a right arse and had done it to get under his skin.
His skin began to cool rapidly as twilight settled over the forest. Barith breathed deeply, the lingering scent of Levian’s night jasmine perfume clinging to the air. With another curse, he opened his wings wide and took off into the sky, tightly holding Levian’s knitted blanket around his hips. Barith glamoured himself so that none of the humans below could see him flying overhead as he approached a village.
Now that he’d started this, Barith was determined to finish it. He wouldn’t slink back home to his horde without clearing the air with Levian first, even if it meant gagging and chaining his Daemon Lordliness up in a basement to get a moment alone with her.
Chapter Three
“I’m so glad you decided to join us,” Car purred.
Barith sat on the opposite side of the large steaming soaking tub, taking up nearly as much space as Levian and Car combined. He looked as surly as he had in the middle of that field only an hour early. He’d barely spoken since he’d arrived, draped only in the purple and pink knitted afghan she’d given him, and unceremoniously dropped himself into their soothing milky bath atThe Dragon’s Delight.
Levian felt uneasy, which irritated her. She’d not been sure Barith would come and was pleased to see him. She’d even found all the staff’s tittering over the fact that a half-naked dragon had shown up at their door quite amusing. What unnerved her was that he’d not said a word since he’d arrived and seemed content to look sour and stare at a bit of wall behind her head.
After half an hour of listening to Car ramble about his mundane duties as High Daemon Lord, Levian was ready to sink beneath the milky waters and not resurface until they left.
“—and not only did I have to bow to the Autumn Fae Queen formally, but she also insisted I bow to all nine of her hideous, supposedly rare, cats,” Car concluded with exaggerated distaste,finishing his long-winded tale about his recent visit to Fümhar, the home of the Autumn Fae.
“Sounds tedious,” Levian muttered, barely hiding her disinterest.
Car’s gaze shifted from Levian to Barith before he huffed dramatically and stood, sending water splashing over the tub’s edge. “You two are unbearably dull,” he snapped, stepping out of the bath and wrapping himself in a silken black robe that matched his briefs. “I’m going for a massage,” the daemon declared, brushing his damp hair behind his horns. “And for the love of everything sacred and filthy in this world, please sort out whateverthisis. I’d rather sit in a meeting with one of my odious advisors.”
Levian glared at him, but Car only cocked a sassy brow in return. “Neither of you have said hardly a word in almost thirty minutes, and evenIcan grow tired of hearing myself talk,” he huffed.
Barith let out a disbelieving laugh, and Car shot Levian with a knowing look before stalking out of the room. She understood: he wouldn’t return until the unfinished business between her and Barith was resolved.
“He’s always liked the sound of his own voice more than anythin’ else,” Barith grumbled not long after Car had left.
Levian scoffed, standing to step out of the bath herself. “Don’t make this about Car,” she clipped, wrapping herself in her fine silk robe before padding wet steps across the wood-planked floor to pour herself a glass of chilled wine. “Why did you even come here if you were just going to sit there and stare into the void?”
Barith didn’t immediately answer. When she turned back, wine in hand, she saw him staring down into the water, his expression strained. For the first time since his arrival, Levian let herself really look at him. Barith was enormous, even for adragon. Tall and broad with muscle. His sun-kissed skin had deepened in color since she’d last seen him, his freckles more pronounced from his time in the sun. His usually unruly auburn hair was now neatly trimmed, though long enough for him to run his fingers through. Damp strands framed his tense face. His beard, too, was freshly groomed, accentuating his sharp jawline. He looked polished, almost regal, but not himself. He looked worn and nothing like the jovial, light-hearted dragon she knew him to be.
Levian’s heart softened despite her irritation. They hadn’t spoken since Barith had left for home this past winter. The distance, the rapid changes—everything stung. Her anger was irrational, she knew, but it was there all the same. Burning inside her like a fanned fire. She’d missed him. Levian hadn’t realized how much until he’d come flying out of that wall in a ball of fire. And by his countenance, Barith was struggling with something far heavier than mere worry over her safety.