Page 79 of A Kiss of Flame
He grunted. “Aye.”
Silence lingered, and the mage shifted nervously next to him. Barith was tempted to speak but kept his mouth firmly pressed shut. His feelings were hurt, even if it was childish to give her the silent treatment.
Levian took in a deep breath and let it out painfully slow. “Ismay told me I might find you here,” she added. Barith grunted. “Cat made quite the impression on Council,” she rambled on. “She was quite vivid with her statement—To nauseating specificity at times. Hearing her detail freeing you from the dragon net was particularly moving.”
Barith remembered it well. Cat had growled curses at him about his choice of women the whole time she’d struggled to unbind the dragon net. As the fighting had begun and he’d lost sight of Levian, an inferno of fury had run so deep through his bones that he’d managed to char the fae silver, weakening it just enough that his sister had been able to cut it loose.
Four of the Black Masks had managed to escape their battle. Two, including Vane, had been killed in the fray. That’s as much as Barith knew.
Levian cleared her throat delicately and pulled her jacket tighter around her when he didn’t reply. “I spoke to the queen,” she told him. “We’re far from friendly, but she didn’t immediately tell me to get off her island, so I’m taking that as progress.”
Queen Eithne had been beyond livid when three of her five children had come stumbling back to the island battered and broken with a vampire and Levian in tow. Between the mageand Ismay, they’d all been patched up within an hour, though Barith’s broken wing and reattached tail still had some mending to do. Even with her ragtag crew, Levian’s insane scheme had resulted in a successful rescue, but Eithne had been furious no one had bothered to inform her that her son had been kidnapped and maimed. It’d warmed Barith’s heart hearing how much Flòra and Ismay had protested staying behind to keep the queen from suspecting anything was wrong. Levian relied on them to alert the queen and Carvatticus if things went south.
Ismay had been attempting to mend his wing at his cottage while the others had all been shouting, snarling, and growling with the queen. Barith’s head still throbbed days later. Despite it all, Levian had managed to not only take on Eithne head-to-head but had also miraculously gotten his mother to begrudgingly agree with her rationale in the end.
Barith’s tension began to wane as his irritation slowly shifted to a dull ache deep in his chest. Levian had rescued him, but she’d not chased after him to confess her love. They’d shared a moment in the cavern that he’d thought meant they could figure out some path forward together, but the mage had pulled away from him afterward. Barith’s heart began to crack anew.
“I may have managed one rather grand success,” Levian told him with a stuttered breath.
“Aye?” he questioned, his tone hollow.
“I drafted a mating contract suitable enough that she agreed.”
Barith’s heart lurched into his throat as his breath caught in his lungs. He turned sharply to face her, and Levian looked nervously up at him. “What?” he whispered in disbelief, sure he hadn’t heard her right.
The mage began to fiddle with one of her necklaces nervously and looked away from him. “Before Vane sent me your—” she cleared her throat, looking at his bandaged tail. “I wasdetermined to figure out a way to free you from your mating contract,” she rambled. “I didn’t have time to do any research, but your sisters helped me a little, and I guess you already managed to get out of your contract with Sera before any of this even happened, but?—”
Barith had never seen Levian so nervous in his life. She was shifting on her feet and looking anywhere but at him. His heart slammed against his ribs like it were about to burst out and fly away. “What’re you saying?” he asked, trying to understand.
“I told you,” she snipped, crossing her arms over her chest to cover her anxiety. “I drafted a contract, and the queen agreed. You are free to choose whomever you like as your mate.”
His brow furrowed. “Did you draft a contract for us?” he asked, his leaping heart dropping.
She rubbed her temple. “Barith, I don’t want a contract,” she told him. His heart did drop then.
He scoffed, and the mage winced. “So you came to free me so you can leave again?” he clarified with unveiled anger.
“No,” Levian told him, finally looking to meet his gaze. Soft tears threatened in her violet eyes, and the pained look on her face tore at Barith’s heart. “I don’t want a mating contract,” she said again, “But that doesn’t mean I don’t want you.”
His heart jolted, and Levian slid closer to take one of his hands between hers. She kissed it gently and pressed his palm against her soft, warm cheek. The tenderness of her touch made Barith ache to pull her closer, but he was cautious.
“I don’t want to claim you,” the mage explained, a single tear spilling down to brush his hand. “You’ve always wanted your true mate, and I want you to find her.”
Barith laughed, startling them both, but he couldn’t help himself. He pulled his hand from her touch and spun away, frustration overtaking him. Emotions smashed into him like the sea waves against the island’s cliffs. Barith ran his handsthrough his hair and growled, “Ye may be the smartest woman I’ve ever known, but you can also be bloody daft.”
When he turned back around, Levian’s face was scrunched with irritation. It was a face he’d seen her make a thousand times before—a face he wanted to see a thousand times over again. Barith stepped forward, took her beautiful, soft face in his hands, bent down, and kissed her. Levian grumbled against his mouth before she let out a soft sigh of tension and melted into him. It was all he needed.
Barith’s heart swelled, and he pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. When he finally broke away, Levian’s eyes were heavy with emotion, and her breaths shallow.
“There’s no other woman—no other creature—I’ll ever want more than I want you,” he told her, brushing her cheek gently. “I love?—”
“No,” she snapped sharply. Barith’s breath held, and Levian shook her head in frustration at his startled reaction. “I love you,” she exclaimed on a trembling breath. “I was foolish and afraid, but I—” She sniffled. “I love you—You irritating, fire-breathing, sun lizard.”
Barith’s body blazed with fire, his heart thrumming like a rabbit’s foot, as he wrapped his arms around Levian’s waist and lifted her off the ground. She held his face in her hands and looked down at him with her beautiful violet eyes before she planted a soft, lush kiss against his lips. Barith growled in response pulling her closer, breathing in her night jasmine perfume as it blended with the crisp air.
Levian broke their kiss and let out a stuttered breath. “I might still be a touch afraid,” she confessed, though it clearly pained her to do it.
Barith had spent all his life hoping to find his true mate. Hoping to find a love that shook him to his core. Levian had driven him mad with frustration, love, torment, friendship—everything. It had turned out that as he’d been chasing nymphs and lovers, the creature he’d wanted so desperately had been right in front of him the whole time.