Leonie ran as fast as she could. The trees flashed past her, and she barely managed to dodge them in time. She was absurdly pleased with herself—she still didn't hear Nir crashing through the underbrush after her. Maybe she really had outrun him.
"Don't tell me you fell asleep!" she called, her voice bright with laughter, as she sprinted from tree to tree.
Then she heard it.
Not the usual crashing and snapping of twigs, only a soft rustling. So that was how he wanted to play. Nir was clearly trying to make things harder for her, but she wasn't going to make it easy for him.
Moving as quietly as she could, she slipped between the trees, struggling to hold back her giggles. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd had this much fun.
She swung around a tree and charged on—or tried to. Her pursuer caught her around the waist and spun her, and Leonie squealed with laughter. When her feet touched the ground again, she turned.
Her feet rooted instantly to the earth.
"Got you," Dorian murmured.
His gaze burned with the thrill of the chase, and Leonie's face was flushed from running, the bun she'd pinned her hair into nearly completely undone. She looked… enchanting.
"Dorian," she breathed, stunned. "What are you doing here?"
Her thoughts flipped upside down again. Dorian had been so distant with her these past days…
"You," he said simply—the truest answer he could give. He really was here for her. Perhaps he had been searching for her for centuries.
He stepped closer, and he felt it immediately: his magic brushing against hers. Leonie felt the strange warmth too, as if his hands were gliding over her skin without touching her.
"M–me?" she whispered.
She had no idea what was happening; the air felt thicker around them somehow.
"Why are you here?" she asked again. "You haven't… you haven't even talked to me. I thought…"
Thought what? So many things. That he'd lied and her presence really did repulse him. That this Revna waited for him at home with dinner and a warm bed. That the only thing tying him to Leonie was their bargain, and he simply didn't want to waste any more time on her than he had to… All of those possibilities had chased each other through her mind in the last few days.
"What are you doing here?" she repeated.
"Because… I can't be anywhere else," Dorian sighed, and the inner battle raging in him was almost palpable.
He was asking himself the same question she was: what in the gods' names was he doing here?
"I tried every day. To keep my distance. But when I heard you laugh…"
He drew in a deep breath, and Leonie shivered. The energy radiating off him was sweeping away every last coherent thought.
"That laughter haunts me more than your screams ever did. The way you gave it to someone else, and not to me. And that's my fault."
He lowered his head until his face was close to hers. Leonie could barely breathe. The fire in his eyes completely mesmerized her.
"I don't understand…" she whispered.
"Neither do I. I wish I did," he said, tipping his head back and rubbing his eyes. Then, as if jolted back to himself, he stepped back from her.
The movement hit Leonie like a splash of cold air; goosebumps rippled across her skin and heat followed in its wake.
"I can't explain why I have to be beside you," he said, turning back to her, desperation in his features.
He raised a hand toward her, but didn't touch her—his palm hovering just above her arm.
"You must feel it too," he murmured, slowly tracing the air above her skin from her arm up toward her shoulder without actually making contact.
But they both felt it—the slow, molten wave of magic between them, rolling under their skin.
Leonie closed her eyes and tried not to let it show just how badly she wanted it to be true. Wanted him to truly want to be with her.
"I feel it too," she finally managed, when she could form words again.
When she opened her eyes, Dorian's face was only a few inches from hers.
"You've no idea how hard it's been watching you ride with Marcus every day," he said quietly. "Even though I was the one who sent you with him, I could have ripped his heart out. Or seeing you open up to Filarion when you talk together. Hearing you laugh with Nir. Watching Aeson pry open the gates of your magic again and again…"
Dorian closed his eyes, trying to rein in the storm inside him.
"Every time, I wanted it to be me. There are so many things I want you to do—with me."
His last words were little more than a breath against her lips. He waited, giving her a heartbeat in which to pull away, to stop this madness—but she didn't.
And he could no longer restrain himself.
He kissed her. Gently. Painfully slowly.
He pressed his mouth to hers, and the rush of magic tore through his veins like wildfire. He felt her shiver in his arms. One hand slid to her face, the other wrapped firmly around her, drawing her close as he carefully, tenderly explored her lips.
He was almost certain this was Leonie's first kiss, and he treated it as such, testing her taste with the utmost care. His tongue brushed lightly along her wonderfully soft lips, and when they parted for him, he caught her lower lip gently between his teeth.
A star exploded in Leonie's mind.
If Dorian weren't holding her, she would have collapsed. She had never felt anything even remotely like this; she'd had no idea a man's touch could be this gentle. Heat flooded her body, her magic thrummed through her entire being. The branches of nearby trees seemed to tremble along with her.
The sensation frightened her and filled her with a fierce, aching hunger for more, all at once.
But Dorian pulled back, quickly enough that she barely managed to come back to herself.
He kept his hand on her cheek, staring into her dazed eyes from very close. She thought she might have heard a satisfied growl from him—or maybe it was just her own heartbeat pounding in her ears.
"You've no idea how much I want you," Dorian muttered, struggling to bring his breathing back under control.
He rested his forehead against hers, trying to calm them both. Inside, as much war raged in him as in her.
He was satisfied that she wanted him just as much as he wanted her. Agitated, knowing that this pure creature trusted him despite how poorly he'd treated her lately. Desperate, because despite her past, she had given him her first kiss.
He was afraid—afraid of how he was supposed to protect her from himself now. And angry that when he was with her, all thought of his people seemed to fly out of his head.
"I… I…" Leonie tried to force an answer out, but she had no idea what to say; everything inside her was too muddled. Her heart twisted at his last confession. Was this real? This was what she wanted. Even if she'd never dared frame it clearly for herself, deep down she'd longed for exactly this.
Could he really mean it? Or was this just another lie?
"I…" she tried again, but Dorian's thumb slipped over her lips, and he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.
"You don't have to say anything," he sighed, and pulled her into his arms.
They stood there for long minutes, wrapped around each other, until Dorian finally managed to regain his composure.