Page 128 of Obsidian Throne
“I did that for you, Evander,” I finally said. “All this time, I was worried about having the kind of love you go to war for. I thought it made you weak and selfish and reckless. And I don’t know, maybe those last two things are true, but I do know that the way that I love you...it makes me stronger, not weaker.”
Evander’s lips moved like he wanted to respond but couldn’t find the words. He settled for pressing another reverent kiss against my forehead.
“And I heard what you did in the battle here,” I added. “I wasn’t the only one doing remarkable things.”
His face darkened, then, and he told me about the battle, how they were outnumbered five to one, how he had to pull out every military tactic he had ever learned or read about just to make it the several days they did.
“And then you came.” He scrutinized me for a moment. “Are you going to tell me about the storm?”
“The armor Rayan gave me, along with the swords--”
Evander held a hand up for silence.
“Wait, have I told you how incredibly sexy you looked striding across that battlefield with those swords? I mean, until you slapped me in the face.” The corner of his lips tilted up in the barest hint of a smirk. “Which, by the way, no one has ever actually done before.”
“Then you were clearly overdue.” I shrugged, and he laughed, pulling me closer and lowering his lips to mine again.
He kissed me like we had all the time in the world, and I greedily soaked it up.
Even though we both knew it was a lie.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN
ROWAN
Finally, the next morning, we forced ourselves back to the war room.
Though it was slow progress, since Evander insisted on “helping” me get dressed, which was not actually helpful or conducive to my clothes staying on at all.
“Why hasn’t he made a move yet?” I mused aloud on the way to the war room.
I didn’t have to explain who I meant.
“I can’t say for sure, but I’d be willing to bet he lost a lot of support when they lost the last time.” Evander looked at me, pride in his expression. “You did that, Lemmikki.”
I had managed to explain about the armor and weather the night before, in between many, many kisses.
“Wedid that,” I amended. “I knew the men I brought wouldn’t be enough to turn the tides, but I also knew that if I distracted the enemy soldiers, if you were...still alive.” I had to swallow back the wave of emotion that always came when I remembered those weeks when I hadn’t been sure if I would see him again.
“I knew if you were still the one commanding, you would take advantage of that,” I said. “And you did. If you had reacted any less quickly, it wouldn’t have mattered what I did.”
A look crossed his features, somewhere between bafflement and gratitude. “You had that much faith in me, even then?”
“In your brilliant mind?” I clarified. “Yes. In your ability to not be a massiveaalio? No, I had rather lost that.”
He let out a low chuckle. “And now?”
“And now, you’re slowly building it back.” I gave him a private smile, one that he returned.
I would be lying if I told him I didn’t have moments of panic where I wondered if he would change his mind again, but if he was willing to change, I was willing to find a way to trust him again.
Two of the servants opened the large doors to the war room, and we strode through. Taras gave a faint smirk, and I raised an eyebrow in response. Mila was rubbing off on him.
I suspected that he had something to do with Evander and me actually being left alone yesterday, though, and I was incredibly grateful for that.
“Have we heard back from any of the spies?” Evander asked once we sat down.
His hand held mine under the table, his thumb running small circles over my skin, and I forced myself to focus.