Bracken jumped up, shooting a look between us, and scampered off the couch and down the hallway.
“Can he get outside?”
“Back door is cracked just a smidge for him,” Torin promised. I smiled. It was these little things that Torin did, always looking out for others, that was making it impossible for me not to want to climb on his lap and not think about what would come tomorrow.
“I don’t want to be naïve,” I whispered. “I don’t want to be the fool who trusts too easily.”
“You’re not naïve,” he said, voice low and certain. “You’re brave. You walk into the world without armor. I respect that more than you know.”
My breath hitched.
He continued softly, “And I’m not going to hurt you, Liora. Not intentionally. Not ever.”
I swallowed hard. “You can’t promise that.”
“No,” he agreed. “But I can promise I’ll try my damned hardest.”
He paused.
“And that when I feel something, I won’t run from it.”
My entire body went still.
“You feel something?” I whispered.
He moved closer.
Firelight danced across his features, making his eyes look darker and more dangerous.
“I do,” he said. “More than I should. More than I expected.”
I exhaled shakily.
Torin took a slow breath. “Tell me what you’re afraid of.”
I tore my gaze from his and stared into the flames. “I’m afraid … that I’ll mess this up.”
“You won’t.”
“I’m afraid I’ll fall too fast.”
“So do I.”
I looked at him.
He held my gaze, unflinching.
“I’m afraid,” I whispered, “I’m not enough.”
Torin reached up, fingers brushing my jaw.
“Liora,” he said, voice roughening. “You are more than enough. You’re more than I deserve.”
Emotion clawed up my throat. That wasn’t remotely true, but since he couldn’t lie, it was clear he believed it.
“And I’m afraid,” I whispered, “that if I let myself hope that this could be real, the moment that I do? It will all fall apart.”
He shifted, kneeling on the rug before me, sliding between my thighs as if it was the most natural thing in the world.