It felt like their wedding had been years ago, not a mere month. How was it possible that so much had happened over such a short period of time?
Her obsidian orbs shimmered with an emotion Ryker wasn’t ready to unpack.
“You gave it to me. Even when I thought you were dead…” A choked sob slipped out of Brynleigh, and she shuddered. “I kept it.”
Ryker swallowed. It meant something that she was still wearing his ring, just as it meant something that she wasn’t pulling away from him. His thumb traced the cool metal, turning it around her finger slowly. He’d spent hours mulling over engagement ring options until he found the perfect one.
Back when he thought she loved him.
Back when they were whole.
Back when he had no idea who she truly was.
So much had happened between them, and yet…
Ryker didn’t know if they could fix this. The only thing he knew for certain was that being with Brynleigh felt right in a way that nothing else ever had. It was like they were two parts of the same whole, always meant to be together.
Everything else faded away. He didn’t notice either of them moving, but eventually, barely a foot of space existed between them.
The air was so thick that he could hardly breathe. His magic pulsed, his heart thundered, and everything within him urged him to close the distance between them.
Nothing else mattered at that moment. Not the dead Earth Elf, not Brynleigh’s betrayal, not his anger over her murderous plans.
It was just them and the feeling of rightness deep in his soul.
He breathed her name, and he tightened his grip on her fingers.
Just one kiss.
That’s all he wanted. A taste, a reminder of what they had, and then they could go back to figuring everything else out.
Ryker bent his head, his breath dancing over her mouth as he drew closer. He moved slowly, giving her time to pull away, but she didn’t. His heart boomed, and he felt like a youngling going in for his first kiss.
Wide-eyed, Brynleigh gripped his fingers. Something dangerously akin to hope shone within her eyes.
She breathed, “Ryker?—”
A shrill ring sliced through the silence like a bolt of lightning cutting through a stormy night. Ryker’s phone vibrated in his back pocket.
“Fuck,” he exhaled, his heart sinking like a stone.
Brynleigh blinked, and a shadow flickered around her hand. She stepped back, eyes shuttering, but not before he saw the flash of pain and disappointment in her eyes.
It echoed the ache in his soul.
He reached into his pocket and withdrew the phone. Swiping to answer, Ryker didn’t even look at the screen, keeping his gaze on Brynleigh.
“Yes?” he barked, unable to keep the frustration from his voice.
“Ryker?”
Oh gods.
“What’s wrong, River?” He clutched the phone. “Have you been crying?”
She sniffled. “I…”
Ryker braced himself as he asked the question he’d feared every night for the past six years. “Did you lose control again?”