Her fingers combed through his hair. It had come out of the tie and was loose. He closed his eyes, savoring the sensation against his scalp.
“Why do you still call me your captor?” Her words were soft, and he almost questioned if he’d heard them. He looked up and saw the seriousness in her eyes, the crease between her brows standing out in the firelight.
“Because you are my captor, though my hands are unbound,” he said, his own voice soft.
“I’m not,” she said, shaking her head. “I know you can’t go back to the king’s men, but youcanleave. You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to. You don’t need to fight this war.”
He reached up, placing a finger over her lips before she could say more. “Stop,” he said. “I know I’m free to leave. Micael isn’t going to stop me, though Chalia might chase me down. But, my captor,” he emphasized the words, “this is my war to fight. It should always have been, I know that now. I will fight it. And I can’t leave you because youaremy captor. You’ve captured every part of me and I am yours.”
Her lips opened ever so slightly, and he took the moment to rub his thumb across her lower lip. It was velvet against his calluses.
“You are a storm,” he continued, “and I am only lucky enough to stand beside you. Your passion could burn down the world if you let it. So, no, I won’t leave you. Because I’m going to be at your side when you’ve remade the world, and can finally take everything you deserve.”
She didn’t speak immediately, blinking hard, and he saw the spark of tears at the corners of her eyes. He brushed his thumb there, wiping them away.
“Fox,” she said, voice rough. “I?—”
He saw the pain in her eyes—the inability to say more, and so he saved her, leaning forward before she was forced to say something she didn’t want to. He kissed her, pressing every emotion he had into it, hoping she heard it.
I know. You don’t need to love me. It changes nothing.
And it was true. She didn’t need to give him anything. He would still lay it all down for her.
“Everything I am belongs to you.”
“Don’t say that,” she said, but she kissed him back with just as much fervor.
“My life, my captor,” he said, pressing those words into her skin. He kissed her and murmured those words over and over again until she had no other choice but to hear them.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
FOX
“Shift your weight onto your front foot before you swing,” Fox said, adjusting Sofia with a hand on her waist. She followed his directions without questioning, swinging the sword down in an arc and hitting him perfectly on his hip.
They reset and did another short volley back and forth, Sofia practicing a move that allowed her to duck under an incoming hit while turning the sword back on her opponent. She tripped before she managed to twist around, going down hard on her knees.
“Shit,” she said, her grimace more out of frustration than pain.
“You’re doing well,” Fox said. It wasn’t a complete lie. She wasgood—fine. But it was clear the sword wasn’t her preferred weapon, and she didn’t have nearly the same amount of comfort with the longer blade as she did with her dagger. She’d asked him to help her with some moves she’d seen him use—things he’d learned from his training. He also shared all the secrets about how best tokilla king’s man. He knew the weaknesses of the armor and the ways they were trained to fight.
“You’ll always have your daggers for backup,” he assured her.
She scowled. “My dagger won’t do any good if I can’t get close enough to the soldiers to stab them. I need to learn to fight the way they do.”
“You won’t beat Harlow or anyone with brute strength,” Fox said, readjusting her stance with a hand on her hip. “Not even with a sword.”
She let out a small huff of frustration, but let him adjust her body easily. “Just tell me where to hit them to kill.”
He rolled his eyes, moving in front of her again and gently moving her blade, first to his armpit, his hip, and finally his calf. “The king’s men’s armor leaves these places unprotected, and we’re trained to protect our upper body.”
“So, hip or calves,” she said.
“Remember how you attacked the wolfshifters by cutting their ankles?”
Sofia raised an eyebrow. “I’m surprised you do.”
He shrugged, his cheeks heating.