“Just stay away from her!”
My eyes swiveled to Revik. I stared at his face in shock, saw his jaw clenched, his hands in fists by his sides so that the long muscles in his arms stood out. I felt my breath stop when I saw his expression. I’d only seen it on his face once before, and that was before I’d been born.
Maygar burst into a laugh. “You must be joking!”
“I’m not. Don’t push me, boy. I’ll rip your dirtblood heart out...”
“Revik!” Jon said.
“Boys!” Cass said, sharp. “We don’t have time for this! Military outside, remember? Revik, calm down—”
“You broke vow,” Maygar said to him. “You have no rights, you worm-fucking retard. I can court her if I want!”
“No. You can’t.” Revik clenched his hands. “You interfere with an attempt at reconciliation, and I’ll press charges...if I don’t kill you first.”
I blanched, looking between them. Court me? I stared at Revik, unable to look away from the expression on his face.
“Reconciliation?” Maygar snorted. “You brought your human whore here!”
Revik’s face drained of blood. He looked at me.
“Whore?” Cass broke in furiously. “Would that be me?” She turned on me. “Is that what the martyr crap at lunch was about? You really think I’d skank on your husband, Al? You’re my best friend! And for your information, he hasn’t been with anyone since you saw him! We were with him the whole time. He didn’t touch anyone for months, unless you count Terian and his—”
“Shut up!” Revik was breathing harder, staring at her. “Shut up, Cass! Right now!”
I looked between them, feeling sick. “I really don’t—”
“No!” Maygar said, holding up a hand to me. “Don’t accept anything from him, Bridge! You owe him nothing!”
Revik and Maygar were looking at each other again. Neither dropped their gaze, nor relaxed their stances.
I couldn’t take my eyes off Revik’s face, seeing the anger there, but more than that, him fighting to control himself, to remain standing where he was. Suddenly, my mind seemed to click back on. Lowering the gun the rest of the way, I placed it on the table. Giving Maygar a disbelieving look, I closed the distance to Revik.
I grabbed his arm, harder until he looked down.
“No...Revik. Look, he’s protecting me, but not the way you think.” I yanked on his arm again to get his eyes off Maygar. “Revik! Listen to me! There’s nothing going on with me and Maygar!”
Revik turned. His eyes locked on mine.
“Are you with anyone?” Pain wafted off him.
I stared up at him, momentarily speechless.
“Allie.” He gripped my arm, hard enough to hurt. “I would understand. I know I’m not acting like it, but I would. Tell me to back off, and—”
“No.” I shook my head, still staring at him. “No...no one.”
He didn’t move. Realizing I still had him in a death grip, I let go of his arm.
After the barest instant, he released me, too.
We just stood there, staring at one another. Then it occurred to me that I’d walked up to him. Before I could move away, though, he caught hold of my wrists. His fingers tightened, pulling me closer to where he stood.
For another moment, he seemed to be trying to speak.
He looked so damned thin. I watched his jaw harden, his eyes brighten as he looked at me, holding out my hands slightly, almost like Jon had when he first saw me alive. He looked longest at my face, then down the rest of me. I felt his light on mine then, cautiously at first...growing stronger the longer we stood there.
I tried to decide if I should say anything, when an intensity rose to his eyes. He met my gaze again and I nearly flinched, but I didn’t look away.
I’d seen that look on his face before, too, but never aimed at me.
Tugging at my hands, he pulled me carefully between his arms.
I let him guide me up against him, following his pull to wrap my arms around him once I stood close enough. He let go of my wrists once I had, curling an arm lengthwise across my back, gripping my shoulder in his hand and squeezing before he wrapped his fingers into my hair. I didn’t move as he pulled it out of the soft knot, caressing it away from my neck. He slid his other arm around my waist, pulling me tight against his body before he lowered his head, pressing his face against mine.
I relaxed against him. I forgot all of it in those few seconds—my mother, all those months of believing he and Cass and Jon were dead, even the military outside. He held me tighter, tight enough that I could barely breathe. My throat closed as he pulled me deeper into the curve of his body.