He looked at Lilette, his eyes as dark and depthless as the deepest part of the ocean. His gaze shifted to her mouth and she could have sworn she felt the pressure of his gaze on her lips. She moved forward a fraction, until there was nothing between them but sunlight. Then there was nothing at all. His lips were on hers, not claiming, not possessing, simply wanting. Needing. She’d never known how full of need he was, how dark and empty the spaces in his soul must be. He drank her in like she was light and hope and he’d been a starving man all his life.
For Lilette, it was as if his touch let her shine. Like she’d been shattered into a thousand specks of light and he brought her together—made her whole.
With a shudder that shook him to the core, Han pulled away from her. He rested his forehead against hers, his breath ragged. “Lilette.”
She closed her eyes as he said her name like he was cupping a bird in his hands and was about to set it free. She inhaled the breath that had carried her name. “Han.”
“No matter how hard I try, you’re all I can see,” he murmured.
She held her hands together to keep them from trembling and betraying her. “Where does that leave us?” She pulled back slightly to look at him.
“I don’t know.” Han closed his eyes. “You’re leaving for Haven. I’m going to stay here as an ambassador for Harshen.”
She nodded. “I’m glad.” She trusted no one else with this.
Han hesitated, and then kissed her briefly. “Be well, little dragon.” He turned and started walking away.
Lilette watched him, waiting for him to move out of sight before she allowed her legs to go soft, let herself sink into the loam. She didn’t cry. She just waited for the aching to fade enough that she could get to her feet and keep moving.
***
Lilette stood at the bow, letting the cool sea wind wash over her. As the sun changed the color of the water from indigo to cerulean, jagged black cliffs rose in the distance. She was astounded by the sheer size of them, rising so high they seemed to cut into the sky. The ship headed toward a crescent moon carved into the side of the cliffs.
Behind her was a flurry of motion. Bare from the waist up, sailors took down the sails, slowing the ship to a crawl. Lilette looked for some kind of channel, some passage to get them inside the cliffs. There was nothing.
The captain ordered his men to drop the anchor. A splash was followed by the slither of ropes. The anchor dragged along the bottom of the sea before finally catching and slowing the ship to a halt. Lilette could feel the vessel straining against the pull of the water.
Jolin tightened her hands around the strap of the satchel containing all the seeds she’d gathered from Harshen. Her face was set as if she was facing down a raging storm.
“Are you all right?” Lilette asked.
Jolin slowly turned to face her. “Let’s just get this over with.”
The sailors had already loaded Jolin’s crates of books into the smaller boat, but she insisted on checking each one, double checking the ties around the oiled canvas. “You’re sure you double bagged them? Some of these books are nearly three hundred years old.”
Galon grinned at her, and Lilette had to tear her gaze away from the freckles that covered his chest. He’d been assigned as their guardian to Haven. His nose was a little large, his knuckles knobby, but there was something so ineffably happy about him that Lilette couldn’t help but like him.
“Yes, Keeper. I could toss them over the side now and they’d be nary the worse for wear.”
Jolin straightened as if she’d been slapped. “You’ll do no such thing!”
He chuckled. “’Course not. The point is I could.”
Jolin pressed both her fists to her hips, obviously preparing to deliver a tongue lashing.
Lilette rested a hand on her arm. “Jolin, he’s teasing you.”
“Oh. Well, as long as he keeps his hands off my books.”
“I don’t think that’s where he wants to put his hands,” Lilette murmured.
Galon’s grin widened. He gripped Jolin’s waist and hefted her easily into the boat. She squealed in surprise. He hauled himself up beside her and held out a hand to help Lilette in.
She took it even though she didn’t need it. “I never thanked you, for saving me back in Harshen.”
“You saved us back, so I guess we’re even.” He winked at her.
He reached across Jolin to grab a misplaced oar. She stiffened as his bare chest pressed against her arm, and Lilette resisted the urge to laugh. Before sitting down, she stumbled on some kind of wedge riveted into the base of the boat. She turned to look behind her, squinting through the brightness of the light reflecting off the water. “How are we getting past those walls?”