The words were true, but they hung between us.

My eyes met his. “Ash, what do you want?”

His eyelids lowered, hooding the honey gold until I could barely see the color. “You have a visitor.”

Now that surprised me. I brushed past Ash, and made my way up to the entrance. A dark-haired man stood there, a man I didn’t think would have anything to do with me ever again.

“Coal?”

He’d been inspecting his feet, scuffing them in the dirt and when I said his name, he snapped his head up. He looked me over, a grin spreading over his lips, his voice dropping to a familiar husky tone I knew all too well. “You look good, Lark. Really, really good.”

I blinked, wondering where the flush of excitement along my synapses was, where the hot flood of lust had gone. “Thanks. What do you want?”

Behind me, I heard a soft snicker and looked over my shoulder. Mal gave me a thumbs up before I turned back to face Coal. He offered me a hand. “I heard you had some time off, I’ve been coming every day to see if they’d let me at least talk to you. I’ve missed you.”

“Really?” I tried to keep my tone casual, but there was no help for the bitterness. “The last time I saw you, I was being dragged away and accused of murder, and you let them take me without a fight. Doesn’t seem like something someone who gave a worm’s shit about me would do.”

I brushed past him and out the door, breathing in the early morning air and letting the coolness soothe the anger burning in my gut. That wasn’t honest; it wasn’t just anger, it was betrayal.

Coal jogged to my side and moved to put a hand on my elbow, but I stepped away before he could touch me. “Go away, Coal.”

“Lark, please. I made a mistake. Contrary to what you think, I’m not perfect.”

I snorted a laugh. “And if they’d killed me? What then? What kind of mistake would you call that?”

He lowered his voice and stepped close to me. “I knew they weren’t going to kill you.”

“How? There is no way you could have known.”

His jaw twitched and he tipped his head for me to follow him. Reluctantly, my curiosity getting the better of me, I did as he wanted. He kept ahead of me, the easy stride, long muscled legs, tight butt, all very enjoyable to watch. Normally I would have been drooling by the time we’d gone ten feet. Funny enough, his lack of support had killed my libido. Go figure.

We were out by my place, at the far end of the family before he spoke, turning to catch my elbow. I pulled back from him, folding my arms. “Go ahead, let’s hear what your reasoning is.”

His lips pursed as he put his thoughts together. I’d seen the move before, when I’d asked him to leave. I’d give him this, he was an accomplished convincer. “There were rumors that you were going to be arrested. One of the other Edge Guards told me to watch my back. He said if they took you, and I tried to stop them, I would be charged with treason. You have your father looking out for you, Lark. I’ve got no one with power on my side.”

He reached again for my hand, but I kept my distance. “Why didn’t you warn me then? Why did you help me dress and go to my father without any knowledge of what could happen? At least then I could have been prepared for what might happen, as it was—”

“Because then you would have something for them to draw out of you. I didn’t know how far it would go, Lark. I was doing what I thought was best to protect you and me. If I thought I could have fought for you and kept you free, I would have, you have to know that. But we were outnumbered. The only chance was that you would be pardoned, which you were, and then we could be together again. Which we can be.”

His words sounded good, and there was a ring of truth to them. I turned my head just enough to see that his eyes were fogged with uncertainty. Not something I often saw in my cocky guy.

I blew out a breath and he saw my acquiescence. Without another word he swept me into his arms and kissed me. I kissed him back, suddenly hungry for more than just his company. The only touch I’d had for the last month had been rough punches and slaps. Nothing that I would call soothing or loving. A niggle of guilt ate at me. I hadn’t missed Coal, hadn’t thought of him even once in the last month. Yet, here I was. Maybe I just needed one last fling.

Or maybe I just needed a different kind of outlet. Whatever the case, I gave in to the lust.

It was a struggle to get out of our clothes as we tumbled to the ground, our knees hitting the dirt at the same time, hands stripping each other down to bare skin. The ferns and undergrowth cloaked us, hid our bodies. I ran my hands over his back, feeling the muscles I knew all too well, over his firm ass and down the length of his thigh and back up again. His lips caressed my face, brushed over my eyelids, my cheeks, and finally my lips.

Our hands buried in the dirt as we rocked against one another, taking solace in each other’s bodies, and for just a moment, I thought the world was going to be all right. I stroked a hand down the side of his face and he smiled at me, lips parting as his tongue darted out to taste my own.

“Marry me, Lark. Leave the Enders and let me take care of you,” he whispered in my ear as he nibbled along the edge of the sensitive rim.

His body was so very warm against mine, and he fit so well against me, inside me, filling me, making me consider for just a moment accepting his words. The ground seemed to rumble underneath us, a warning, or maybe an admonition. I sat up, and shoved him off me. “Take care of me? Are you serious?”