It didn’t take long for Dash to gain his strength back. I suspected Celeste’s healing hands had something to do with that. However, it didn’t really matter to me how it happened, only that he was better and we would be leaving soon.

Dash parted my hair and tugged on the end of a curl, drawing me out of my reverie. He peered into my eyes. “A penny for your thoughts?”

“Are there even pennies anymore?”

“Good point.”

I could have stared at him for hours. He was so beautiful. So fierce. “Dash?”

“I know what is on your mind, Freckles, but you don’t need to worry. I’m fine. I swear it.”

“I was so scared.”

Dash rubbed his hand over the stubble covering his chin. “I know the feeling. It strikes me every time you’re in danger; it makes my heart stop.”

I dropped my forehead onto his shoulder. “It was so much worse than that.”

His arms settled around me. “We can’t stay here, not much longer.”

“Ryker never came back,” I mumbled, picking at a strand of thread on his shirt.

The front door to the cottage swung open, bringing in a gust of wind that blew the ends of my hair and swept in someone else. “Really, Red, you doubted me?”

“Ryker.” I sighed, stepping out of Dash’s arms to give him a hug of relief.

Dash scowled as Ryker’s golden gaze shifted to him. “Welcome back, my friend.” Ryker held out a hand.

Dash eyed the Night’s Guard before he shook his hand. “You and I have much to discuss.”

“Don’t tell me you plan on grilling me too. Charlotte has already chewed my ear off.”

Dash tried a smile. “She’s amazing, isn’t she?”

Ryker’s lashes swept up, and he met Dash’s stare. “You’re a lucky fool, but then you already knew that. Luck hasn’t always been on your side. You’re due for some good fortune.”

“Then let’s hope it lasts long enough for us to make our way out of the marsh.”

Ryker nodded. “At least you haven’t lost your common sense. The Night’s Guards are on the move. They will be on Celeste’s doorstep in due time, as the commander has ordered us to expand our search to the edge of the Heights.”

Dash and I shared a strained look. “Have you recovered enough to travel?” There was no denying it was rough in the Heights. I felt apprehensive about his strength, having been so close to almost losing him. I wasn’t willing to take chances where Dash was concerned.

“I’m fine. The wound has completely healed,” he said like a true guy.

“Just do me a favor: don’t ever get stabbed again,” I pleaded; my heart couldn’t take it.

Laughter flickered in Dash’s bright eyes. “I don’t have plans to ever repeat the experience. You killed the guard who stabbed me.”

I stared at the fibers on his black T-shirt. “I didn’t have a choice. It was either him or you. I will choose you every time.” The lengths Dash and I would go to, to keep each other safe were deadly.

He hooked a finger under my chin, lifting my face. “I’m only sorry it wasn’t me who ended his life. It should have been me.”

He didn’t want me to carry the guilt of taking a life. “I would do anything to protect you.”

“And I you.”

Ryker sniffed, rubbing at fake tears under his eyes. “That was beautiful. A Titanic worthy moment.”

Dash gave Ryker a sideways look. “Isn’t it time for you to grow wings and take flight? She doesn’t need you when she has me.”

Oh boy, a power struggle was coming on.

“Whether you like it or not, Slayer, you wouldn’t be standing if it weren’t for me. So the way I see it, you owe me.”

Dash snorted. “I think this makes us even or have you forgotten?”

I laid a hand on Dash’s chest, mostly for show. If he decided to actually use his muscle, there was no way I could stop him. “You guys need to calm down. We’re on the same side here.”

“Red is right,” Ryker agreed.

“Red?” Dash echoed, his brows slamming together, clearly not liking the nickname Ryker insisted on using.

I put pressure on his chest.

“They know you were in Hurst,” Ryker said, wisely diffusing the situation with a distraction.

“Shit,” Dash muttered.

Oh, God. Star. My hand curled against Dash’s. “Star,” I breathed. “Will she be all right?”

Dash nodded, his fingers interweaving with mine. “Cyan will keep her hidden, but we need to leave in the morning.”

* * *

Dash and I curled up on the bed in Celeste’s spare room, the one I’d been sleeping in when forced to leave Dash’s side. Lying down alongside Dash, exhaustion hit me like a giant wave. He was right about resting for the night and leaving tomorrow. I wouldn’t have lasted more than an hour before I started tripping over my own feet.

“Just how close did you and Ryker get during your time in the Institute?” he asked as he brushed through my curls.

My fingers doodled lazy hearts over his chest. “It wasn’t like that. We’re just friends. He was the only person who didn’t try to kill me.”

“Ryker definitely doesn’t want to be just your friend.”

I lifted my head, resting my chin on his heart. “And how would you know that?”

“The way he looks at you,” he said, peering deep into my eyes, searching for... what? A sign that I had feelings for another guy?

I scoffed. How did Ryker look at me?

Dash lifted his arm under his head, and ice frosted over his eyes. “He’s been spying on you right under my nose.”

“Well, not always under your nose. Besides, you forget that he also helped me, even if in disguise.”

His expression darkened, reminding me of a storm about to break. “Still, I don’t trust him. He’s shifty.”

I giggled … shifty. “You’re jealous. It’s kind of cute.”

He kissed the tip of my nose. “So what if I am? I don’t like competition. Bad things happen when I’m angry. I only have to think about killing him and it could happen.”

I didn’t want Ryker hurt or dead. Dash’s ability was very different than mine. I didn’t have to worry about accidently killing someone with a careless thought. “But you can control it,” I reminded him. I didn’t know how, but he only used it in dire situations when our lives were threatened.

“Most of the time, but since you, I can feel that control slipping.”

Guilt pierced me. “And it scares you.”

“I like being in control, and I don’t see the point in senseless killing, but lately, it feels like all I’ve done is hurt people.”

“What else are you worried about?” I sensed that he had more on his mind.

“You. Don’t think I’ve forgotten that you’ve lost consciousness twice since leaving the Institute.” The ice had thawed in his eyes as they moved to my lips.

“It’s nothing.” I downplayed my own problems.

Dash gave me a knowing look. “We don’t lie to each other.”

I huffed. “Fine, but I don’t know what it is. Maybe it has something to do with using more than one of my abilities at once, like it sucks away all of my energy.”

“Your body is trying to tell you something.” His hand drifted down my side to rest on my hip as he spoke, playing with the hem of my jeans and sending shivers over my skin. “You’re pushing yourself too hard.”

“A small price to pay for keeping us out of the Institute’s clutches.”

“I won’t take risks with you.”

I turned so our bodies faced each other and weaved my leg between his. “Something we can agree on.” Unable to stop myself from touching him, I brushed a stray hair from his face. So many emotions hid behind the layers of steel in his eyes. I wanted to soften his heart, if only for the night. Leaning forward, I pressed my lips against his.

His fingers tightened at my waistline as his chest rose sharply. I sighed, missing the taste that was uniquely Dash, but I also tasted so much more: love, hope, our future. We accepted each other. The good, the bad, and the unusual.

My heart somersaulted and our gazes met, the tension smoldering between us, hot and strong. His breath, a soft puff in my ear, whispered my name. “You’re mine.”

The possessiveness in his voice wrapped around my heart. Pulling back, I locked eyes with his, my breath catching from the wealth of emotions shining in his silver eyes. I flipped over so I straddled him and nipped at his bottom lip. “There’s only one way I’m yours.”

He lifted a brow

“If you’re mine,” I answered.

Cupping my cheek with one hand, he ran his thumb along my bottom lip. “Freckles, you can have me every day, of every year for as long as I live.”

I grinned, guiding my lips so they hovered just a breath’s length over his. “I’ll take forever,” I murmured.

“Forever is yours,” he said, reclaiming my mouth in a kiss that seared my soul.

Electricity seemed to hum through my veins, snapping and pulling inside me. It gave me a wild rush, turning my mind to mush, and my breathing became erratic. I was satisfied to stay in his arms, kissing him for the next hundred years.

If only it was possible.

His hands slid past my hips and curved around my backside. I sunk my fingers into his hair as I pulled him closer. I needed to feel that he was alive and real. Our legs were tangled, and I could feel every inch of him, but it wasn’t enough. My fingers dived under his shirt, running over the hard planes of his lower abs.

He sucked in a sharp breath, his muscles jumping under my touch. “I want you,” he hissed and smashed his lips against mine. He was delicious and addicting. His hand roamed under my shirt, kneading the swell of my breasts, sparking a fire inside me.

I pressed against him, swimming in a heady sensation that encompassed every pore of my body, and even though this wasn’t our first time, it was every bit as thrilling, a slow exploration of two hearts beating together as one, more perfect and beautiful than I remembered.

His pupils started to glow silver as we lay wrapped up in each other. “You’re my heart and I’m your armor. I would destroy anyone who tries to harm you, Freckles.”

Butterflies fluttered in my belly. “Ditto.”

“I love you,” he murmured. “I love you so damn much it hurts.”

My heart imploded. “Took you long enough.”

“I won’t ever let you go,” he said fiercely, the back of his knuckles running along my jaw. “I won’t let them hurt you, never again. I would destroy them if it meant keeping you safe.” His eyes burned brightly in the dark.

He was sincere in his vow to protect me, but the Institute wasn’t only one person or a half dozen. How many lives would be lost? Hundreds? Thousands? More? Was our love worth the price?

“I love you,” I said in return.

Shortly after, I closed my eyes and fell into a deep slumber, not the hundred-year kind, but a dreamless sleep. No snapshots or glimpses of nightmares to come. It was a refreshing change, and it made me wonder if maybe Dash’s arms were as magical as his lips.

They sure felt like it.