I got up and sat on his lap, then wrapped my arms around him. Dain made a low noise that sounded like pain, then put his own arms around me, warm and solid. After a moment of hesitation, he embraced me with his wing-arms, too, and buried his face against my neck, shaking.

"I'm afraid," he admitted, his voice as rough as if he'd been crying for hours. "I'm so afraid. What if I never get to see you again?"

"Have a little faith," I said, stroking his hair. "Faery has straight-up gods, and somehow fate managed to put you in my path when I was lost and alone. You waited a century to find me, so what's two months?"

He let out a breath that sounded something like a laugh. "One hundred nineteen years, almost exactly," Dain said. "We were on a trip for my birthday. Zhiolas and Alluin gave me a wildflower guide to the area and we went hunting for rare flowers."

"Wildflowers?" An astonished smile spread across my face. "I never would have expected that."

Dain nodded, his breath hot and humid against my neck. "You have surely already gathered that I enjoy the outdoors, but I love wildflowers. They're tenacious and beautiful. I've spent entire days searching for rare flowers." His voice wavered as he spoke, but there was a little levity as he said, playfully defensive, "I'm allowed to have depths."

"You've never even brought me a bouquet," I said, leaning my head against him. "I'm delighted by the depths."

"Of course not," he said, holding me tighter and burrowing his face a little closer to my skin. "That's courtship, which we are explicitly not doing. Besides, it's winter. There won't be wildflowers again until the spring."

"Then you'll need to be home in time to take me hunting."

"I'll do my best," Dain said, his voice going rough again. "There's a tiny patch of rare orchids in the mountains to the north, near the Raloden hot springs. They usually only bloom every six years, and they should bloom this coming year. I counted twenty-four when I was there last." He took a ragged breath, the dull claws of his fingers digging into me. "I would love to take you there."

"It's a date." I turned my head and kissed him on the neck, feeling Dain shiver against me. "Please be careful. I don't know that I could deal with you getting murdered."

"I'm not going to make that promise, but only because sometimes recklessness is necessary." He pressed his lips against my neck in a returned kiss, then shuddered. "I hate the way you smell right now," he said in a whisper.

I flushed. "I know, I haven't washed in a while."