I held my breath and shivered at the soft caress of his mouth. A wave of heat blossomed in my chest and made me light-headed.

As he pulled away, he studied me, twisting a piece of my hair around his lithe finger.

“You will rest today,” he said again. “If you want me tonight.”

“Are you attempting to bribe me?” I asked.

“I should not have taken your blood,” he said. “You could not handle it.”

“I feel fine,” I said.

“It doesn’t matter that you feel fine,” he said. “You lost consciousness.”

I frowned. “Why is that…bad?”

His hand loosened in my hair, and he brushed his thumb along my lips.

“You should always be alert when we are together,” he said. “When I took your blood, I was inside you. You went limp. You were gone. So yes, it is bad.”

I dropped my gaze. I couldn’t help feeling a little guilty, even a little embarrassed. I hadn’t thought of what Adrian had experienced after I blacked out. Now I considered just how unnerved he must have been.

“Isolde,” he said in an attempt to draw my attention, but still I looked away, swallowing.

“I will rest,” I said, my tone far more cross than I intended.

“Isolde,” he repeated quietly, and when I finally met his gaze, his stare was gentle. “You are my light.”

I took his face between my hands.

“You are my darkness,” I said and kissed him.

We stared at each other for a long moment, and then he took a step away, and I felt the distance sink into my heart.

“Will you see me off?” he asked.

“Of course.”

I was still wearing my shift and did not want to delay Adrian by returning to my room to dress. Instead, he offered a woolen overcoat. The fabric was heavy, the sleeves too long, but it was warm and smelled like him.

We walked in silence, my hand on Adrian’s arm, and when the doors opened to the courtyard, a wave of cold air stole my breath. Frost had settled on the stones, gleaming like bloody webs beneath the sun’s light.

Adrian’s men were gathered there with their horses, and at our appearance, they knelt, rising at his command. Some were soldiers, others noblesse, and while none here had aligned themselves with Gesalac and Julian, I couldn’t help questioning their loyalty to Adrian. Since I’d joined him here, he had lost four of the nine noblesse.

Were the rest merely biding their time before they struck?

Suddenly my stomach churned. If they chose today to attack, could Adrian take them?