“Nyktos.” I bit down on my lip as his fingers gathered the material of the gown in a fist. “I’m not Nyktos.”

“No shit,” he said against my mouth.

“Your language is inappropriate,” I told him.

He laughed darkly. “You going to deny what you did?”

“No,” I whispered, my heart skipping. “I don’t understand how, and I don’t know if her soul had truly entered the Vale, but she…”

“She was gone.” He nipped at my lower lip, drawing a gasp from me. “And you brought her back because you tried. Because you refused to give up. You did that, Poppy. And because of you, those parents won’t be mourning their child tonight. They’ll be watching her fall asleep.”

“I…I just did what I could,” I told him. “That’s all—”

The sheer intensity of the way he claimed my lips cut off my words. That low curl in my stomach intensified as he tilted his head, deepening the kiss.

Balmy air curled its way around my legs as he drew the skirt of my gown up. Shock at his intentions warred with the elicit pulse of pleasure. “We’re in public.”

“Not really.” The tips of his fangs grazed the underside of my jaw, and every muscle in my body seemed to clench. Up and up it went until his fingers skimmed the curve of my ass. “This is a private garden.”

“There are people around—” A breathy moan escaped me as the skirt rose above the dagger. “Somewhere.”

“No one is even remotely close enough to us,” he said, slipping his hand out from behind my head. “The wolven made sure of that.”

“I don’t see them,” I said.

“They’re at the mouth of the alley,” he told me, catching my ear between his teeth. I shuddered. “They’re giving us privacy to speak.”

A short giggle left me. “I’m sure that’s what they think we’re doing.”

“Does it matter?” he questioned.

I thought about that as my pulse sped up. Did it? What had happened last night flashed before me, as did the memory of seeing Casteel prone on the Chambers’ floor. Believing he’d died. In a heartbeat, I remembered what it had been like when the blood had drained from my body, realizing there would be no more new experiences, no more moments of wild abandon. That little girl had gotten a second chance, and so had I.

I wouldn’t waste it.

“No,” I said as his gaze lifted to mine. Heart pounding, I reached between us. The backs of my trembling fingers brushed against him, and he jerked as I undid the flap of buttons. “It doesn’t.”

“Thank fuck,” he growled and then kissed me again, obliterating any reservations that stemmed from a lifetime of being sheltered. His tongue stroked mine as he slid an arm around my waist, lifting me. His strength never ceased to send a thrill through me. “Wrap your legs around me.”

I did, moaning at the feel of his hard flesh nestled against mine.