Durkhanai opened her eyes, adjusting to the dark, as Asfandyar came back to bed. The room felt colder without the flames, and she reached a wandering hand toward him. He caught it and held it to his chest. She unfurled her fingers, stretching them to the bare skin at the open collar of his kurta. His heart beat beneath her fingertips.

“Come close,” she coaxed.

He did, and she reached for his arm, laying it across her waist. He was so warm.

He caught her hands and held them against his heart. She counted each beat in tandem with her own. He pulled a hand up to his lips, kissing her palm.

“I want to suck on the sunlight of your skin,” he whispered, his teeth grazing against her wrist. She was liquified. “Everywhere, everywhere.”

“What’s stopping you?” she asked, breathless.

“Go to sleep,” he whispered. “Or I’ll forget my chivalry.”

“Who’s asking you to be chivalrous?”

“Dewaani.” He shook his head at her. “Crazy.”

Insatiable, she put her hands around his neck, pulling him closer.

“You’d make a sinner out of the noblest man, Durre,” he sighed, kissing her neck. “And I am not noble by far.”

Durkhanai grinned, holding him close. She liked this power she had over him, for she knew the power he had over her. It was fire and fire, equally burning, equally passionate. He ran his hands up his arms, tracing the curve of her hip.

“Your skin is soft as rose petals,” he said, half asleep. “But I know the truth of your thorns.”

“Do they prick you?” she asked.

“Mhm,” he murmured with a nod against her. “But I don’t mind. I’ve never beheld anything so sweet.”

They laid together, his head buried in her chest, and she ran her hand through his curls, cradling his head.

“If this is a dream, do not wake me,” he sighed.

And soon, he was sound asleep, perfectly at ease as though she was always meant to be there, his personal pillow.

Something she couldn’t place surged through her to see this man vulnerable in her arms. He was a large man, tall and solid, but with his arms wrapped tightly around her torso, his lips and cheek against her breast, he was hers entirely.

As he slept, Durkhanai was still half-awake, and she used what little cognizance she had left to dream and imagine a world where his dreams came true and so did hers and they were both happy and they were together, forever. She dreamt that this night was not an anomaly, but a truth that would last for the rest of their lives.

Durkhanai wished she could stay there, in his arms, forever.