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Back The Night and Its Moon
Chapters (64)
  1. Front Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents
  6. Pronunciation Guide
  7. Prologue
  8. Part One
  9. One
  10. Two
  11. Three
  12. Four
  13. Five
  14. Six
  15. Seven
  16. Eight
  17. Nine
  18. Ten
  19. Eleven
  20. Twelve
  21. Thirteen
  22. Part Two
  23. Fourteen
  24. Fifteen
  25. Sixteen
  26. Seventeen
  27. Eighteen
  28. Nineteen
  29. Twenty
  30. Twenty-One
  31. Twenty-Two
  32. Twenty-Three
  33. Part Three
  34. Twenty-Four
  35. Twenty-Five
  36. Twenty-Six
  37. Twenty-Seven
  38. Twenty-Eight
  39. Twenty-Nine
  40. Thirty
  41. Thirty-One
  42. Thirty-Two
  43. Thirty-Three
  44. Thirty-Four
  45. Thirty-Five
  46. Part Four
  47. Thirty-Six
  48. Thirty-Seven
  49. Thirty-Eight
  50. Thirty-Nine
  51. Forty
  52. Forty-One
  53. Forty-Two
  54. Forty-Three
  55. Forty-Four
  56. Forty-Five
  57. Forty-Six
  58. Forty-Seven
  59. Epilogue
  60. Excerpt from The Sun and Its Shade
  61. The Night and Its Moon Playlist
  62. Acknowledgments
  63. About the Author
  64. Back Cover

She toweled off from the soapy water and changed into loose-fitting clothing. Amaris braided her damp, silvery hair with deft fingers. She hadn’t truly intended to sleep, but the alcohol convinced her that lying down was for the best, if only for a moment. Between the pleasant hum of the ale, the exhaustion of the afternoon’s exercises, the joy of the victory, and the glowing, internal chemistry of the exchange that had gone unrealized between her and her sparring partner, she was tugged beneath the dark waves of rest before she realized what was happening.

* * *

Cinnamons and plums filled her nose. Without opening her eyes, some piece of her knew she must be asleep. This was no perfume. The decadent smell was all-encompassing. Forbidden. A memory she’d hidden away. This scent was the sort of trigger that tugged at the box she kept locked within herself, a pain and past that she refused to open in the light of day.

Amaris struggled against the urge to open her eyes, knowing it couldn’t be real. The internal debate raged within her as she felt the press of skin, the sweet scent of familiarity—a cloud of love and hope surrounding her. Her eyes fluttered open as she decided she didn’t care. It felt real. Goddess, it felt so achingly real.

She wasn’t resting on the cotton pillows of the keep. Instead, her cheek was pressed into soft, tanned skin as the anticipatory titillation from the way her fingers had wandered in the bath carried her on its waves into a pleasantly charged dream. She allowed her eyes to remain closed even in sleep as she inhaled, breathing in the scent that had been too painful to remember. She hadn’t allowed herself to think of its owner. She’d done her best to cage all memories of the girl who had held her, enveloping her in the spices that swirled around her now.

“I’ve missed you,” the one who owned the plum scent said. Her voice was low. It was a dark, sweet sound that Amaris hadn’t heard in years anywhere but her sleep, though even the dreams were painful. The sentence was punctuated with the gentle kiss of soft lips into her hair, nearly against her temple. Amaris exhaled slowly as she absorbed the sensation. This was not a friendly kiss. This was not the familial kiss of a childhood companion.

There was something distinct, new, and intimate about the way these lips brushed against her.

“Nox,” she murmured.

Amaris’s breath hitched. Her heart skipped at the press of Nox’s mouth against her hair. A silvery spike of nervous excitement tingled down her spine, rousing her from her dreamlike state. Amaris inhaled again, allowing the dark spices to consume her as she nuzzled against the exposed skin of Nox’s collarbones and sternum and the pillow of her chest.