“What are you thinking about, Arammu?” He nudged me with his knee.

So he’d play this game. Get me to bring everything up before he would. It was his favorite way to talk about something he wasn’t sure I was ready to discuss. I dodged the question with a distraction.

“Mirrum. Kasha and Nanaea. And…kissing you.”

He shrugged casually, but his eyes tightened at the corners. “That doesn’t have to be a thought, you know. I am, after all, sitting right here.” He opened his arms, a challenge in his eyes. An attempt to call my bluff.

But it was no bluff. A flush moving up my neck, I slowly leaned over, keeping my eyes on his, and kissed him. It was soft, at first. But just like always, our kiss deepened, and within a few moments, it grew feverish.

All thoughts of Mirrum, Kasha, Nanaea, the rest of my responsibilities, melted away as he grabbed my hips and tugged me onto his lap. The air buzzed with nothing but him as he slid his hands up my sides, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. After several moments of his warm mouth on mine, my body pressing against him—closer, closer—I broke away, breathless.

“Arammu,” he whispered. His breath was ragged on my cheek. “Let’s not play these games. You know I love you with everything in me. And that I would not fail you. Not ever.”

He cupped my face in his hands. Kissed my forehead, both cheeks. My lips.

He’d ask the question. My heart pounded as I held on to his wrists for dear life. What did I want? A life with him? Surely. But I already had one, no wedding required, though I’d yet to lie in his embrace.

The thought heated me from chest to cheek.

“And I love you, too,” I answered, breathless, as he kissed me again. And again.

“Then—”

“A-zu?”

A throat clearing and a jangling of weaponry brought my eyes up to two fierce Koru warriors: Commander Ummi and a tall, lean woman with sinewy muscles named Humusi. They stood purposefully outside the tent, knowing eyes fixed on Dagan and me.

I scrambled off his lap, adjusting my tunic, a flush spreading hot up into my hairline.

“I’m sorry to interrupt.” Ummi’s sparkling eyes made her look younger than she was. But I’d witnessed her deft use of a battle-ax in the throwing fields. She was no child.

“It’s not a worry.” My voice squeaked at the end.

“Sarratum Tabni asked us to stop by to see if you were well.”

I sighed. The honor of the scorpion necklace was one thing. This checking up on me constantly was something else. They’d been following me since that night, stationing themselves outside our little home, accompanying me into the Libbu. “You mean to protect me? I told you before that I don’t need it. What harm could come to a healer in this city?”

Ummi straightened her boxy frame, her armored tunic chinking against her breastplate. “My orders come from my lady, so if she tells me to protect you and Arwia and anyone else, I will.”