She must have been feeling calmer now. Her feistiness was back.
He opened his eyes and grinned at her in amusement. She never ceased to amuse him.
She also never ceased to aggravate him by not heeding his warnings.
But that was all going to change now. She was going back to Chicago soon and Adela would be none the wiser about it. Aria would be safe and that was all he could ask for.
“Yes,” he said as he followed her to her car.
The sky was a deep navy blue with a sliver of purple on the western horizon. The stars were beginning to twinkle, but with the light pollution from the city, only the biggest ones were visible. It was like this in the woods where his pack house was too. Only at the edges of civilization could he see more than a dozen stars twinkling in the night sky.
“You know,” he began when they reached the car and Aria’s hand was on the handle of the door, “where I come from, you could see all the stars in the sky. The galaxies of the universe were all there, glowing in mists of pinks, blues, and purples. The universe stretched out before us and we’d spend all night watching it move across the sky from sunset to sunrise.”
Aria gave him an unimpressed look of impatience. “Are you reciting a poem or something? Get in.”
He narrowed his eyes at her, trying to figure out why she was upset. Was she tired or really worried about her stupid boyfriend?
Clenching his jaw, he went around the car and climbed in the passenger side. As she started up the engine, he buckled himself in and turned his gaze out the window.
He couldn’t help thinking about centuries past with Daphne and the countless nights they had spent staring up at the stars. How he held her against his side and she nestled up against him, running her fingers across his chest while he had pointed out everything above that caught his eye. Stargazing had been their favorite past-time.
When the sun began to rise, he would turn to her and tip her chin up so her gaze met his.
‘And even the wonders in the heavens cannot compare to the one I cherish most.’
Struggling to swallow, he blinked back the moisture collecting in his eyes.
He’d lost it all. His home, his firstborn son, his soulmate, the night sky, his faith—it had all been taken from him. Everything he held dear.
He cleared his throat to rid himself of the lump of painful memories.
Now, he realized, he was going to lose his second chance.
Aria was leaving, and while he knew this was best, it didn’t hurt any less. In fact, this should make it less painful, he tried to convince himself. They’d barely gotten to know each other, barely gotten close to each other, so there was nothing for him to miss.
Except, what could have been.
He still pointed out the way back home for her in a low voice, until she recognized her neighborhood. They were both silent as she returned to her parking space and turned the car off.
He waited for her to get out, or reach for the door handle. Instead, she sat there chewing on her bottom lip, her chest rising and falling, as she stared out the front windshield without uttering a word.
If only he could hear her thoughts. To know what was running through her mind right now as she stared into the darkness, about to leave him and return to her ill boyfriend; it would offer him some consolation. It wasn’t as though he was deaf either. He could hear her heartbeat slowly increasing and she was clearly uneasy about something occupying her mind.
He felt torn by their parting. He could make things simple, or he could make them hard. Her hesitation left him with a choice he wasn’t sure he could make.
“Well,” she said before he could open his mouth, “this is it.”
She turned toward him but kept her gaze lowered. “Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it.”
His heart thumped in his chest. He swallowed, but managed to croak out in a husky voice, “You’re welcome.”
Her eyebrows drew together and her head tilted slightly as her gaze focused on his collarbone. “What’s that on your neck?”
She reached out to touch it, but he snatched her small hand in his big rough one. Her wide eyes met his equally large and shocked ones as his heart began to hammer harder in his chest. His lungs labored hard to keep up with the spike in blood flow.
The pull of the matebond was crippling. It was drawing her to Daphne’s mark—the most sensitive spot on his body. She had somehow noticed it peeking out from his collar and jacket. If she touched him there, he knew he wouldn’t be able to control himself. He’d want to take her and make her his, and despite his argumentative brain, every part of him wanted that.
Shifting her hand in his, he entwined his fingers with hers before pressing his lips softly on her delicate knuckles.
The blood rushed to her face and he could hear her heart skip a beat as a rush of pleasure enveloped them both.
How could the Goddess torment him so?
He could barely muster the words through the thickening emotions coursing through him. “Take care on your journey home.”
Her lips parted to speak, and he tore his gaze away from them as he reached for the door with his other hand. He pushed it open and released his hold on her hand as he climbed out.
She found her voice then, merely a breathy whisper, as he slammed the door shut behind him.
“Thank you.”
Taking a few deep breaths to clear his mind, he started on his way to the plaza where he was still parked.
He had to forget about her.
[Gawain, see to it that she makes it safely inside.]
[Yes, Father. All clear here.]
He heard her climb out of the car and slam the door. Heard her laborious breathing and racing heartbeat.
Heard her walk away toward the apartment building.
Heard his silent screams in his head as he fought to let her go.