Help

GAHRYE 

An hour later, he stood in the hallway outside the suite, whispering with Kalle. She'd arrived as requested and with Elia calm, he'd slipped out to speak with her. She'd tugged him around the corner so they wouldn't be heard by anyone who came up the stairs and he'd gone, even though he should have been at the door. He couldn't resist.

But standing here, so close… her eyes wide with both curiosity and concern… his skin prickled, and his hands twitched with the urge to reach for her. He ached to know if her skin was as soft as it looked.

Her scent was perfect. Especially in this world that was full of such a sharp stench. When she smiled up at him and asked if Elia was okay, he could have gathered her in, lain on the floor and pulled her into his side and just inhaled her hair for an hour and been content.

But he swallowed and pushed the images of that kind of intimacy away. It wasn't his fate.