So that left us. Me, Kenzie, Annwyl, Razor and the Thin Man. To break through a Forgotten horde, find Keirran and talk some sense into him. Provided we could even find Keirran. And that he would listen to us if we did.
Groaning, I pressed the heels of my palms into my eyes. Same old fears, same old arguments, with no answers in sight. My thoughts felt like a hamster running on a wheel, spinning and spinning and getting nowhere. I wondered where Kenzie was, if her thoughts were driving her crazy, too.
“Ethan?”
A soft tap on the outer wall drew my attention to the door, and my heart leaped. “You in there, tough guy?” came Kenzie’s soft, hesitant voice. “Are you asleep? Or are you lying on your bed obsessing about everything your sister told you this afternoon?”
I snorted. “I’m planning,” I told the silhouette on the other side of the flap, “not obsessing. There’s a difference.”
“Uh-huh.” The voice sounded severely unconvinced. “Well, whatever it is, are you decent, or should I come back later?”
“No,” I answered, not moving from the cot. “I’m decent. Come on in.”
The flap rustled as it opened, and a moment later, Kenzie’s face appeared above me. She held a small lantern, and the light cast flickering shadows over her face and the cloth walls of the tent. “This,” she announced with a smile, “does not look like planning to me. This definitely looks like obsessing.”
I sighed in defeat. “Fine, I’m obsessing. Did you track me down just to point that out, or was there another reason?”
She grinned, put the lantern on the floor and plopped down to sit beside me, making me grunt. “Just keeping you honest, tough guy. If I didn’t point it out, how would you know you were doing it? You might overobsess and miss out on the obvious thing right in front of you. Besides—” her voice softened a bit “—with everything going on, I couldn’t sleep, either. And I didn’t want to be alone.” She turned to me with a bright grin. “So, I thought I would come pester you, so we could not sleep together. And...um... Yikes.” Her face turned beet red as she realized what had just come out of her mouth. “Open mouth, insert foot, Kenzie, geez.” Hunching her shoulders, she started sliding off the cot. “Right. I think I’m gonna find a nice hole to crawl in now.”
Laughing, I snaked my arms around her waist and dragged her back. “Oh, no. Not a chance,” I said as she yelped. “Considering I’m usually the one who says all the stupid crap, this is too good to pass up. You’re not getting off that easy.”
She struggled. Halfheartedly. “I do not say stupid things,” Kenzie protested, trying to wriggle, unconvincingly, out of my grip. “That’s your department, remember? I’m the smart one, you’re the angry, stabby one. That’s how this partnership works.”
“Uh-huh.” I grinned and did not relent. “What was that a few seconds ago, then?”
“I have no idea. I’ve blocked it from my memory.”
“Right.” I pinned her to the mattress, holding her wrists above her head with one hand. She smirked up at me, defiant, her lips just inches from mine...and I suddenly forgot what I was going to say.
So I kissed her instead.
Kenzie let out a tiny sigh and relaxed into me, her lips warm on mine, soft and caressing. I felt her tongue flick my bottom lip and parted my mouth to let her in, a groan escaping my throat. Her body shifted on the mattress, subtly arching into me, and all my nerve endings shot to attention.
I kissed her deeper, and she moaned, tilting her head to give me access to her neck. I trailed kisses down her jaw and throat, hearing her gasp, feeling her hands running the length of my back, sliding beneath my shirt. The touch of her soft fingers against my bare skin made me jerk up, shivering, to look into her eyes.
“Kenzie...” My voice came out a ragged whisper. My heart was pounding, and the feeling in my chest was caught somewhere between elated and terrified. Kenzie gazed up at me, beautiful and perfect, and I wanted nothing more than to lean down and kiss her, feel her, draw her into me until nothing separated us. My fingers tangled in her hair, aching to touch her, to trace her warm skin. But I forced myself to be still and gaze at the girl in my arms. I had made her a promise, and this decision wasn’t mine. I wouldn’t move another inch unless I knew she was certain.
“I can stop,” I told her. “It doesn’t have to be tonight. But, if we keep going...”
Her fingers stroked my cheek. “I want this, Ethan,” she whispered, making my heart turn over. “I think...I think I’m ready.” She trembled, but her voice remained calm, resolute. “I’ve never felt this way, about anyone. While I still have the chance, I want it to be tonight, and I want it to be with you.”
“Are you sure?” My own voice was not nearly as calm as hers, emerging as a somewhat choked rasp. She nodded, her eyes dark with emotion as she gazed up at me, and I swallowed the nerves crawling up my throat. “Kenzie, you know that I haven’t... With the fey around, I never got close enough to anyone to...”
I could feel my face heating like an inferno at the confession. For so long I’d pushed people away, kept my distance, for fear of what the fey would do if I got close. I thought I was destined to live my life alone, caring for no one, so the fey wouldn’t care about them, as well. Falling in love had not been part of the plan.
But Kenzie smiled and gently pulled me down, kissing me so that the words, and my last remaining fears, died in my throat. “No one’s judging, tough guy,” she whispered. “And—finally—no one is here but us. We’ll figure it out together.”