Malrik POV

The hush of the afternoon settled around us as we lay tangled in bed, her body pressed close to mine. A thousand obligations pressed at the edges of my mind, but in that moment, none of them mattered. All that mattered was her warmth, her presence.

“So, you spent the whole time painting?” I asked, my fingers tracing idle shapes along her arm.

“Not really,” she murmured, tilting slightly so her eyes met mine. “Ashuriel started training me yesterday. It was fun. It’s ...