Bleeding Ink

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The male who strode inside moved with grace and deadliness that radiated around him even with the smile that lit up his face as he looked at his family in the room. Gone was the lanky yet muscular twenty-year-old and in his place this...this fully-grown Fae male who looked as if he could take on a dozen guardsmen at once and win within a minute.

Somehow, he'd seemed to have grown taller, now just an inch or two shorter than Dessa's father and just as broad with thick muscles, highlighted by the leather he wore. A sword was slung across his back, a dagger sheathed on his thigh. She knew those blades, had seen them every day. Dessa herself had trained a little with those weapons before just to get a feel of them, so similar to her own her father gifted to her.

And finally...finally, she was able to look at his face. Sharp, handsome features any female would fawn over, especially with the shadow of a beard along his jawline to make him look more rugged and, dare she say it, handsome. She remembered every single scar that marred the right side of his face and neck, the one that crossed over his eye, even the ones she'd seen before across his chest and back. Now, though, there was also the swirling of ink on his left side, peeking out from below the collar of his leather jacket and again at the cuff at his wrist. And just as he had when they were little, his dark, almost black hair was styled the same way – an undercut, shorter on the sides and longer on top, brushed expertly back though one strand fell across his forehead.

Dessa swallowed hard, gaze trailing him from head to toe once more, before she met those mismatched blue eyes that hadn't changed at all, only to find them roaming over her.

He did the same to her, taking in every one of her features that had changed over the years. Gone was the scrawny thirteen-year-old girl who followed him around like an annoying little sister, who slammed her door in his face when he told her he was leaving in the morning to leave for the army training camp, who screamed and cried and tried to run after him when she realized he was going without telling her goodbye.

Dessa slowly stood, allowing him to see just how much she herself had grown. She held her breath as those mismatched eyes trailed down every inch of her he could see from across the council table, matching his grace and deadliness with her own, going over her exposed skin, the feminine curves of her body, the deep V of her dress and lingering.

Sure, she'd had quite a few males look at her as he was then, but this was Elys. One of her best friends, the boy she grew up with and trained with and knew he would protect her at all costs. And now...Mother above, was he handsome. Five years of military training had done him well. Very, very well.

Dessa hoped she hadn't said that aloud as her lips parted slightly, breath rushing out of her in a whisper.

"Elys!" her mother yelled, jumping up just as her father did, too.

Lyv collided with him, a solid wall of muscle that stood frozen and staring at Dessa before the force of her hug knocked him out of it. His arms wrapped around her tight as he buried his face in the crook of her shoulder, lifting her off her feet to make her laugh. After righting herself, Lyv took his face in her hands, looking over every inch of him and making sure there were no new scars.

"How are you, baby?" she asked him, turning his head one way and then the other. "You look good. You look bigger if that's even possible. But maybe it's just because it's been six months since I saw you last."

The cross between smile and smirk on his lips had Dessa's knees shaking. "Both, probably. That's what I get for training with Urell and the Elite Guard in Arloerin."