Page 51 of Hero of Havoc

“It is.”

“You’re not helping, Alaric,” I grumble, planting my hands on my hips, and he scoffs.

“I’m not trying to.” My gaze snaps to his, and Baron follows suit. “You said it yourself, Baron: we owe her the world, and she deserves it. Show it to her. Show it to her from a vantage point that very few get to see.”

This dragon is going to be the death of me. I want to deny it, but his words make me yearn for it even more.

I can sense Baron’s gaze shift to me, and it makes me falter. I’m too scared to look back, but I pull on my big girl panties and try. The second my gaze collides with his, my nerve endings fizzle from head to toe.

He eliminates the distance between us with ease, stealing my breath as we stand toe to toe.

“You really want to?” he croaks, and I gulp.

“It’s okay, Baron. I⁠—”

He cuts me off, pressing his finger against my lips. Instinct tells me to rage at him for it, but I feel the tremble against my skin, and it keeps me rooted to the spot.

“Don’t placate me. The truth, Firefly.”

I press my lips together in a thin line as I stare deep into his shimmering green pools, slowly managing a nod. “It’s on my list.”

“Why?”

I shrug, helpless. “Your mom made me come up with things that I wanted. At the time, it was a random thought, but the second I had it, I couldn’t let it go.” I shake my head in disbelief. How are we even having this conversation right now? “Randomly, Lucky offered to take me the other day too, but my brother was called away so⁠—”

“Lucky offered? Of course she did. I ought to⁠—”

“Alaric, not now,” Baron barks, chest heaving as he stares deep into my soul. “You want to see the world from my view?” he whispers, and my teeth sink into my bottom lip as I nod.

“If you’ll let me.”

He groans as his eyelids fall closed and his head tips back.

“Do you think he just creamed his pants?” Alaric muses, and a chuckle bursts from my lips.

I attempt to plaster my hand over my mouth to make it stop, but it’s impossible with Baron’s finger still firmly in place.

“Alaric,” I muse, my lips ghosting against Baron’s skin, drawing his eyes back to mine, dark, heavy, and full of need.

All amusement flees my body as I stare at him.

Was Alaric onto something?

“There’s no going back from this,” Baron murmurs, and I frown.

“I don’t understand.”

He shakes his head. “Once you go up there… once you take that seat with me… that’s it. You are mine, and I am yours. I need you to know that.”

“Baron, I⁠—”

“I know there are unhealed wounds between us still. It consumes my every waking thought, and I will make it right, I swear it. But if I take you up there, you’re going to leave with a piece of me that I’m never going to get back. I need you to be okay with that.”

I sway, his words mesmerizing as they dominate my entire being.

I could say no and wait for Lucky to offer again, but there’s a part of me that wants that piece he’s offering. I selfishly want it for myself, but am I willing to offer him the same in return?

His hand falls from my lips, dropping to his side as he blinks at me, silently giving me the space I need to think and make a decision for myself.