Luna Forsaken (Arya and James) novel Chapter 211

211 Flowers and Blades 2

Arya’s POVCO

Lev sat on the garden bench like it belonged to him, stretched one leg out, and patted

the space beside him.

“Come.”

I hesitated. Lev looked up at me then.

“Arya.”

Something in my chest shifted at the way he said my name, like it belonged in his mouth

too easily. I sat beside him carefully, keeping the flowers in my lap like a shield. Lev

leaned back a little and watched me with that slow way of his, that stare that always felt

like he was seeing more than I was saying.

“What?” I snapped.

He shrugged.

“You’re alive.”

I blinked.

“That’s a strange thing to say.”

“It’s not,” he said. “I left you here with too many enemies and too much grief.”

I looked away.

“I wasn’t alone.”

His eyes moved toward the house.

“Maxwell.”

I nodded once.

“He’s… good to me.”

Lev’s face changed slightly at that. Softer.

“I know.”

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Silence sat between us for a moment. The wind moved through the garden and stirred

the leaves and made the flowers shake in my hands. Then Lev’s hand came down on my

thigh, warm and steady, not grabbing, just there like an anchor. I tensed before I could

stop myself. He noticed. Of course he noticed. But he didn’t move his hand. He just

looked at me.

“You don’t have to brace with me,” he said.

I let out a quiet scoff.

“You’re the one who makes me feel like I should brace.”

A faint smile touched his mouth.

“Good.”

That annoyed me again.

“Why is that good?”

“Because it means you feel me,” he said.

I stared at him. He said things like that too easily. Like he wasn’t putting his hand

directly on the line between my strength and my weakness. I looked away and forced my

tone lighter because if I didn’t, I was either going to bite him or kiss him again.

“So,” I said, pointing the flowers at him a little, “what are you doing here really?”

Lev’s eyes stayed on my face.

“I told you.”

“That you’re coming back,” I said. “That is not an answer. You don’t just ‘come back’ to

Dragonclaw without fifty people trying to pull you into something.”

His jaw tightened just for a second. Then it eased again. He looked down at the flowers

in my lap.

“I came because I wanted to see you.”

My heart did another stupid thing. I hated it. I also… didn’t. Ria made this soft pleased

sound inside me like she had been starving for that exact sentence. Lev leaned closer

then, his voice lower now.

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“And because I can’t concentrate in Blackbirth when I know you’re here.”

I swallowed.

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“Flattery,” I muttered.

“Truth.”

I glanced at him.

“And if I believe you?”

His thumb moved slowly against my thigh, just enough to make my skin wake up.

“Then you stop making it harder than it needs to be.”

I scoffed.

“You keep saying that.

“I’ll keep saying it until you listen.”

I shook my head, but my mouth was close to smiling. We stayed like that for a while

after, just sitting in the garden like normal people, which almost felt stranger than the

kissing. Lev asked about the women’s centre, and I told him about the blankets and the

sewing kits and the quilt plan. He listened like he actually cared, not like it was some

little female hobby meant to pass time. He even asked questions. Practical questions.

How many households. How quickly the quilt work was moving. Whether widows’ row

had enough stuffing. Which stores were running low.

That softened something in me again.

He cared.

In his own way. Quietly. Without performance.

At one point he leaned in and kissed my temple like it was nothing, like he had every

right, and my whole body went warm. I pretended not to notice. He knew I noticed

anyway. He teased me for sharpening blades in a garden. I teased him for bringing

flowers like some man out of a romance book.

“I’m not some romance novel man,” he said.

I looked at him.

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