Luna Forsaken (Arya and James) novel Chapter 287

287 Silk, Scorn, and the Hand That Rose 2

Arya’s POVO

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There were footsteps behind us then, steady and familiar enough that my body registered them before

my mind did. Ria stirred once under my skin, alert now, pleased in that annoyingly smug way she had

whenever he came near. I did not need scent or bond or instinct to know who it was. The air changed

before he even spoke. My shoulders became aware of themselves. My pulse shifted. It was ridiculous

Irritating. Too easy.

Lev stopped just in front of us with the morning at his back. He was dressed simply compared to how

Blackbirth men presented themselves at formal gatherings. Dark trousers. A fitted black shirt with the

sleeves rolled just enough to show his forearms. No jacket. No ceremonial severity. But simplicity

somehow made him worse. It stripped away all the noise and left only the man. Tall. Controlled. Broad-shouldered. Too calm. Too aware. His hair looked like he had run a hand through it once and

then forgotten to care, which only made him more dangerous.

His gaze landed on me first. Not Tamara. Me. It was only a second. Maybe less. But it was enough.

Enough to make heat move low through me before I forced my face into something neutral. Tamara,

shameless as ever, lit up.

“You heard?” she asked.

“I heard you from the other side of the garden,” he said.

She sat straighter with no embarrassment at all.

“As you should. I’m celebrating,” she said.

His mouth shifted faintly, not quite a smile.

“I noticed.”

She clasped her hands together and turned slightly toward him.

“We’re going shopping,” she said.

“We?” he asked, though his eyes were already on me again.

Tamara nodded.

“Arya and I. We need dresses. Shoes. Jewellery. Something unnecessary and beautiful. Possibly

revenge on a few boring women through presentation alone,” she said.

Lev looked at me for a moment. I kept my expression level even though my skin was far too aware of

< 287 Silk, Scorn, and the Hand That Rose 2

him standing there.

“Is that so?” he asked.

“I’ve been informed I’m part of the plan,” I said.

“Good.”

– Міне

The word landed more heavily than it should have. Tamara looked between us with entirely too much

interest.

“You approve, then?” she asked.

Instead of answering her immediately, Lev reached into his pocket, drew out a slim black card, and

held it toward me. For half a second I just stared. My brain understood what it was before my hand

moved, but that did not stop the odd little jolt that went through me. Money was not the issue. Not really. I understood money. Had fought with it, counted it, survived around it. This was something else. The ease of it. The quiet certainty. No performance. No lecture. No testing whether I would ask. He

was simply placing provision in my hand like it already belonged there. Like there was nothing strange

in the idea of me spending his money.

I looked up at him.

“You don’t have to do that,” I said.

“I know.”

“That’s a dangerous answer,” I said.

“It’s the truth.”

Tamara looked seconds away from exploding with satisfaction. I did not take the card yet. Lev did not

move it back.

“Arya,” he said, his voice lower now, calm in that infuriating way of his. “Take it.”

The way he said it should not have done anything to me. It was not rough. Not domineering in the obvious sense. But there was a steadiness in it that made refusal feel childish. Not because he

expected obedience, but because he expected to be taken seriously.

“I can pay for myself,” I said.

His eyes stayed on mine.

“I know that too.”

“Then why this?”

<287 Silk, Scorn, and the Hand That Rose 2

“Because I want to.”

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Tamara made a tiny strangled sound beside me, like she was trying not to cheer. I ignored her.

“That’s not exactly a better answer,” I said.

“It’s the only one you’re getting.”

There was that faintly possessive edge under the calm. Not loud. Not vulgar. Just there. Something in the ease of him handing me his card in broad daylight like it meant nothing and everything at once. Like he had already decided I was someone he took care of and saw no point in pretending otherwise.

It made something inside me tighten. Not fear. Not resistance exactly. Something warmer. More

dangerous.

“You’re very sure of yourself,” I said.

“I usually am.”

Tamara failed to hide her grin now. Miserably. I took the card before she embarrassed us all. The

moment my fingers brushed his, his gaze darkened just slightly. Enough that my body noticed. Enough

that I noticed my own body noticing. I curled my fingers around the card faster than necessary.

“There,” Tamara said triumphantly. “Settled.”

Lev looked at her without really seeing her.

“Buy what you want,” he said to me.

“That sounds reckless,” I said.

“I’ll survive.”

“There’s a limit somewhere, I assume.”

“Yes.”

“What is it?”

His eyes held mine.

“You getting bored.”

Heat moved up the back of my neck so fast it annoyed me. Tamara gasped.

“Oh, that was shameless,” she said.

Lev finally looked at her.

<287 Silk, Scorn, and the Hand That Rose 2

“You’ll live.”

She looked delighted. I closed my hand more tightly around the card.

“I was reading peacefully before both of you arrived,” I said.

“And now you’re going shopping in my name,” he said.

“That sounds like your mistake.”

“It does.”

But there was no regret in him. None. Ria gave a lazy, pleased stretch inside me.

He likes putting things in your hand, she said.

“Be quiet,” I muttered internally.

Tamara rose from the bench in a whirl of silk and purpose.

“We’re leaving before anyone ruins this,” she said.

Lev glanced toward the house.

“I have things to deal with. Milo will take you.”

Tamara made a face.

“Must Milo take us everywhere? He follows us like we’re already in danger,” she said.

“We are,” Lev said mildly. “Just not always in ways you notice.

Tamara rolled her eyes.

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