Thorne could not prevent a smile, slow and genuine, from transforming his usually icy face at Maren's words.
He did not look away from Maren. Seeing her there, wrapped in the white towel while the glow of the fire danced in her eyes, was the best gift the Moon Goddess could have delivered to him on his birthday.
She was goddamn perfect, even with her hair clinging to her temples and her skin prickling from the cold.
"Thank you, Maren," he responded, with a voice that vibrated in the ozone-charged air. "I truly... thought you weren't going to come."
"I owed it to you, didn't I?" she murmured, trying to hold his gaze, though the heat in her cheeks betrayed her nervousness.
"Sit down, please. You're trembling," he indicated to her, pointing toward the wide leather sofa in front of the fi
