Chapter 67

As the day slipped into night, Nadyr lay on his stomach, and Amelia straddled his back as she ran her fingers through his hair. The bone beads that normally adorned his braids were on the table next to the bed. She had removed each one in the morning, examining their elaborate design, and had seen that the patterns etched into them matched the patterns on his skin. It had not been hard to persuade him to relate their meanings whilst she traced them over his body, learning his unique markings intimately, determined to memorize every minute detail of him to hold to her when she could no longer hold on to him. "This one," she stroked the design across his back. "Mmm, when we reach the age of manhood, we are taken on a Hunt," his eyes were closed, his eyelashes heavy against his cheek. She ached over his beauty as she watched him relax beneath her, marvelling at the line of cheek to jaw, the wing of brow, the fernlike pattern on his cheek that signified h