Chapter 33 A Breakfast Of Bold Moves

• They dressed in near silence, but it wasn’t awkward. It wasn’t cold. If anything, the tension that hummed between them now felt... different. It wasn’t sharp with hate, nor stifled with pain. It was heavier, slower, warmer.
• Mikko stood behind Espen as she adjusted the sleeves of a soft deep-green gown, and for a moment, he just stared. The curve of her neck, the way her hair spilled down her back, the simple grace in the way she moved—it all pulled at him like a thread he’d been too afraid to touch.
• He offered her his arm as they exited their chambers. She hesitated. Then took it.