Until she says the words, I have to operate under the assumption that nothing has changed.
But now that we’ve stopped moving—now that we’re alone—I can’t take my eyes off the princess. From the first moment I saw her at the start of the ball, she was breathtaking, and I spent a long time watching her from a security lookout while I worked up the courage to be in the same room as her. Derek called me a coward—I nearly punched him in the nose for that—and went down to enjoy the ball, and I stood there in awe of this woman.
Seeing her inside and from a distance was nothing compared to now.
She’s always beautiful, but right now, her shimmery blue dress hugs her curves and makes her look taller. In the moonlight, her skin is porcelain, her hair a creamy white, and the tiara on her head glitters like stars. When she turns to face me, her cheeks are flushed with color and leave me breathless.
“Hex said you’re leaving,” she whispers as her eyes rove over me, sparking a trail of heat in their wake.
If she had looked at me like this before I put in my notice, I never would have been able to say the words. I swallow. “I was.”
“Was?” Her gaze is so hopeful that my heart feels like it’s going to beat out of mychest.
Forcing a breath, I slide my hands into my pockets to keep them from doing things they shouldn’t. “That kind of depends on what you said to Grimstad back there.”
Freya smiles. “I told him I would not break my promise.”
That’s why I didn’t let myself hope. “I see.”
“Hecalled off the engagement.”
So, she would have gone through with it if he hadn’t stepped back. That…hurts. Blowing out a breath, I try for a cheery tone as I say, “Okay, he’s a good enough guy that he’s allowed to be picky, but pretty much anyone is going to be a step down from a princess, so I don’t know why he would—”
“He knew my heart already belonged to someone and could never be his.”
My body freezes, and I stare at her while I try to come up with any meaning for what she just said other than the one I want. Anything that might give me a reason to doubt. I’ve got nothing, unless she’s about to tell me that she’s been in love with Derek this whole time, in which case she might as well take my heart out of my chest and stomp on it a few times.
With another breathtaking smile, Freya steps close and brushes her fingertips along my jaw with a painfully light touch, and it’s all I can do not to wrap her up in my arms. I still don’t know where this is going, and Freya taught me to take my time. Think things through before I act. “You are beautiful, Elliot Reid.”
A curse slips off my tongue, and I take a step back, away from her reach, so I can breathe. Think. “You’re not marrying Grimstad,” I say because I’m not sure I believe it.
She shakes her head. “It would not have been fair to either of us.”
“‘Either of us,’ meaning…?” I hold my breath and wait.
Freya’s eyes seem to glitter in the moonlight, just like her crown. “You and me, Elliot.”
I swear again and run a hand through my hair. I’m on the verge of hyperventilating and struggle to get any words out. “So, you’re not… I mean, you’re…” Drop me in freezing waters in enemy territory and make me swim a mile in full gear? No problem. Ask me to figure out the feelings of the woman I love? Impossible.
Chuckling, she touches the jewels strung around her neck. “I am unattached. Well, I suppose that isn’t necessarily true, given I am very much attached to you, but technically speaking, you and I haven’t discussed the particulars of what we are, so it’s hard to say if—”
“Stop talking.”
She blinks, caught off guard by my rough command, and lifts a delicate eyebrow. “Did I say something wrong? I was only saying—”
“Stop.”
She narrows her eyes. “How quickly you forget that I do not take orders from—”
“Freya.” On that exasperated word, I lunge forward and grab her, pressing my lips to hers because it’s probably the only way to shut her up.
Completely empty of self-control, I kiss Freya with everything I’ve got, wrapping my arm around her waist and pulling her against my body. Her hands slide into my hair, tugging a growl out of me, and I do everything I can to get her closer. My hand is on her back, at her neck, in her hair, tangling in the thick tresses and getting stuck but I don’t care.
I thought I was falling for her, but this doesn’t feel like falling.
I’ve hit the bottom so hard that I may never recover.
A thunderous explosion booms overhead, and Freya pulls back, leaving me bereft without her mouth on mine. The large gold firework reflects in her eyes when she looks up, and I am completely awestruck. I’ve never seen a more beautiful sight.
