“You really mean it,” he said incredulously. It was a statement, not a question. “You want to be with me.”
I nodded. We continued to stare at each other, the tension between us growing to a tantalizing height. Now that I had finally given voice to my feelings, the small, flickering candle that had awoken inside me that day in the snow had become a bonfire licking at my very soul. I wanted Baron. IneededBaron.
“I know you don’t want to see me in chains forever, and you don’t want me to die.”
“Of course I don’t.”
I reached for him again, unable to stop myself.
“Then come with me,” I said again, my voice steady, pleading, hopeful. “Let’s stop pretending we don’t feel anything for each other. We can escape and free my father. We can go back to Sherwood Forest and you can start a new life there, away from all of this.” I gestured vaguely at the path leading to the rest of the camp.
“With you?” Baron’s chest rose and fell in quick, uneven breaths. Slowly, agonizingly slowly, he turned his hand and threaded his fingers through mine. His grip tightened, like he’d been waiting months for the chance.
I swallowed hard. “If you want to.”
“I want to,” he whispered fervently. The pull between us grew almost unbearable.
“You’d be giving up a lot,” I said, moving closer still to him. My eyes couldn’t stay still; they roamed his face with hungry desperation—taking in his dark eyes, the faint stubble lining his jaw, the mouth I had absolutely not spent endless nights thinking about. We were inches apart, and that last sliver of space between us felt more painful than any physical wound I’d ever taken.
“It would be worth it,” he murmured, low and certain.
Something inside me shattered. Whether it was restraint, fear, or the last fragments of my sanity, I couldn’t say, and my body surged forward before my thoughts could catch up.
I kissed him.
Baron didn’t hesitate, not for a single heartbeat. A startled sound escaped him, half-gasp, half-relief, and then his hands were on me, one arm circling my waist, the other sliding up my back as though he’d wanted to do exactly this for far too long. He pulled me in with a fierce, almost desperate certainty, kissing me back with a fervor that nearly sent me toppling. I clutched at his shoulders, fingers digging into the thick fabric of his cloak to keep myself steady as heat flooded my entire body.
There was nothing gentle or tentative about the way he kissed me. It was months of longing and restraint exploding all at once, the culmination of every near-touch and every lingering glance. He kissed me like he’d been holding his breath for ages and had finally, finally found air.
And I matched him.
Every ounce of feeling I had tried and failed to deny was poured into that kiss, every night spent lying beside him pretending not to notice the warmth of his body. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer, refusing to let him go as the world beyond us melted into insignificance. His breath mingled with mine, warm and ragged; his hands trembled slightly where they held me, as if he still didn’t quite believe this moment was real.
I had never,never,felt anything like this. Nothing in my life had prepared me for the sheer magnitude of the sensation, for the way it surged through me so completely that it stole every coherent thought. There was only this moment. Only us.
We kissed for what felt like forever and no time at all, tangled in each other, finally giving voice to everything that had been simmering and smoldering between us for months. When wefinally broke apart, just barely, our foreheads remained pressed together, our breaths uneven, our hearts racing in perfect unison.
We were going to escape.
I was going to be free.
And Baron was going to come with me.
An incensed voice sliced through the air, dragging us violently back to reality. “Baron!”
We jolted apart as though scalded. My breath snagged in my throat as we spun toward the intruder. The sheriff stood at the mouth of the cave, framed by the pale morning light, arms crossed, face carved in fury, his eyes burning straight through me.
“You’re immediately relieved of any and all duties pertaining to this girl.” Before I could even process the words, he lunged forward, fisted a brutal handful of my hair, and wrenched me upward.
A sharp cry burst from my lips.
“Don’t!” Baron shouted, vaulting to his feet. “Leave her alone!”
The sheriff twisted harder, forcing my head back until tears sprang to my eyes. I bit down on my tongue to keep from crying out and giving him the satisfaction.
“I see what’s going on here.” His voice was low and venomous. “Using your tricks on simple guards is one thing, but you willnotsink your devilish claws into my son.”
I froze.
