Without conscious thought, my hand rose between us. I should have pushed him away. Should have laughed it off, made some crude joke about being clumsy. Or I should have taken off after the escaped Invisible Stalker. But I did none of thosethings. Instead, my fingers found the back of his neck, threading through the dark hair that curled there.
Lance's eyes widened, confusion and desire warring in their depths as my palm curved against his warm skin, drawing him imperceptibly closer.
He inhaled sharply.
“What are you doing to me?”
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t because I didn't know.
Before I could fully understand what was happening, my fingers tightened against his neck, pulling him down. The distance between us collapsed in a heartbeat, and our lips met—tentative at first, then electric as something wild and uncontrollable ignited.
His lips were on mine—demanding, furious, so forceful.
Time fractured around us like shattered glass.
The kiss deepened, and I felt myself drowning in the sensation of his mouth, his tongue, which was warm in my mouth. My disguise, my mission, everything I'd been taught about right and wrong—it all dissolved into nothing. There was no careful, calculated Lioran in this moment. No treacherous spy sent to infiltrate Camelot. No sworn enemies locked in an ancient war.
Just this undeniable fire crackling between us, consuming everything in its path.
His hand cupped my face with surprising gentleness, thumb brushing across my cheekbone as he kissed me like a parched man discovering water. I could feel his heartbeat thundering against my chest, matching the frantic rhythm of my own pulse.
Then—like ice water thrown over flames—cold reality crashed down on me as I realized what I'd—what we'd—just done. I jerked back, breath catching, horror sinking in.
I’d kissed him. While wearinghis brother-in-arms’face. While pretending to be someone I wasn’t. While plotting to betray not only him but his king.
“What have we…?” I pushed upright, scrambling to create space between us, heart pounding. I just needed to catch my breath. Then I could think. Then I could come up with some excuse.
Lance stared at me, equally stunned, eyes wide as he backed off. The sudden distance between us felt cavernous.
I suddenly couldn’t meet his gaze, and I looked away.
“I—I shouldn’t have,” I started, breath shaky, suddenly afraid that he might react badly. “That wasn’t…”
The words failed me. Cold dread gripped my chest.
Punishable by death.
Lance dragged a hand through his hair, and the motion made me turn to look at him. But he said nothing.
“Forgive me,” I whispered when I finally forced the courage to look him in the eyes. “I forgot myself. I don't know what I was—”
He lunged forward before I could finish the stammered apology, his powerful frame driving me backward until my shoulders hit the mossy forest floor with a soft thud. Fallen leaves scattered around us as his weight settled over me, trapping me beneath the solid wall of his chest. The scent of earth and autumn filled my nostrils, mingling with the familiar smell of leather and steel that clung to him.
His mouth crashed against mine—hard, desperate, hungry, his tongue in my mouth, searching for my own. And my tongue met his with fervor until we lapped at one another with a need the likes of which I'd never experienced. This kiss bore no resemblance to the tentative brush of lips we’d shared moments before. This was raw need unleashed, a claiming that brookedno resistance and asked for no permission. It simply demanded everything I had to give.
The rough bark of a nearby oak pressed against my shoulder blade as he shifted his weight, one hand bracing beside my head while the other cupped my jaw. His breathing was harsh against my cheek, ragged with the same wild desperation that coursed through my own veins.
His calloused fingers tangled in my hair, holding me in place with a strength that should have frightened me but instead made my pulse race faster. His broad chest was firm against mine.
A gasp escaped me.
Madness. This was madness.
But I couldn’t stop.
His thumb traced my jaw, tilting my head as he deepened the kiss, and I rose up to meet him.
Through the haze of desire, a distant part of my mind screamed warnings about discovery, about the precarious balance of my disguise, and about the mission that now hung by a thread. But those concerns seemed far away beneath the weight of his body and the heat of his breath against my skin.
