He kissed me.
This was not the sweetness of the ballroom.
This was heat. Want, unvarnished.
Mav lifted me, the world pivoting as we spun, and he pressed me against the armoire, hands and mouth everywhere at once. I shoved his jacket off, fumbled at buttons; he spared us both the trouble and tore it off, buttons skittering across the floor. My palms found his skin, and a helpless sound scraped from my throat. His hands slipped beneath the thin silk. I gasped, and he swallowed the sound with a deepening kiss. He broke away onlyto tuck his face into the hollow of my neck and press slow kisses down the line of my neck.
“Saints, Quinn,” he breathed.
He pushed the chemise upward at my hip, his palm landing on bared skin with a claiming sweep. My body said yes as my mind paused. Sensing my hesitation, he drew back.
His chest was rising fast, expression open and aching. “Do you want to stop?”
His gentleness only made the ache sharper. Everything in me wanted to continue—but desire could not outweigh the fear threading through me. I had been here before, nothere,perhaps, but close enough to taste the same danger. The first tether had taught me devotion could be wielded like a knife; the second, that longing could become its own kind of prison. And the prince, before I was placed under the spell, had taught me what it meant to be loved only as a possession.
Each time, I had given my heart too quickly, believing love alone could make it safe.
Each time, I was proven wrong and left broken.
Now Mav stood before me—kind where others had been cruel, steadfast where others had faltered—and still I could not silence the voice that whispered of ruin. I wanted to trust him, to trust in the possibility ofus,but the ghosts of what came before wrapped tight around my ribs, reminding me how easily affection could become destruction.
I feared the aftermath more than the act itself. The quiet after passion, when reality returned, and I would once again be left reaching for someone who had already turned away. And yet, there was something in the way Mav looked at me, as though he’d already seen every scar and decided they were worth tracing. It made me wonder if love might not always have to hurt.
I did not want our first experience to be shadowed by my fears.
My hands framed his face, thumbs stroking his cheeks as I held his gaze. “I desire you deeply. Tonight, I do not wish to go further.”
His eyes gentled at once. Heat dimmed from wildfire to ember. Mav pressed a kiss to my temple. He slid one arm beneath my knees and the other behind my back and carried me across the room. He set me upon the absurdly soft mattress, and the bedding rose to cradle us as he lay down at my side.
His shirt lay discarded somewhere, a casualty of wanting too much, too quickly. I curled into him, my cheek to his bare chest. His heartbeat was loud beneath my ear, then steadied. His hand drew slow circles upon my back. I closed my eyes.
In the moment before sleep took me, he whispered something low, too soft to catch—a promise my heart recognized before my mind could name it.
THREE DAYS REMAINING
31
MAV
I’d never liked mornings, until now. Quinn was still in my arms, tucked against my chest like she was meant to be there. Her breath feathered at my collarbone. One of her legs was tangled with mine, the curve of her hip pressed flush to me. Every few minutes, her fingers shifted against my ribs, as though even in sleep, she didn’t want to let go.
I could’ve stayed this way forever.
A sharp knock on the door interrupted the quiet.
“Breakfast will be served in thirty minutes,” called a painfully shrill voice from the hall.
Quinn groaned. I chuckled and started to move, but she tugged me back down.
Her lips brushed the edge of my throat. “Surely you do not need the whole thirty minutes to get ready.”
“I figured you did,” I murmured, grinning into her hair.
She leaned back and glared at me, but there was no heat behind it—only sleep-fuzzed defiance.
“Of course you’re naturally stunning,” I added quickly,brushing my fingertips over the curve of her waist. “I only meant you’d need time to negotiate all those layers and laces.”
She sighed, head dropping back to my chest. “I fear you are correct.”
