The monster hadn’t been sleeping when it concealed her from me as I entered. It had been setting me up forthis.
Isca swallowed, but not from fear—I hoped. “I’m sorry for being in your rooms without permission.”
Her words said one thing, but the tiniest spark of her magic let loose. An infinitesimal, but undeniable, pulse of relief mixed with something like longing came from her.
That longing stilled my entire body, my entire being.
“Is that all you’re here for?” I asked, heart pounding with hope and dread in equal measure.
“What?” She tilted her head to the side, thrown by the question.
My voice warped against my will, though subtly this time. “Did Maeron send you? Nisien?”
The jealousy wasn’t limited to the beast. Nisien’s subtle maneuvering of everyone around him in the game of life was something I’d lived with since childhood. If this longing from her was part of his plan, or the Assembly’s, I had to protect myself from it.
“Nisien?” Her brow furrowed, her expression shifting from confusion to offense.
Fuck. Even in the dark of my room, the affront was written clearly on her face. Isca was no liar. She was thoughtful and far too kind.
“Not this again,” she hissed. “I’m not here tobedyou,Your Highness.”
Had I been imagining that spark of longing? Or could it be true?
“Catrin helped me with the herbs and getting the vials.”
My heart started to pound in my chest for reasons that had nothing to do with my monster’s thirst for violence. “May I touch you?”
By all the magic and cursed gods alike, I couldn’t pull the words back in. I felt panic for the first time in nearly two decades.
…But at least I’daskedthis time around.
Ashamed, I confessed, “I didn’t acquit myself well last time we were this close. I want to make up for that.”
Voice more firm, I added, “I will never touch you again without your permission.”
Expression so haughty she’d put any queen to shame, Isca looked down at my fingers still holding her braid then back up at me.
“Sorry.” I dropped it quickly, but my hands still ached to reach out again.
To my undying astonishment, she gave a small nod, those big eyes searching my face. There was a wariness behind her bravado, and she watched me with a vigilance that felt like a test, gauging whether I could be trusted with even this inch of grace.
Still, it was a victory, and part of me wanted to celebrate it, while the other part was terrified because her acceptance made the monster perk up and pay rapt attention. I couldn’t lose control with her again—I wouldn’t. I’d cut off my own hands before risking pushing her too far.
I hesitated a beat too long.
“Afraid now, Prince Emrys?” she asked, challenge made manifest. “Can’t you feel this…thingbetween us? Pulling us together?”
Of course I could feel it. My cock strained at the laces of my breeches so hard that it hurt. I went to bed thinking of it every night and woke up wishing I didn’t have to hold myself back every morning.
My voice, thick with lust, deepened to a husky whisper. “The problem,” my eyes dropped unbidden down her neck to the rise and fall of her chest, “is that you make me want to lose control when your body should be worshiped first.”
I wanted to drop to my knees and do just that.
Her breathing hitched.
It seemed like almost too much of a risk as I traced the line of her collarbone with the backs of my knuckles, but I couldn’t stop myself. Notmoving except to breathe, she watched me with eyes that were unafraid. Cautious, yes. But not afraid—and that in itself was a marvel.
My eyes were drawn back to her hair. I let my fingers run up and down its length again, slower this time, savoring the feel. Her proximity, her obliviousness to what she did to me—it was all agonizing.
