“No, you can’t,” I mumbled. “Do you want to talk about any of it? The curse?”
He released a breath that came out like a hum. The sound rumbled through my body and into my core, igniting new heat. “I want to talk about it, yes. Eventually. But right now,” he said in a low voice, his thumb rubbing slowly across my stomach, “I’m having a hard time thinking about anything else.”
Holding the reins with one hand and reaching the other to turn my face, he brought his lips to the corner of my mouth, dragging them down to my jaw and back up. The motion traced a path of fire on my skin. I held my breath as he hovered over my lips, his nose skimming mine.
“What about the horse?” I murmured, the movement making my bottom lip brush against his.
“He knows the way.” His warm breath washed over me, and my eyes fluttered shut as his lips met mine.
He moved slowly at first, drawing the kiss out, tasting me. The hand at my cheek shifted to the nape of my neck, leaving goosebumps as his fingers trailed upward, the calloused pads pressing into my skin. They wound through my hair and gave a tug that made me gasp. The kiss became more urgent. Feverish. Like he was no longer simply relishing it, butneedingit.
I broke away panting and rested my forehead against his. His entire world had been turned upside down tonight. Maybe this was going too fast.
“Am I just a distraction?” I asked. “Is this even real?”
He pulled back to meet my stare, his eyes darkened with both desire and pain. I knew that expression. Not knowing what to think, what to say, what to feel. Wanting a way to cover it up and shove it aside, to cling to something that made you feel alive.
“Why can’t it be both?” he responded.
Nightshade’s gait slowed as we neared the palace. He stopped a ways from the treeline at the hidden spot Leo always kept him to avoid detection.
I swallowed and scooted forward to Nightshade’s neck, lifting my body so I was balancing on the horse’s back.
“Rose, what are you?—”
I turned around to face him, lowering myself back down and straddling his waist. He sucked in a breath and let the reins fall. The horse remained in place, his tail swishing against a low-hanging branch.
“I’ll be your distraction, if that’s what you need. But I also want to be yourpeace. I want to be the thing that tethers you when you feel your world crumbling.” I rested my hand on his heart, feeling its wild beats. “Take what you need tonight, but I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”
His eyes softened as he tucked away a lock of hair that whipped across my face in the wind. “All I need is you.”
I covered his hand with mine and kissed his palm, mapping the lines on it with the tip of my finger. His skin was smooth yet rough at the same time. Soft and calloused. Strong and gentle. Much like him. I pressed my palm flush to his, marveling at how we fit so well together, his hard edges to my soft curves. At the fact that this man wantedme.
He intertwined our fingers and used his other hand to guide my chin forward, his lips meeting mine in a tender kiss that stripped away all fear, all hesitancy, all pain.
I sucked in a breath through my nose and pressed further into him, winding my arms around his neck, meeting him stroke for stroke, touch for touch.
I was melting. I was flying. I wasfalling.
I may not have done many good things in this life. I may not have been the perfect niece or the perfect Alchemist, the kind, doting girl who forgave easily and loved freely. But if there wasonething I would do right, it was protect him.
There was another way out of this curse. Therehadto be. And I would burn the world down to find it.
We enteredthe palace under an invisibility spell and made our way up to my room. I was too tired to deal with guards questioning my whereabouts so late in the evening, even though challengers were allowed to roam freely.
Fatigue swept over me. The heat from my time with Leo was so at odds with the guilt over Chaz’s predicament that my mind was left reeling, unsure how to cope.
I wanted to take a bath, eat, and sleep. Maybe kiss Leo some more. Not necessarily in that order.
But when we slipped inside my room, I knew none of those things would be happening tonight.
A sealed envelope rested on my bed with my name in Theodore’s familiar handwriting. Groaning, I grabbed it and took out my dagger, carefully slitting open the top.
“Is that from—” Leo hissed as he reached to see what the envelope said and the tip of my blade sliced his finger.
“Sorry—here,” I said absently, handing him an extra strip of cloth from my bag to wrap around his finger, then answered, “It’s from the emperor.” I quickly scanned the contents, relaying them as I read. “He wants to meet again tonight. Another lesson. He expected me”—I glanced at the clock on the wall—“half an hour ago.”
“Can you send him a message? Push it off to tomorrow?”
