I hadn’t meant to stay there all night. But I couldn’t bring myself to leave.
Until a sharp knock pounded on the door.
“Hey, get up,” Rose’s muffled voice rang out. “This isn’t a vacation. We’ve got work to do.” There was one more knock, and then, “I know Nox is in there. Be downstairs in twenty minutes, or I’m releasing the bride on you.”
Devora flipped onto her back with a groan and stretched her arms above her head. I couldn’t help but smile when her sleepy eyes met mine. The terrors of her nightmare were still there, but somehow, seeing her like this dimmed their sharp edges. Herbright blue-green eyes were crinkled, an adorable crease appearing at her brow as she fought a yawn.
Her lips slowly pulled into a grin, and it transformed her entire face. “What are you staring at?” she asked, voice still raspy.
“Nothing.” I shrugged. “I just never get to see you like this. I like it.”
She chuckled. “What, morning breath and tangled hair?”
I propped my elbow on the pillow. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. “You’re beautiful, Devora. No matter the time of day.”
Her smile faltered, a hint of vulnerability sliding into her gaze. She tried to dip her head, but I put a finger under her chin, leaning forward to brush my lips against hers—a promise and a reminder all at once. That our kiss last night had beenreal. That it meant something to me.
When I broke away, she let out a soft breath that sent fire to my core. Her hand came up to the side of my neck to pull me closer.
Another bang sounded on the door. This time, it was a deeper voice that yelled at us. “Rose wasn’t kidding. Up. Now.”
Devora sighed. Her mouth was still close enough to mine that her breath made goosebumps rise along my neck. “Leo. That Shifter hearing is annoying.”
I froze with my lips on the edge of her mouth. Heat surged as my dragon half growled, possessiveness boiling to the surface.
I hummed and traced a path down her jaw. “Think very carefully before saying another man’s name right now, darling.”
She chuckled and pushed my shoulders. “Are all Shifters so territorial?”
“You have no idea,” I murmured. That little smirk I loved toyed across her features, and in that moment, I didn’t care if Rissa sent her entire Royal Guard to beat down the door. Placing a hand on her hip, I moved back in for another kiss.
My lips met the back of her hand. I narrowed my eyes as she giggled. “We have to go help with wedding stuff, Nox.”
“I don’t care. It’s not like it’s my wedding.”
She swatted my shoulder. “You’re a badinfluence.” When she leaned against the headboard, her head hit the back wall. She reached for it with a wince, then snorted as we both remembered her shadows had destroyed the entire bedframe.
“Great, now I have to tell Clarissa about this.” She hitched a thumb at the hunk of broken wood. “She’s barely forgiven me as it is.”
I hauled myself off the bed and lifted my arms high in a stretch. I caught her staring with her teeth dragging at her bottom lip. “You can’t keep looking at me like that, darling,” I rasped.
She shuffled to the edge of the bed and looped a finger in the waistband of my cotton pants. “Like what?” Her bright eyes flared.
I dragged my nose along her temple, then down to her jaw and below her ear. Her breath hitched when I gently pulled at her earlobe with my teeth. “Like you want me to be a bad influence.”
She tugged me closer to her. “I’m probably worse,” she whispered. Without warning, she turned her head to capture my lips again, and, Fates, I was helpless. I wrapped her long hair around my fist, then pulled her head back to deepen the kiss.
More pounding at the door. “I swear, if you two don’t?—”
Devora broke away right as we both shouted, “We’re coming!”
She looked back at me, chest heaving, and pointed at the adjoining door between our two chambers. “Go. Now. Before I do something I’ll regret.”
I chuckled. With one last kiss to the curve of her neck, I pushed away. “Yes, ma’am.”
The last thing I saw before I shut the door was her smiling face, and it was the happiest I’d been in decades.
We spentthe day running around the palace and the central sector of Veridia City, picking up last-minute orders for both the welcome feast and the wedding. Considering this was the first royal wedding since Rissa’s own parents were married, the entire capital was buzzing with excitement.
