Rogue flurries around my hair, reworking my elaborate, bejeweled hairdo into sensible braids. It replaces the crown but I pull it off and hold it out. “Take this. Keep it somewhere safe. I’ll be back.”
Outside, the day is cool. I pull my cloak around my shoulders. These past few days, the heat has lessened. The moonflowers are fading.
Rogue catches up, dropping a heavy satchel onto my shoulder.
“Thanks. You’re coming, right?”
Thewhispplays with the ends of my braids.
“Good. I’ll need your help breaking the magic boundary so I can get out of here.”
I’ve almost made it to the wall when a roar shakes the palace behind me.
Perfect timing.
I lengthen my strides. “Faster,” I whisper to thewhisp. “Can you make me go faster?”
With my next step, my foot lands on an invisible platform. On instinct, I throw out my hands but I’m perfectly balanced—the wind is lifting me. Under my foot there’s nothing but air.
I take a few more steps like I’m climbing invisible stairs, each stride amplified by the buoyant wind. The wall looms a few feet in front of me.
“Rose,” Bestian bellows.
I bound forward and soar over the wall. There’s a slight tingle—that must be the boundary spell—and I’ve cleared the top, gasping as electricity zings through me, dancing down the hillside, twenty feet in the air.
Holy shit. I can fly!
“Rose,” Bestian roars again, his voice crackling with desperation.
I glance over my shoulder to see him soar over the wall after me, his own cloak streaming out behind him. His hood is up but his face is bare.
My heart pounding, I whirl in midair, and fly faster. Up ahead is the valley, with the village nestled in the hillside’s shadow. I zigzag, changing course, and head for the sound of the waves. Beyond the castle’s cliff is a frothy surf and a long blue-gray swath of sea.
There’s a sandy strip between the jagged cliff-face and the water. I head for it, racing over the invisible, wind-made road.
Bestian’s shouts are growing louder. He’s gaining ground.
The king told me to run but then he chased me. Should I let him catch me?
A wave of his scent assails my senses, carried across by the breeze. My tummy twists in a now-familiar flip of longing. Even when I’m not in estrus, I want him.
I’m twenty feet from the sand when he cannonballs into me, surrounding me with his warm bulk. We tumble together, plowing into a bank of warm air. The wind beneath us is softer than any cushion.
Bestian tears at his cloak until it flies free and floats down to spread out on the dry sand. Slowly, the wind lowers us to the ground.
I wriggle until I’m face to face with him. He grabs my wrists and pins me on my back, covering me with his huge body. “Rose.”
I’m breathless, my heart racing with excitement and desire. “Bestian.”
“I’m so sorry I spoke to you that way,” he says. “I’m a fool. A big, ugly fool.”
“You’re not ugly,” I whisper. “That’s what I was trying to tell you.”
He heaves out a sigh. “Don’t leave,” he says. “Don’t leave me.”
“I’m not leaving, dumbass.” I wrap my legs around him. “I'm here. I'm with you.” I free a hand to palm his scarred cheek. “I'm here.”
His mouth crashes down over mine, kissing me on and on until I’m breathless and the aching throb in my clit has become unbearable.
