‘Then why did you— That night in your tower.Why did you say you would pretend to love me when we were alone?’
‘I panicked.I realised there was nothing I could do to protect you and it was the last thing I could think to do that might drive you away.’He blinked.‘I thought you knew that.’
‘No,’I choked.‘What about after that?You told me you had to lie to the Queen.’
‘I never said that.’
‘You did.’
‘I’m fairly sure I didn’t say anything.’
I ground my teeth together.He was right.He hadn’t said anything.He’d stayed silent and let me fill in the gaps, only I’d filled them incorrectly.His silence hadn’t meant she couldn’t tell that he was lying.It meant hewouldn’tbe lying.
I had never met anybody as infuriatingly terrible at communicating as him.
‘Why didn’t you tell me the truth?’
He clenched his teeth.Looked away.‘No one’s ever stayed after I told them how I felt.After everything I did to push you away, I didn’t want my love to be the reason you left.’
The desperate ache that had been brewing inside me welled to the surface.He was mine, as I had always been his.He wasmine.And he always had been.
I felt like I had everything in the world, except for time.
‘How long does it take for vampire venom to leave a human’s system?’I asked.
Raleigh tensed.‘A few hours.If you didn’t sleep it off, it’ll be out of your system by now.Why, what’s brought this on?’
‘Because I still want to touch you.’
He laughed, and the sound was perfect.He captured my lips in reply.My mind was whole now and there was no one to pretend for.We could worry about the Queen catching up to us later.For now, there was only me and him, and the time we had left.
I tangled my fingers in his hair and kissed him with the full intensity of my emotion.This time there was nothing soft about it.Another noise spilt from his throat, something small and needy that sent my whole body aflame.I broke away only long enough to climb into his lap, my knees pushing up against the padded sides of the casket, our chests flush against each other.He drew me back to him and kissed me like I was the only thing tethering him to the earth.
The carriage jolted again, jerking his hips up into mine, allowing me to feel the full reality of his desire against my burning core.It was my turn to cry out.I rocked back against him, searching for friction while his roving hands sought out the ties binding me into my dress.
Fabric pooled into the coffin.We climbed out and onto the floor where there was more room for two.And then we were together again.I ran my hands down his chest, trying to memorise every moment.The way his stomach hitched when my fingers grazed his nipple, the breath that pushed past his lips when my hands roamed ever further.The groan he made as my palm met flesh.
‘Enrique can probably hear us,’ Raleigh whispered against the dip of my collarbone.I could feel the brush of his fangs as he spoke.
‘Then let’s give him something to hear.’I gave him a light squeeze and he went still, his whole body growing taut beneath me.His eyes looked past me, staring deep into somewhere no longer in this time.
I froze.‘Raleigh?’I whispered.
He blinked himself back into reality, then gave a shaky smile.
‘We can stop,’ I said.
‘I don’t want to stop.’He guided my hands away and kissed my knuckles softly.‘I just … I think I need to lead.’
My heart jolted.Of course.After every lewd jab hurled his way by the court, I should have realised what this moment would mean for him.I climbed off him and let him lower me onto the floor in his place.The carriage lurched again and suddenly we were both on the floor, his full weight pinning me down.
‘You really couldn’t have waited to confess somewhere that wasn’t moving?’
I didn’t reply.There was no use stating the obvious; he seemed to realise it himself when my hand cupped his cheek.How could I wait when there was no guarantee we would live past nightfall?
He dipped his head and kissed me until I’d forgotten we were on borrowed time.The carriage melted away around us.There was only us, the feel of his lips, his skin.His searching hand as it roamed ever lower, touching, searching.
‘May I touch you?’he whispered.He said it with a teasing smile, but I knew he needed the answer.
