“Sunny is fine,” Jihun says. “She got both of you back to the Kingdom of Sky in one piece.”
My warrior saved both of us.
“But you need to recuperate, Your Majesty.” My royal adviser presses a hand against my shoulder when I try to sit up.
“Donottell me what I need.” I push his hand away and struggle to a seat.I need Sunny.“Where is she?”
“She is resting at the Sunset Pavilion.” His nostrils flare as he fights for patience. “If you are well enough to sit up, then you need to meet with—”
“Later.” I cut him off and push to my feet. I’m already at the doors when I turn to ask, “Where amI?”
“You are at the Celestial Palace.” Jihun pinches his nose. “Go, Ethan. I will stall for you. It’s not like the fate of the realm is at stake.”
“Thank you,” I say, softening my tone. “I won’t be long. I just need to see with my own eyes that she’s okay.”
My royal adviser flaps his hand, shooing me away like an annoying gnat. I’ll take that. I flash him a grateful smile before dashing out the doors and into the sunlight. I squint up at the sky.
How long was I out?
Sunny must be dying with worry.Shit.I ignore the startled eyes of the people in the courtyard and run like hell to Jihun’s estate.
I stop at the steps to the Sunset Pavilion, huffing like an angry bull. I try to even out my breathing, but my heart ping-pongs in my chest at the thought of seeing Sunny, and my breaths only grow shorter.
“Your Majesty?” Miok, Sunny’s lady-in-waiting, starts when she sees me from the main hall but quickly regains her composure and bows low from her waist. “How may I assist you?”
“I want Sunny.” My voice comes out an impatient, possessive growl. I clear my throat and try again. “I am here to see Sunny.”
“She is not here, Your Majesty.”
“What?” I sound more like a gawky teenager than a formidable king. “Where is she?”
“She said she was going out for a walk,” Miok answers evenly.
“Out ... for a walk?” Disappointment crushes down on me. “She could be anywhere.”
“True.” The lady-in-waiting lowers her gaze, but not before I see the amusement sparkling in them. “But she did mention a lovely garden she once had a picnic ...”
I don’t hear the rest of her sentence as I sprint toward the gates. Sunny is at my mother’s garden. She is so close. Even as I run fast enough to make my lungs burn, a cheek-cramping grin spreads across my face.
I’ll see her soon. Not when she’s falling out of the sky, or being swallowed by the Amheuk. I stumble, clutching at my chest.She’s okay,I remind myself.She’s here.I take off again.
I’m finally going to see Sunny, on solid ground, in relative safety. I won’t have long with her—I haven’t forgotten my duties—but even a minute alone with her will be a gift from the heavens.
My mother’s garden lies ahead of me, and I push myself faster. I burst through a stand of trees and skid to a stop at the clearing.
Sunny.
She stands in the pavilion, as exquisite as a statue, and stares out at the pond with her hand on a pillar. She’s wearing a silkhanbokwith a sky bluejeogoriand a lush lavenderchima, and her hair hangs in a sweet braid down her back.
Mine.
She looks like a Joseon maiden out of a historical K-drama, delicate and unapproachable. And I feel an irrepressible urge to dishevel her. I want to kiss her lips raw. I want to tease her until temper sparks in her eyes. I want to tug her hair free. I want her to come undone in my arms. I wanther.
Mine.
I reach her in a heartbeat. Forgetting my strength, I grab her too fast, too hard, and crush my lips against hers with a rumbling groan.I have waited for an eternity.I swallow her startled gasp and deepen my kiss, hanging on to my control by a thread. She stumbles back half a step but holds her ground. She is no delicate maiden. She is my beautiful, powerful Sunny.
I push her up against the pillar and growl against her lips, “Mine.”
