His hands, raised in the air to avoid touching her, finally moved. One arm settled around her shoulders. His other hand drifted to her face, soft knuckles drawing a line of tingles down her cheekbone. “So I guess you’re not mad at me anymore?”
His touch was distracting, exhilarating, drawing forth heat and confusion, but she managed to throw out a bit of sass. “That depends. Do you still think I’m useless?”
A real smile glinted on his face. “Of course I do. What good are you to me now that you know all my secrets?”
Anna suspected a lot more secrets hid in there, but she laughed nonetheless, pretending to be offended by pushing away. In asurprising turn, his arm tightened around her shoulders. She had half a second to register that he’d pulled her flush against his body before his hand at her cheek dipped beneath her chin, tilting her face up with clear intent.
All thought fell away.
His head dipped, stopping just before his mouth met hers, making her ache in a way she’d never known. “Not useless,” he said. “But I think I’ve revised what I want from you.”
“To what?” she asked, even though it was painfully obvious.
Her eyes fluttered closed as his lips touched hers in a single, featherlight kiss, and then he was gone, taking his solidity and heat with him. Only that elusive fragrance remained. When her eyes reopened, he was making his way toward the exit. She followed him a handful of steps, then slowed to a stop.
At the door, he threw a crooked smile her way. “Think about it, pixie girl.”
The next morning, Anna still hadn’t recovered. In only a few weeks she’d gone from fearing David Berkeley to begrudgingly liking him and now landed far at the opposite end of the spectrum. Somewhere in the land ofYou make me want things I shouldn’t.
This had never happened to her.
Never.
And with akeila!
How?
Madlyn chattered throughout their small suite same as she did every morning while they prepared for training, but Anna could hardly pay attention. She was too busy reliving that barely there kiss.
Of all the ways she thought David Berkeley might kiss,thathadn’t been one of them. Not that she’d imagined it per se, but if she had, she’d peg him as a hungry, exploratory kisser. He’d kiss the way he read—insatiably in search of the thing he wanted.
Thatkiss had been specifically designed to leave her wanting more.
Was this another mask he wore? Was it his way of distracting her from the things she’d learned yesterday? Was he toying with her to regain the advantage?
If so, it was working.
She considered asking Maddy for advice, but Anna didn’t want her to know about the kiss. Maddy would tell her she was being stupid, and she’d be right. David Berkeley was a complicated, baggage-ridden man. Plus, he was an uncrowned Sovereign. Plus, he was the heir of Galadaine Manae. Plus, Anna wasn’t convinced the man even knew what love was, much less how to do it, and if she was attracted, that meant she was already in far deeper than she wanted to be.
She couldn’t be the person to tackle all that. She didn’t have the headspace.
There. He’d told her to think about it, and she’d thought about it. Resolved to put an end to the flirtation, Anna dressed in her usual training clothes.
Maddy poked her head into Anna’s bedroom. “Did you hear me?”
“Oh.” She winced. “No, sorry. What did you say?”
“Hydee walked in on Caden Sidera and Isobel Faywood messing around in one of the upstairs lounges yesterday.” Her eyes were bright, her emotions ebullient from the gossip, dancing like sugar crystals on Anna’s tongue.
The mental image dragged out a grimace. Sean had become one of her favorite people. Imagining him with Isobel, who’d always given Anna weird vibes, made her nauseated. Isobel’s emotions were some of the worst to endure. Even the good ones were layered with a film of grit.
“I’d always heard that her prolonged kiss was fatal,” Maddy said. “Guess it isn’t true for him.” Her eyes widened. “Or maybe she wasn’t kissing his mouth.”
Anna threw a belt at her. “Ew. Why? Why would you even say that?”
Her friend cackled in delight. “Do you think it’s true what they say? That she’ll die to save him so he can deliver us all from destruction?”
Having not been raised in this world, with this quasi-religion, Anna wasn’t sure what she believed. “Who knows?” she said.
