Page 107 of A Legacy of the Light

Reyne takes me by the shoulders and turns me to face her. “Picture this. When you’re back home and married to some human man and you think back on your youth, you’re going to think about the wild night you had drinking by the bonfire in Elfayne and making out with the hot prince. Don’t deny yourself that memory, Elsie.”

There’s only one problem with her vision, I’m not going to remember this when I leave.

Shaking off that thought, I pull Reyne back into the throng of dancers and we laugh as we twirl with each other.

Pat brings us another shot and I groan before clinking my glass with his and Reyne’s.

I’m going to regret this tomorrow.

But I’m tired of being so cautious. Maybe here, tonight, I can just be Elsie, the girl who found herself in a magical land with the attention of the hottest man to ever walk the fucking earth.

Tavish and Eòghann join us to dance after a while. Reyne immediately pulls Eòghann’s lips to hers when he wraps his arms around her waist.

“WAHOOO!” Tavish and I call together as he holds me close, his hands at my hips. I laugh hard as I wrap my arms around his neck. Tavish’s eyes sparkle as he looks down at me. He laughs, too, and I can smell the whiskey on his breath. He seems relaxed, warm, and free. Maybe we both need this tonight.

“Hey, where did the crown go?” I ask, noticing its absence.

“I sent it back to the palace. Didn’t want to lose it when the skinny dipping starts.”

I pause. “You’re joking?”

He laughs. “Aye, I’m joking.”

The whiskey has loosened him and I have noticed his heritage slips through when he sheds his title and is just Tavish. I like it. I like it a lot.

The music carries on and Tavish and I move together. I tilt my head back and look up at the bright moon and the stars.

“I feel so free,” I tell him, the alcohol buzz switching off my usual filter.

“You look it,” he replies softly.

We dance together, laughing more when Reyne pulls us into a jig where we all link elbows and skip in circles. My stomach is hurting from laughing so hard.

The music changes to something slower and couples start to sway. Eòghann and Reyne are kissing again and their happiness is tangible, they smile as they kiss each other.

I study Tavish’s face, half of it cast in shadow. The fire makes the golden flecks in his eyes jump with the flames. My gaze drops to his lips, so full and curled up at the corners.

Tavish drops his forehead to mine. “Elsie,” he groans, sending tingles down my spine. “You can’t look at me like that if you want us to just be friends.”

“Like what?” I ask on a breathless whisper.

He pulls back a few inches and grips my waist tighter.

“Like you’re as desperate to taste me as I am you.”

My heart tightens in my chest.

“And this fucking dress,” he continues, gripping the thin fabric at my hip in a fist. “When I saw you in that ballroom, the things that went through my head . . .” he growls and his eyes darken with need. “Beautiful doesn’t begin to describe the way you look tonight.”

The back of my neck prickles with the warmth spreading through me.

I slide one of my hands from his shoulder to the nape of his neck, running my fingers through the ends of his hair. I press myself into him, feeling braver than usual.

His eyes dip down to my chest, my breasts pushed higher with our bodies this close. The intensity of his stare when he brings his eyes back to mine makes my thighs clench together. He grows hard where he’s pressed into my stomach.

Reyne’s words echo in my mind. Am I overthinking this?

I’ll admit that I wanted him to kiss me so badly in the meadow earlier today. How am I supposed to resist him when he’s looking at me like that? Now the opportunity presents itself again, I don’t know if I have it in me to refuse. I don’t want to refuse—warning be damned.