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Disappointed. Figured.
I rolled my eyes. “Ugh,” I groaned, splaying my legs out in front of me, and pouted. Dirt stained the hem of my dress. “Why do you have to be such a fun sucker? You always fun the suck.” Another hiccup escaped me, and I slapped a hand over my mouth, giggling into my palm.
At least his face had become my center of focus, my vision no longer spinning out.
Talon nodded to someone behind me as he swaggered forward, gripping me underneath my armpits—yanking me to my feet. My head lolled to the side as he carried me, keeping his arm fully extended out in front of him like I was infected and contagious.
It was degrading.
As if I was an infant.
I laughed, kicking my feet in the air.
He carried me like a sack of rotten potatoes until we reached an empty hall and, without warning, dropped me to my feet.
I collapsed onto the floor with a hard thump.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, attempting to contain himself before he jerked me up, pinning my body against the wall. “Why do you insist on being so stars damned pig-headed?”
“Pig-headed?” I dropped my head back against the stone wall as I convulsed with giggles when he forced a soft and peppery tart into my mouth. “What the f—” I attempted to spit it out, but Talon beat me to it.
He held a hand to my jaw, forcing my mouth to close. “Swallow it,” he demanded.
His eyes dared me to defy him, but I knew better. That look was a threat. A promise of atonement. I wanted to push him—see exactly what he was capable of—but instead, I chewed, keeping my eyes locked on his out of spite.
I swallowed the dry lump of taffy, repressing a gag, and, as if on cue, a cloud lifted from my thoughts, and my head was clear. My vision refocused completely. The lights were no longer blinding. Nor did I feel like an outsider in my body.
A hot, searing wave of emotion flooded me, and I cringed as blacked-out memories forced themselves to be remembered. How I’d behaved. Embarrassment and shame coursed through my veins, turning them to ice, and tears welled in the corner of my eyes.
Talon held me against the wall, keeping me from running off. “I told you not to drink that juice,” he growled, his lips grazing my ear.
I bared my teeth. “Don’t you dare patronize me.”
“How’d that turn out, hm?” He continued, “Besides making a complete ass of yourself knowing full well you have a target on your back.”
I tried to shake him off me, but his grip on my waist only tightened. “Screw you,” I spat, shoving my hands into his chest, but he didn’t budge. “You have some nerve lecturing me when you were looking super cozy with your forest nymph while it was all unfolding.”
“That’s what this is about, isn’t it?” A knowing grin pulled at his lips. “The nymph.”
“Stars, you’re so arrogant. Let go of me!” Heat crawled up my neck. It wasn’t about her. It was him. Talon and his stupid hooded eyes. His stupid smile. The way he made my heart hiccup. Made my nerves ignite. I hated him. Hated that I liked him.
I tried wriggling free once more, but his right hand came up, his fingers grazing my neck before he cupped my face. I wanted to be mad, but I felt myself melting despite it.
“That forest nymph is only a friend, Elowyn.” He ran his knuckles along my jaw, stopping above my collarbone.
My breath hitched—his touch like a branding iron on my skin.
“Don’t you dare believe for one second I’ve been able to stop thinking about those soft fucking lips on mine, over and over and over again.” His grip on my waist tightened, and I arched into him. His nose brushed mine as he kissed the corner of my mouth. “Your sweet taste is still on my tongue, firefly. If you only knew how badly I wish to do it again.”
Talon’s confession took me by surprise, and I stilled, my lips parting.
I felt weightless—wanting. Knowing I wasn’t suffering alone with the same hungry thoughts had me soaring from the flesh and bones that chained me to the ground. The show he put on with the nymph was impressive. Convincing, even. Yet with every laugh and touch, he had been thinking about me.
The air in the hall thinned, and my chest rose and fell haphazardly. “What’s stopping you now?”
Talon rested his forehead against mine and smiled, our lips lightly brushing. “You have no fucking idea what you do to me.”
I held onto him tighter, and he nuzzled into my neck. A wave of goosebumps exploded over my body as his lips met my skin.
