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I gave a gentle sniff, seeing if I could figure out who was on the other side of the entryway. But it wasn’t my sense of smell that told me, but rather a short pulse through my bond.
Kai.
I hadn’t expected to see him at all, and I clumsily rolled out of my far too high bed and hurried toward the door.
When I opened it, Kai was standing there, still dressed up from the ball. Goodness, he looked even more handsome up close, and I found myself just wanting to stare at him. However, he quickly hurried in and made sure to shut the door firmly behind us. Right. Secrecy, subterfuge, and all that. I’d been so caught up in my fantasy and then the surprise of seeing him, I’d forgotten how important it was for our mating to stay as incognito as possible.
“Hey there,” I said, trying not to look at him with too much of a swoon. A girl had to play it a little cool, after all.
But then he locked the door behind him, and his arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me to him, and all thoughts of being a cool girl fled from my brain. I liked that I was safe enough to be sappy and vulnerable with Kai. It wasn’t exactly a feeling I was used to.
The next thing I knew, he was kissing me, crowding out all of those complicated thoughts in my head, leaving only the feeling of our shared connection.
Gods, I felt so foolish with how often I’d tried to end things between us, the lengths I’d gone to defy what was so obviously meant to be. I could no more break up with Kai than I could stop breathing, and it was time to stop pretending otherwise. I’d read novels and watched movies where the lead characters had an immature, gossip-fueled romance, and I was embarrassed that my actions had caused us to share a few of those same beats.
Instead of spending so much time fighting our love, maybe I could put that energy into defeating the curse. Especially since we finally had a solid direction to go in.
I moaned as Kai’s lips moved against mine, warm and full, but it didn’t nearly last long enough before he pulled away and looked down with those gorgeous eyes of his.
“You look incredible,” he said. “I know this isn’t really your thing, but I have to admit, you look ravishing in Camdarian traditional court fare.”
“Do I?” I said, batting my eyes as I did a little spin for him. It wasn’t exactly something I’d normally do, but it was impossible not to feel at least a little giddy when he was looking at me like that.
“Absolutely. I was dying to be at your side all night, to show you off to everyone, and have them know I’m the one with the most beautiful, talented, powerful mate at the entire gala.”
I felt my cheeks flush. He was always so easy with the compliments, like they were the most natural thing to say. I was still getting used to accepting them, but I was certainly doing a better job than I would’ve even just a month ago.
“I dunno about that…”
“Oh, but I know.” He was kissing me again, pressing a short peck to my lips, then each of my cheeks. “I know right down to my soul. I would have been proud to dance with you…” He paused, frowning.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. I just had a realization.” He drew himself up straight then gave me a formal bow. “Healer Everton, may I have this dance?”
Despite the fact that an outsider would likely think it silly, I found my stomach swooping at his action. Was I about to get my fairy tale?
“There’s no music,” I said, knowing my cheeks were growing pinker by the moment.
Kai just held out his hand, looking at me so warmly, fondness radiating from his face and through our bond. “That’s all right. We’ll make our own.”
I swore my heart was going to beat right out of my chest and ricochet around the room until it was a fine paste. Gods, my body and my mind always reacted so viscerally to Kai, and we weren’t even fully mated yet. What would happen when we completed our bond?
Oh.
I hadn’t thought about that in a long while, assuming it’d never happen with my curse. But we were closer than ever to breaking it, so was I ready for such a thing?
Perhaps I was putting the cart before the horse. Find a way to defeat the Shrouded Shriek first, kill the bastard, then I could think about progressing in my relationship with Kai. Because when I closed my eyes and was honest with myself, I could see a future with him. It was a hazy one, as I had no idea what I’d be like as a queen, but I knew it was beside Kai, both of us supporting each other, looking after one another, growing and learning with each other.
“Then, yeah,” I said finally. “Let’s dance.”
It was just that easy. Kai pulled me into a dancing hold as easily as anything, one hand around my waist, the other holding mine. We twirled around the room, our hearts beating together, and our eyes locked.
Once more, the rest of the world fell away, leaving just the two of us in our own little bubble. It was perfection, wiping away everything else: the curse, the Shrouded Shriek, the royal family. None of it mattered. There was only us.
It stayed that way through our entire dance, and although I knew it was only in my head, I swore I could indeed hear one of the traditional waltzes playing through the room, winding around us, sending us floating that much higher on our mutual cloud.
I couldn’t say how long we spent together, but when it wound down, we just stood there a moment, thoroughly enraptured in each other.
