Rune didn’t even bother trying to break the cage of his arms. “You think I enjoyed kissingSoren?”
He towered over her, his face inches from hers. “It’s hard to tell, with you.”
Did he think Soren Nord was what she wanted?
Fool.
“I hated it.” The words were ash in her mouth. “I kissed him because I had to.”
Wasn’t that obvious?
But no. To Gideon, Rune wasn’t a girl fighting to stay alive. She was an aristocrat used to getting what she wanted. She was a witch who bent people to her will.
“You have no idea the kinds of things I’ve had to do to stay alive,” she said.
His eyes hardened. “I have some idea.”
Because of Cressida, she realized. Gideon had been at the witch queen’s mercy for a long time. He too had done things he didn’t want to in order to survive.
“I know a lie lived over and over will destroy a person,” he said.
Rune’s eyes burned. She glanced away, but evidently not before he saw the tears in them. Because he lifted his gloved hands to her cheeks, turning her face back to him. It took all of her willpower not to lean into his touch.
His thumb brushed across her jaw, tracing the line of it. It was so unfair, the way a single touch from him made her ache for more.
“Rune, the truth is—” He swallowed. “—the entire time I was kissing Abbie… I wanted her to be you.”
What?
Rune frowned up at him.
“Then why were you so horrified when youdidkiss me?”
He dropped his hand to her belt and curled a finger through one of the loops. As he pulled her closer and leaned in, his breath feathered against her throat. “Mind if I demonstrate?”
Rune’s pulse kicked. She glanced at the door across the room.
I should check the hall.
But she didn’t.
This was the truly terrible thing about Gideon: he made her feel invincible. Like there was no danger she couldn’t get out of. Rune first felt it as the Crimson Moth, spending her nights outwitting him. She felt it again now, in a brand new way.
Soon enough, Edmund would discover the parlor room empty and come looking for them. But it didn’t matter, because so long as Gideon was on her side, so long as they were a team, there was nothing she couldn’t do.
It was irrational. Mad, even.
It scared her as much as it thrilled her.
She glanced at his mouth. “Show me.”
Suddenly, Gideon’s lips were seeking hers, and hers were answering. Their mouths clashed. Her blood heated. His hand pressed against her lower back, pulling her closer. Burning a hungry fire through her. He captured her mouth again and again, making it clear hownotrepulsed he was.
Their kisses turned desperate. Like their lives depended on never coming up for air. Rune’s pulse hammered as his palms settled firmly around her waist and he lifted her onto the desk. When he stepped between her legs, pulling her flush against him, Rune hummed deep in her throat.
She was prepared to give this boy whatever he wanted so long as he promised tonever stop.
I’m doomed,she realized.Gideon Sharpe will be the end of me.
