Only the awkward feeling of his lips on mine remained.
When Soren pulled back, Fyn stepped closer.
“My apologies, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” When Fyn pivoted from us, the color in his face drained. “One of your guards informed me the princess was here.”
The look in Fyn’s eyes—the unmistakable way his chest heaved—it broke me.
I forced myself to look up at Soren the way a woman who had just kissed a man should.
Pretending was never my strength. Soren might see through the facade if I didn’t try.
“That single stolen moment was worth it.” Soren spoke as if Fyn said nothing at all—as if he wasn’t there.
“Prince Soren,” a man called from down the path. “The king requires your presence immediately. He awaits you in his study.”
Soren kissed me again, his hands finding my jaw quicker than I wanted. “I will be busy most of the rest of the day, but I will see you tomorrow.”
I nodded as the muscles in my shoulders tensed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
ASHLYN
Vibrant hues seized the sky as the sun slipped. Soren’s kiss still felt like it clung to my lips.
I couldn’t escape it. I needed to escape it.
“I looked everywhere for you,” Fyn said.
“You found me.” My shoulders ached with resistance.
His brow arched unnaturally high. “Are congratulations in order?”
“You left me.” It was the worst thing I could have said to him.
His glare could have cut through me. “That happened because I left you? I can only imagine?—”
“Where were you?” He should have been here. I needed him there.
Fyn looked over me. “Did he do something else to you? If he?—"
“Is it too hard to believe he’dwantto kiss me?” Nothing with Soren was straightforward. I knew the kiss wasn’t either.
“It’s hard to believe you’d let him.” His tone sharpened, his eyes falling from mine.
“The fae are free to do as they please. This isn’t Bailoc,” I said. “Why does it matter to you, Fyn?”
He paused slowly, assessing me again. “So you wanted him to kiss you?”
If I so much as uttered my truth, Fyn’s rage would burn from it. “I don’t wish to talk about it.” Everything felt unmanageable.
Fyn’s gaze held mine. It was his quiet reminder that he was still here. No matter how much I prodded, or said the things I shouldn’t have, he was still there.
That overwhelmed me too. “I should go back to my chambers.” I didn’t wait for his reply before I turned to head back.
A jutting stem of a shrub scraped my hip. When my gown caught on it, I carefully tugged it free.
The halls narrowed as Fyn kept a steady pace behind me.
