AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She pursed her lips. “I don’t see anything funny about it.”
“The only thing funny about it is that you think I did it to be cruel.” He stepped in closer, forcing her to take two steps back. He shadowed her retreat, but she refused to let him close—
Her breath caught as she felt her back come up against the trunk of a tree.
He stared down at her with unbridled intensity. “Do you honestly believe my only motive for kissing you was to trick you? Had I wanted to be cruel, I could have said or done a thousand other things to hurt you. And if I’d simply wanted you to leave me behind in that dungeon cell, I could have hefted you over my shoulder and set you on the other side of the door before you knew what was happening.”
The thought of Teryn picking her up with such ease sent heat building low in her belly. But the image fled her mind as he leaned down, planted his forearm against the trunk over her head, and brought his face mere inches from hers. His voice left his lips in a whisper. “I kissed you because I wanted to. Because I wanted to feel your lips against mine before I died. Because it was my desire.”
“Desire,” she echoed. The word sent her knees quaking.
“Yes, desire.”
Mother Goddess, she was losing hold of everything. Of her anger, her logic. That spark of hope was growing, searing through her carefully constructed walls.
She forced herself to straighten, to hold his gaze and pretend every inch of her wasn’t burning from the inside. She waved her hand in a flippant gesture. “So now you want to go straight from desire to an engagement? Is there nothing missing between those two steps?”
“Oh, there’s plenty missing. Could I disentangle our necessary betrothal from my feelings, I would, for that would allow me to court you the way you deserve to be courted. And I’ll do it no matter what. Our engagement need only satisfy King Verdian, and we have a year before we’re expected to wed. A year for you to change your mind. A year for me to win you over. Regardless of your answer, of whatever is expected of us, I’ll woo you, Cora. I’ll court you as befits strangers. Lovers. I’ll deny myself the pleasure of kissing you until I’ve fully won your heart.”
Cora’s cold façade crumpled. His words cleaved through all remaining resistance, obliterated every argument she had in her arsenal. She could no longer deny the truth she’d tried so hard to suppress—that when Queen Bethaeny had offered the proposal, she’dwantedit to be with Teryn. And when he’d kissed her in the dungeon, she’dwantedthat kiss. Wanted him. She slackened against the tree trunk and surrendered to Teryn’s relentless barrage. “All right,” she whispered, and her chest pulsed its satisfaction.
“All right,” she said again, louder this time. The spark of hope ignited, melting the remainder of her walls, heating her blood, and filling her head with the most tantalizing euphoria. “But under one condition. I want you to kiss me now.”
25
Cora’s request sent heat radiating through Teryn’s chest. His eyes dropped down to her full, slightly parted lips, wondering if he hadn’t imagined the words that had left them. As if in silent confirmation, she tilted her chin, lashes fluttering closed.
That was all Teryn needed. All the agonizing seconds he could resist before he lowered his mouth to hers. She met him halfway, her lips impossibly soft as they crushed against his. Her arms wound around his neck, fingertips sliding into his hair and sending a shiver down his spine. He pressed her closer to the tree, one hand snaking behind her back while the other trailed down her hair, the side of her face. Then, cradling her jaw, he gently tilted her chin, allowing their kiss to deepen. Her lips parted, and their tongues met in a languorous sweep. His hand stiffened on her back, pulling her ever closer. She yielded to him, her soft, small body somehow fitting perfectly against him. Their breaths grew heavy, sharp, and with the next sweep of his tongue, she released the most delicious of moans.
It nearly unraveled him, nearly made him slide his hands to places better left explored in private. He ached to palm her backside, to untie her apron and feel at least one less layer between them. Yet, despite his near-feverish desire, he remained vaguely aware of the two guards nearby. Guards that were surely getting an eyeful regardless of where Teryn kept his hands.
Cora arched into him, releasing another soft moan, her fingers clawing into the hair at the nape of his neck. Teryn was about to throw caution to the wind and heft her into his arms to close more of the sparse distance between them—when Cora suddenly pulled back with a gasp. And not one of pleasure. Of…something he couldn’t comprehend.
Teryn froze. Had he done something wrong? Had he let his passion get out of control after all? The tightening in his trousers suggested as much, and she certainly would have noticedthat, but—
She gasped again. Only this time he realized it wasn’t a gasp at all but a snort.
Of laughter.
Which might have been worse than whatever he’d been imagining.
Still, her smile sent a fluttery feeling to his chest, and he found his lips lifting too. Her arms were still around his neck, her body still close to his. “What is it?”
She pursed her lips, gaze lowered. Then she lifted her dark eyes to his and her smile grew. “It’s Valorre,” she said, her voice quavering with restrained laughter. “That smug little bastard is smirking.”
Teryn cast a glance over his shoulder but saw only the edge of the cliff and the wildflower meadow. The other direction revealed nothing but trees and the forest path. Well, that and the pair of guards who were absolutely looking at them. Perverts.
“I don’t see him,” he said.
“He’s not here,” she whispered, “but he is close by. I canfeelhim smirking.”
Awe washed over him. “You really can communicate with him, can’t you?”
Her expression turned timid, but she gave him a small smile. “Yes.”
Seven gods, she was incredible. Their moment of passion may have been broken by Cora’s sudden amusement, but it hadn’t changed his feelings. With his hand still pressed against her back, he gently stroked his thumb over the wool fabric of her dress. “I wish you didn’t have to hide who you really are. You are too godsdamned amazing for that.”
Her expression took on a teasing quality. “I think I liked it best when you called me formidable.”
