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“She’s one step closer to becoming your wife,” the king said, the portrait of a doting father. “Surely a congratulatory kiss is in order.”
“Indeed!” Sir Featherton bobbed his head. “A kiss for the beautiful daughter of Mervalee Territory.”
The trial archon swung back to the crowd, arms raising as he pumped his hands up and down. “And what say you, fine sons and daughters of Solisarium? Don’t you think a kiss from the crown prince would be the perfect congratulations to the Trial winner of the first test?”
Fists raised in the air, screams of agreement following as the crowd once again went wild.
Nuwin leaned closer to me and whispered, “One would think they’d never seen a male kiss a female before.”
His snicker and mischievous wink made some of the tension in my shoulders ease.
“Well?” The king crossed his arms, and something in his expression made me want to teeter farther away from Norivun. “Best not to keep the crowd waiting.”
“As you wish.” Norivun gave a stiff bow to his father, then swung toward me as the anticipation of the onlookers surged. Wings bobbing, the prince closed the distance between us with predatory grace.
Every particle of my body vibrated in awareness. The bond that tethered us surged and tightened. Now that I’d acknowledged it, I was amazed that I hadn’t recognized it sooner. Every part of me yearned to touch him. Feel him. Kiss him.
I balled my hands at my sides, and the weight of the king’s stare bore down on me as I endeavored to hide what I felt. I tried to keep my chest from rising too quickly. Tried not to let color bloom upon my cheeks like a budding rose in my garden.
But the prince’s aura called to me. I was as helpless to resist the attraction between us as the oceans were to the moons’ pulling tides.
The prince stopped only a hair’s breadth away. Eyes like diamonds glittering in the sun drank me in. His mouth tightened as that wildness slipped past his mask. Savage need etched into every line of his face.
He slowly slid one large hand around my neck, his thumb grazing my jaw as he tilted my mouth up to his.
And as he leaned down, my attention focused on his lips. The air between us warmed as his affinity wove around me. A feathery, phantom touch trailed across my neck causing a shiver to skate up my spine.
I called upon my air element to do the same to him. It stretched from me, as though ghostly fingers trailed down his chest.
A low, throaty growl was his only response before his lips met mine.
My eyes closed as the taste and scent of him spiraled through me. Snow and cedar wrapped up in heat and fire penetrated my senses. Before I could stop myself, my arms were slipping around his shoulders, tangling in the hair at the nape of his neck as cheers and roars echoed from the crowd.
But those sounds fell into a void, like a vacuum sucked all of the sound from the air, as every fiber of my being centered on the male holding me and ravishing my mouth. His tongue entwined with mine. A growl of pure possession rumbled in his chest as I moaned softly in answer.
The crown prince deepened our kiss, answering a call that fate demanded we heed, until fire raged between us. I clung to him, my entire body weakening as he bent me backward, his kiss feverish and claiming.
A desperate ache formed low in my belly as the prince’s wings snapped around us, hiding me from view. I knew my desire was so heightened that other males could scent it, but I couldn’t help my response. Norivun was my mate, and my body sang for him as though the stars had aligned our souls.
I had no idea how long we kissed. How long we hid beneath his wings. The realm had disappeared into nothing. My focus was on him and him only.
But then he was pulling back, his wings were retracting, and I whimpered softly in protest. His thumb caressed my jaw as lust coated his expression, but eventually he broke our contact and stepped back.
The other males around us murmured to one another, but my head was still so fogged with my mate that I couldn’t decipher their comments, but some were wickedly grinning. Others wore shocked expressions.
Prince Norivun’s nostrils flared, and one thunderous glare at the snickering males had them quietening.
Nuwin cleared his throat from behind me, and when the spell finally dissipated completely, I saw the tight smile plastered across the younger prince’s face.
My heart pounded as I became more aware of my surroundings. Everyone was watching us, which in itself was to be expected, but their looks and whispering told me that what had just transpired between me and the crown prince had been witnessed and understood by all.
“Interesting.” The king’s single comment had my entire body seizing.
Prince Norivun snarled quietly before Nuwin subtly kicked him from behind. The crown prince snapped upright, but even I could see that he was visibly struggling to suppress his mating instincts. Males were surrounding me. My heady scent swam through the air, and the king had just flagrantly commented on what had transpired between us.
Dread slid through my veins. King Novakin was smiling, nogrinning, as he looked between me and his son. He mockingly inclined his head before a dark flash ghosted across his expression. The crowd was still cheering, although it was more jeers now than joy, and the males were loudest of all as the females tittered behind cupped hands.
But despite the chaos, it didn’t stop me from hearing what the king said next. Words like a whisper floated to me through the air, and with a start, I realized who the crown prince and Nuwin had inherited their air affinities from.
