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Something flared in Garrick’s eyes as a new song began. In a blink, he’d stepped so close to me I was forced to move away, my back striking the stone wall. “What?” His eyes burned.
“I said we can still dance as friends,” I managed, scanning his expression, trying to read the look on his face.
“Friends.” The word came out husky as he pressed his hands on either side of my body, hemming me in without touching me. He dipped his head to meet my gaze, trapping me in the molten gold of his eyes. “If I could touch you, Starlight, I would not be dancing with you as a friend. I wouldn’t touch you as afriend.” I couldn’t move as he leaned closer, his breath caressing my face. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched his fingers flex against the wall, as if it took every ounce of his strength to hold himself back from touching me. “If I could,” he went on, “I would ensure every touch I gave you was searing. I would kiss you until your knees went weak.” He pulled back, inhaling sharply as if he’d been struggling for air too. There was a desperate look on his face, a heart-wrenching tangle of hope and despair, desire and adoration. “Because...I might never deserve you—and I might beforced to obeythem, my very body belonging to them to control—but every piece of my heart belongs to you, my Starlight. Gods have mercy on me, but you’ve captivated me from the first moment I saw you, and you’ve enchanted me every moment since. I shouldn’t even dare to think the words, and they don’t feel like enough...but I love you. So don’t call me a friend, I beg of you. Even if you don’t feel the same, please spare me that. I already have to watch him touch you and claim you, and it’s the worst sort of torment.”
My thoughts were wild, my heart light. Helovedme. No matter what today brought, I could cling to that. It was his freedom I fought for. Our future. Our love. For that, I could win. Iwouldwin.
“You...love me?” My voice came out strangled. I shook my head to clear it, my thoughts racing. “But they cannot own you after this evening, and Preston won’t be able to pretend I’m his. We can’t let them dictate what we do anymore. They won’t hurt us again, Garrick.” I studied his face—the white-blond lock of hair across his brow, the beautiful gold of his eyes, the stubble dotting his jaw—and gathered my courage. “Kiss me.”
Garrick’s eyes widened, his breaths turning uneven. “What?”
I lifted my head the smallest bit, desperate to close the gap between us but also not wanting to risk something he wasn’t willing to chance as well. “Kiss. Me.”
Those two words were all it took to snap the last of Garrick’s restraint. His hands moved immediately, cradling my face as he lifted my chin and closed the remaining space between us. His body molded to mine, and his mouth consumed me. There was so much want, so muchneed, between us, every caress of our lips sharing the words we’d left unspoken for so long, making vows of a future I finally dared to believe was within our reach. He ran his thumbs along my jaw, tangled his fingers in my hair, dropped his other hand to my waist and tugged me into hisembrace. Just as he’d promised, his every touch was searing, as if his fingers could brand me, claiming me as his and undoing every unwanted touch and awful scar left by Preston. And his kiss was devouring yet tender, turning my head light and my knees wobbly.
When we broke apart at last, gasping, a glint of mischief flashed in Garrick’s eyes. “This is where you ask me, Starlight.”
“What?”
He flashed his teeth in a wide grin, his eyes darting to my lips. That was when I remembered the words he’d said the first night we met, and my heart jolted, but not unpleasantly.I won’t bite...unless you ask me to.
I swallowed, a blush suffusing my cheeks. “I... Will you?”
“Close enough,” Garrick said huskily, leaning forward to capture my mouth with his again. He took his time, as if he were savoring the feel and taste of me, and then he caught my bottom lip with his, nibbling it gently.
I couldn’t help my giggle as he drew back, only to trace a path of whisper-soft kisses along my jaw and neck. My laughter died in my throat as he planted another over my pulse, and then moved upward, his teeth gently scraping against my earlobe. I let out an embarrassing gasp. “Maybe I knew I shouldn’t flirt, shouldn’t want you,” he murmured against my neck, “but I’ve wanted to do that since the first night we met. Why else do you think I teased you so?”
Then, as suddenly as he’d lost his restraint, he sighed and straightened, pressing a gentle kiss to my forehead before pulling back enough to lay my head against his chest. His chin tucked against my hair, making me feel secure as I listened to the steady beat of his heart. But as I evened my breathing, I realized the arms that clung so tightly to me were shaking.
“Garrick?” I drew away, lifting my head to stare up into his face. Tears gleamed in his eyes.
“I shouldn’t have done that. I fear what they could make me do to you again,” he confessed. “I’ve held myself back, kept those words close to my heart, told myself I could never kiss you—wasn’t worthy to even think of you—because I can’t bear to see you suffer. And ifI’mthe cause?”
“You won’t be,” I cut in sharply. “I promise it.” I settled a hand against his cheek, relishing the roughness of his stubble against my skin. “We’re going to free you from them.”
Movement over Garrick’s shoulder caught my eye, and I paused. Was it the signal at last?
But instead, a pair of blood-red eyes peered at me as Preston leaned against the pillar, arms crossed. “How touching,” he mocked. “Free the dog from the blood oath hewillinglymade? You truly think highly of yourself, don’t you?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
My blood pounded in my ears, a heady mixture of terror and fury rushing though my entire body as I stared back at Preston. “He made his oath willingly because he thought you had some semblance ofhonor,” I bit out.
Preston sneered, waving a careless hand. “What is honor worth? Power is all that matters, little Snowflake.” His eyes snapped to Garrick. “Release her and leave us.”
