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“Why did you leave the party?” My hands found a home in the pockets of my pants as I moseyed my way to her. I looked at her, then the piano, and quietly sat beside her.
“You and Jesseline are about the only ones who want to see me there. Just needed a break from all the judgmental stares, I guess.”
“Ah, yes. My parents' court is famous for that. I’ll tell you a not-so-secret secret.” I looked around the room, then whispered, “They look at me like that, too.”
Ryker’s laugh was effortless, a small chuckle she swatted away, her hand coming to rest on my arm. Her smile melted as she noticed what she had done so easily without thought.
Despite the way she drew her hand back, I pulled up my sleeves and reached forward. Little thought was required for the way my hands flowed across the keys, pressing out a simple melody. The swell of music filled the room, starting cheerful and light until it led into the bridge that made a sudden turn into mournful and slow.
Growing up, my parents had said I was to practice an instrument of my choosing, and since Torrance and every other boy who came along to my classes wanted to pluck at the strings of a guitar or ukulele, I knew I had to be different. So I was rebellious and picked the piano. Although, I could easily pick up a ukulele if I wanted. Practice had been nearly every morning for an hour or two, for almost fifty years. My favorite maid helped to teach me when I wished to sneak away from my other lessons.
“You never told me you could play, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” she mumbled, her body leaning closer to mine.
“I can do many things that I’ve never told you.” I ended the song with a simple chord. My hands slipped from the keys and I folded them in my lap. “I know that it sounds insane, but I meant what I said before we came here.”
Ryker studied my face, an eyebrow lifting ever so slightly as she thought. I scooped her hands into mine, my thumb stroking along the back of her hand. In my dreams, this was easier, but now my chest felt tight, my mouth drier by the second.
“You could stay here,” I continued. “You don’t need to go back to the Heathern Court. I could take care of all of that for you and maybewecould be together.”
There, I had said it. The silence that followed made every moment that much more intense. Ryker gave me a light smile.
“Dace, it isn’t that simple.”
“But it is.Ryker, please listen to me, if you could only give this a chance. You can live your life however you please now. You can decide to live it with me. The Twinity Court could be your home.”
Her curls bounced as she shook her head, and one hand rose to touch my cheek. I leaned into her palm and let her pull away to trace my jaw and then my lips.
“Will it always feel this way?” I squeezed my eyes shut.
“What way?”
“Like every time I’m near you, I’m totally consumed by you. Like every moment I touch you,” I opened my eyes and leaned forward, gently pulling her face to mine, “I become a drunkard without sense.”
“Aren’t you a drunkard without sense already?” she teased, her lips brushing against me.
Fire from her touch burned across my skin. The space between us, as little as it was, felt like miles. It was a distance I needed to close.
With a short inhale, I pressed my lips to hers. Her mouth parted in soft surrender. It was everything I’d ever wanted and ever asked for, and it was finally happening. My heart might have very well exploded from my chest, a feeling she was surely aware of, as I was of her racing pulse. She pressed into me, parting my lips further until the room narrowed on this one action. All I could taste was her. All I could smell was her. I could feel her skin, soft and supple under my touch.
Ryker. Oh, gods, Ryker.
She pulled away.
With a ragged breath, she rested her forehead against mine. “As much as I would like all of that to be possible, I’m not free yet. Nymphs are not free, and I can’t just run off and play princess and assume that everything is going to work out.”
The sting of her words made my eyes flutter shut to try and hold back the overwhelming sense of disappointment. I loved Ryker, but she didn’t love me back. Not yet.
“I was serious, too, when I said I was picking you to be my bride. One day you could be more than a princess. You would be a queen.” I smiled, mostly to myself.
Ryker ran her fingers through my hair and pressed one more small kiss to my lips before she sat up straight. “And that sounds like a lovely dream. If it wasn’t something that had also passed through my mind, I would have thought you were insane.”
Her teeth raked over her bottom lip. Something deep, dark, and predatory rose its head inside of me and rumbled to life. Pushing a breath from my lungs, I brushed her hair away from her face. Her green eyes were glassy as she watched me.
“It doesn’t have to be now,” I finally sighed. “I’ll wait till you’re ready if you want. If you want me to court you, I’ll do it. Damn, if you want me to sacrifice myself to the gods, I’ll do it and come back in my next life for you.”
“Don’t be so rash. I have to go back to the Heathern Court. I understand that you have a place here, but you have to understand that I have a place there. Someday maybe those places could meet in the middle. It just isn’t today.” She paused. “You saw the way everyone disapproved of me. The stigma isn’t going to end tomorrow just because I become your bride.”
“I don’t care what they think. I’ve never cared what they think,” I said stubbornly.
