Page 94 of Royal Rising

“But you did.”

“I did.”

“Because you can do anything.”

“Almost anything,” she agrees.

“What’s something that you can’t do?”

“Get you to kiss me.”

“Ah.”

The air shifts. I’ve had fantasies of kissing Edie for years, and now when the reality is in front of me—literally in front of me—I haven’t got the faintest idea how to begin. I’ve kissed…a lotof women, but Edie is the only one I’velongedfor. I’ve traced my finger along her lips countless times in my mind, teased her with my tongue in my daydreams.

I want it to be perfect and here—now—I don’t know how it can be.

We’re both half asleep, Dad is in the hospital and I compared the beginning of the sunrise to another woman’s eyes.

But I’ve never left a woman wanting before.

Edie is still looking at me, so I reach down and tilt her chin just a little higher. “If it was up to me, I’d be kissing you every minuteof every day. You wouldn’t be able to do anything because I’d be kissing you so much. But this first one, because I’ve waited so long, I want to be perfect.”

“Perfect is too much pressure,” Edie whispers.

“Let’s see what you can do, then.”

Her eyes widen, and then she’s up on her tiptoes, one hand fisting in my T-shirt, the other winding behind my head, pulling me down. Her lips mash against mine, missing half my mouth, and it’s so far from perfect that she pulls back with a laugh.

“You’re too tall,” she cries.

I pick her up and set her on my dresser beside the window. “Better?”

“Much.”

This time I take the lead, cupping her cheek and leaning into her slowly, so slowly that Edie has time to wet her lips and open them slightly.

Yes, I’m teasing her by making her wait, but it’s fun.

I kiss her forehead, her temple, the apple of her cheek, and then move down to the corner of her mouth. Then I kiss the other side.

Edie whimpers softly.

“Are you sure?” I whisper. “Because once I kiss you, there’s no going back.”

“Because you think it’s going to be that good?”

“Because I won’t be able to let you go. Sixteen years, Edie, is a very long time.” I press my lips against hers, finally kissing her properly.

And

It’s

Pretty

Darn

Perfect.

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