Page 79 of Bound By Roses

CHAPTER THIRTY

QUINN

Iwatch as Abby abruptly halts her dance with Merrick. I can’t hear what they’re saying from here, but neither of them looks entirely happy. For his sake, I hope whatever he said doesn’t have her reaching for the dagger I’m certain she’s tucked away somewhere in that dress of hers.

Gods, that dress.

It’s green, just as many of the other dresses worn tonight. I suspect the fabric is dyed using the same algae that gave the Jade Coast its name.

And speaking of Jade, he’s yet to make an appearance tonight. He must still be sulking that I didn’t immediately thank him for hisgift. I’ve been trying to keep the thought of that Guardian from the forefront of my mind, but he has a way of crawling back into my thoughts. To even suggest that I bite him is—

“Hi,” Abby says when she reaches me, and the thought slips from my mind.

I answer her with a low bow. “Hi.”

She laughs and takes my outstretched hand. “Charming as ever,Prince.” She would never call me that, but this dance is fartoo similar to the one we’d shared a lifetime ago. When I was still nothing but a prince to her.

“Beautiful as always,Princess.” Her smile widens, and it might just be the only time she’s never minded being referred to by her title. I pull her against me and follow the same steps of the dance we’d shared in Rosewood. It doesn’t entirely match this music, but I don’t care. This is our dance. I lower my head so I can whisper directly into her ear. “How many knives do you have tucked away in your skirt this time?”

“Nine,” she says, as if it were the most casual of all numbers.

If that were true, I wouldn’t have taken a misstep at the sound of it. “That belt I gave you only holds eight. Where’s the ninth?”

Now it’s her turn to whisper in my ear. “It’s more fun if you find it.”

I swallow. “Don’t you remember what happened the last time we danced like this?”

She pauses, pretending to think it over. “You may have to remind me.”

Her teasing pushes me over the edge, and all at once, the bond between us ignites. One moment we’re talking, and the next my lips are pressed against hers, my fingers weaving through her hair and pressing her deeper into me.

And then we’re moving. Dancing through the crowd towards the edge of the dance floor.

If I remember correctly, the nearest building should be empty. My fingers fumble for the door handle. We nearly stumble when the door swings wind, and there’s almost not enough time to shut it behind us before Abby’s hands find their way to my belt.

The room we ended up in is small and as dark as a moonless night, but fuck it, this will have to do. I catch both of Abby’s wrists in one hand and spin her so that she’s the one pressed upagainst the wall. “Someone’s eager,” I tease, before bringing her hands up and kissing the back of one of them.

“When am I not?”

She has a point, and Gods, how I love that about her.

“Your belt first,” I say, reaching under her skirt. I let my hand run slowly up to her hip until my fingers find the familiar leather I once wore around my own waist. It takes no time to find the buckle, and when I unclasp it, the knives clatter to the floor around her ankles. “Now, where’s the last one?” My voice is rough with the need to be inside her, but I swallow back the arousal in an effort to control myself.

Iwillfind that knife first.

“I guess you’ll have to check everywhere.” The desperation in her voice matches my own.

I let my hand wander to her inner thigh, only to find the area barren. “You never make it easy, do you?”

“And I never will.” She says, standing on her toes so she can press her lips against mine again. Her mouth is wet and hungry, and I welcome her tongue as the tantalizing distraction she means it to be.

I slide my hand upwards until my fingers find the warmest place between her legs. She groans into me, and fuck, if I don’t find this knife soon, I might actually burst.

I don’t bother with her legs because she wouldn’t have put the blade somewhere out of my reach. But where? The only other place I can think is somewhere on her chest or back. The fabric is tight around her chest so I would have seen the outline of a weapon if she had one there, but the train of her dress starts higher up and might mask the existence of a small weapon.

I begrudgingly remove my hand from her skirt and reach around her back, letting my hand slide along the delicate material until…

I stiffen before breaking our kiss. “You can’t even reach this.” How is it that she managed to pick the absolute worst place to hide a weapon? Unless… “This is just for me.”

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