Page 44 of The Princess's Chosen

"Aric, I can't—" I started, ready to return his crown to him by whatever means necessary.

"Your Majesty," he said, and my words hiccuped on the warm tenor of his voice as he stepped close, closer than any of the others had. "You must," he whispered, so faint I barely heard the words. But I felt the brush of them against my ear, and a warm shiver ran down my spine.

I closed my lips and stared up at him, nodding once and marveling at his rare smile, one I hadn't seen since our dance at the festival. His fingers locked gently around my wrist, raising my hand up between us. He turned over and brought my palm to his lips, kissing the band of the ring he'd gifted me. His lips were slightly damp, as if he'd just licked them, and the kiss drew another shiver right down to my core, soft gray strands of his hair falling over his eyes to tickle against my skin. His mouth skimmed the inside of my fingers up to the heart of my palm and pressed a second kiss that left me liquid and warm.

Aric bent to one knee, keeping a gentle grip on my wrist, fingers teasing over my pulse as I tried to remember to breathe and not simply melt into him.

"Long live the king," he said, and I realized that the whole room must've been holding its breath because he hadn't needed to raise his voice at all.

Cheers went up and bodies rushed into motion all around us, but my Chosen remained at my back as Aric rose slowly to his feet, gaze holding mine.

"I need to speak with you," I said.

Aric nodded and glanced over his shoulder to the bar where the bartender was watching us. Wordlessly, they passed some understanding between them, and the other man nodded.

"We have a new king tonight! Drinks on the house!"

The crowd hurried to the bar, and my breath hitched as Aric pressed in closer, his free arm sliding around my waist.

"Can I have some time with her alone?" Aric asked the men behind me.

"No," Cresswell ground out.

"That's up to her, of course," Cosmo answered, but there was a warning in his voice.

"It's fine," I said to them, resisting the urge to lean into Aric's side. Now that he was safe, I was remembering that I wasangrywith him. And yet…he smelled like incense and ripe fruit and sweat, and I wanted to bury my face against his throat and breathe him in, reassure myself that he was in one piece.

My Chosen parted to make way for us, Wendell squeezing my shoulder in support as Thao glowered at Aric. I expected Aric to turn us back to the bar, leading me to his office, but he ushered me past them toward the entrance of the bar and up the stairs.

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere properly private," Aric said, his hand squeezing on my waist.

We reached the landing to the exit and then turned a corner I hadn't really made sense of. Something pushed against me, and it took me a moment to realize it was magic and that we were stepping through a barrier Aric had erected to another set of stairs that led up. It was dark, and we'd only taken three steps up when Aric paused.

"Princess… Bryony—" He sounded as though he was struggling for air and I reached for him, ready to ask him what was wrong, when his hands found my ribs, gripping tight and pushing me to a wall. His arms twined around me, and I started my question when his mouth found mine, lips parted and making room for him to clasp and kiss and bite. It was a kiss and a demand. He still tasted a little of blood, and I whimpered as a hand pressed and slid up my spine to cup my head as Aric leaned bodily into me.

"Forgive me," he rasped, and then returned to lick and stroke his tongue against mine. He sucked on my tongue and I gasped, gripping his shoulders. "Forgive me, forgive me, forgive me," he chanted between brutal kisses, hips against my belly, hands molding me against him. He bit my lip, and I whined and arched into him, his breath shuddering out. The kiss settled, and our breath was noisy and ragged in the silent stairwell.

"For which crime?" I asked in a whisper, and Aric huffed, his forehead resting against mine.

"For being an ass from the start," he said, and he dipped his head to graze a kiss over my chin. "For every word that came out of my mouth at the palace." Another kiss landed on the right side of my jaw. "For being a jealous old man." The left side. "For accusing you of misusing your magic. I'm so sorry, for all of it, Bryony."

I huffed, and then the huff became a sniffle, and the sniffle became the start of a sob until Aric leaned back. He was barely visible in the dark space, but I felt his eyes on me.

"Princess?"

"I—Ididmisuse my magic, or it misused me," I choked out, my fingers still digging into his shirt.

Aric was quiet for a beat, and then he scooped me up with his arms around my hips, my feet dangling as he carried me up the stairs.

"Aric, I don't know what the Hunger is, but I don't think I canavoidusing it without it…making some kind of demand."

He didn't say anything, and I couldn't see his face until he shouldered a door open at the top of the steps. His eyes were on me, face impassive, but my own went immediately to the room we'd just entered. It was large, with a steepled ceiling and enormous wooden beams overhead, tall pillars interrupting the open space. There was a large triangular window ahead of us that overlooked Rumsbrooke, and the room was divided into three sections. A small wood stove with a fire burning inside sat in the far left corner, a table nearby with a half-drunk bottle of wine and a bowl of fruit, and a sink and counter fashioning the area into a kitchen. Closer on the left side and spilling into the center room was more of Aric's collection of magical paraphernalia and a more obvious workspace for experimentation. On the right, against the middle of the low wall, was an enormous wooden bed with short posters and unmade sheets.

"This is your home," I said, studying the details of the space. There was a lamp near the bed, a screened wash space against the far wall, with a low table where bloodied rags had been left behind. I looked up at Aric and studied his face again. "How did you heal?"

"Magic," he said, setting me on my feet. "I gathered some supplies from the woods after…" He frowned and glanced down at the floor. "After I behaved like an idiot at the palace. What do you mean the Hunger makes demands?"

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