Page 121 of Crown of Slumber

“No,youare being ridiculous.” His voice rose as he trailed after me, wrenching my arm and whirling me to face him once more. His eyes blazed with intensity. “You turned me away, Aurelia. I offered you everything—my heart, my soul, my body—and you saidno.”

“You didn’t offer me anything!” I yelled. “You said those words to your damn mother, not to me.”

“Would it have made a difference? You would still have rejected me, looked at me with that sickening pity in your eyes as if I’m a forlorn puppy starving to death in the street, a helpless creature you can’t save.”

Rage boiled my blood. “That is not?—”

“And now, when I’m trying to rid my mind of your infuriating presence, when I seek distraction, you still manage to insert yourself, blustering your way into my life.”

“This bargain wasyouridea! I’m not inserting myself anywhere.”

“Yes, the bargain was my idea, but falling in love with you was not!” he roared. “You latched your claws onto me and pulled me to you, and I was powerless to resist. And now, when I try to escape, youwill not let me go.”

I stared at him, chest heaving with my breaths, the fury spreading through me, making me see nothing but red. How dare he fling these accusations at me? As if I had a choice in the matter. As if I intentionally seduced him and took away his free will.

He was abhorrent. And I was ready to be done with him at last.

“Fine,” I hissed through clenched teeth. “You want to be rid of me? I’ll leave now. Just give me my stardust. I’ll send for Mal, and we’ll fly away within minutes, leaving you to as many waiting women as your heart desires.”

“Aurelia—”

I jerked my arm free from his grasp and stepped away from him. “Just give me the stardust, Fenn.”

A muscle worked in his jaw. “I can’t. I need to ensure the fire burns all night. We may have to add more stardust before the fete is over.”

I wanted to scream. I wanted to slap his smug face, to ram my dagger in his heart, to?—

I turned from him and let out a frustrated cry that echoed in the forest. “Now it’syouwho won’t let me go, Fenn!” I faced him once more, wild with anger. “I didn’t ask for any of this. I thought I would have to pretend with you, wear a mask, and then it would be over. But you worked your way into my heart and you teased me, taunted me, made a game of it. I was nothing more than your conquest.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” He stomped toward me, his eyes blazing. “Iloveyou, Aurelia. This isn’t some sick game to me. My feelings are real. I don’t want them, but they are real. I’m not pretending anymore.”

“Well, neither am I!” I shouted.

He blinked at me, his head rearing back. “What?”

“I love you, Fenn!” I cried, tears filling my eyes. “And to see you like that withher, when all I want to do is?—”

I didn’t get to finish. In a swift movement, he raised his hands, cupped my face, and brought his mouth to mine.

I couldn’t stop myself.The moment she said she loved me, I had to taste her, to breathe in her words and her confession.

She loved me.

Shelovedme.

When I kissed her, Aurelia uttered a startled sound that I inhaled, my mouth covering hers. My tongue slid between her lips, prying them apart, and she sighed, opening for me completely. My tongue swept in her mouth, twining with hers, tasting her thoroughly. Gods, she tasted like perfection. Like the heady air just before a rainstorm.

I guided her backward until her back pressed into a tree trunk, pinning her there with my chest, my mouth still on hers. She caught my lower lip between her teeth and pulled, eliciting a feral growl from me. My mouth moved to her neck, where I swept my tongue in a circle at the base of her throat. She moaned and writhed against me, hips bucking in silent demand. I bit down on the exposed part of her shoulder, my teeth holding her in place, and she cried out.

Her hands fumbled with my waistcoat before discarding it on the forest floor. Then she worked at the buttons of my vest.

“Aurelia,” I gasped. “Aurelia, we don’t?—”

She looked up at me, her eyes wild and her mouth swollen from our desperate kisses. “I want you, Fenn. Will you give yourself to me?”

I groaned in part need, part agony. “Of course I will.”

“Then make love to me. Right here. Right now.”

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