Page 133 of Kingdom of Briars and Roses

There was light.

Even as I thought it, her lids flew open. She looked at me with startled blue eyes, and then her hand whipped beneath her pillow, and she thrust a blade to my throat.

“Good girl,” I told her, pride and lust coating my words.

Her eyes narrowed. “What the Hel are you doing in my room?”

“Saying goodbye.”

“Have you changed your mind about letting me go?” she asked.

“Not tonight.”

Tomorrow.

The unspoken word hung between us. She lowered the blade.

“If you put that away, I’m going to kiss you,” I told her, my voice ragged. “And I’m not going to stop.”

“You want me to slit your throat to keep you from kissing me?”

“I want you to tell me to stop right now so I can leave you alone like I should have done from the beginning.”

She hesitated, her expression softening. The way she looked at me now was so inviting that I groaned.

“Stay.”

My mouth crashed against hers, and at the first taste of her, I forgot my intention to be slow. Or gentle. She tasted like sunshine and warmth; an intoxicating relief against the frigid cold I’d lived inside for far too long.

“Rydian,” she whispered against my lips, and I lost it.

Crawling into bed, I did the thing I’d fought against since the moment I met her and tangled my fingers in her soft, thick hair. Burying my face against her throat, I inhaled the scent of moonflower and roses. The way her scent infiltrated my senses reminded me of that rooftop party so long ago. The way I’d taunted her aboutpleasing her. The way I’d thought of doing nothing else since.

Pressing kisses to her throat, her cheek, her jaw, I made my way back to her mouth. Her lips parted willingly for me. Her arms wound around my neck, her hands roaming and pulling me in closer. Drunk on her, on this moment at last, I took exactly what she was offering, which was everything. With my tongue, I conquered her. With my hands, I begged for more.

She was sunshine incarnate.

And at least, for one night, I reveled in the light.

Aurelia

Rydian’s kiss shattered me.

I had spent so long fighting him, denying the pull that had always drawn me toward him like a ship toward a deadly, beautiful shore. But tonight, there was no denying him. No denying myself. Even the secrets he still kept from me didn’t matter because he was right. This was goodbye.

Rydian’s hands tangled in my hair, his grip firm but reverent, as though he had spent an eternity imagining this moment. When he drew back, his dark eyes shone down at me as if I were the goddess and he the acolyte come to worship.

“You can’t imagine how long I’ve wanted to do this.”

I didn’t have an answer for him except to reach up and press my lips to his in silent agreement.

His mouth was all heat and desperation, and I met him with the same reckless hunger, my fingers fisting in the fabric of his tunic to pull him closer. As if I could drag him into me, into my bones, and make him stay there.

The weight of his body settled over mine, the familiarscent of him—smoke and spice, shadow and danger—filling my senses as I arched into him. My heart pounded, my breath caught, and I knew, deep in my soul, that this was the first and last time I’d ever be with Rydian Nytherra.

Tomorrow, I would leave this place—and him—forever.

Tonight, I would give him every piece of me I had.

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