Page 46 of Until the Stars Fall

“Is she nice at least?” I attempted a smile, but it was as fake as my interest in his answer.

He raised a questioning brow. “You don’t really want to know, do you?”

“No, but if you’re going to have to marry her, I’d like to know she’s not a shrew.”

Shrugging, he frowned and looked away from me. “She’s nice enough, I guess. But she’s not you.”

My heart stilled, and I chided it for being so easily persuaded by him and his careless words. Still, that little bit of hope glimmered in my mind and twisted my gut into nervous knots.

Don’t read into it, Lieke,I told myself.

But when he lifted his eyes to look into mine, there was something new in them. No, it was probably just what I wanted to see, what I had hoped to see since I was fifteen.

It wasn’t real.

It was my imagination.

“What do you mean?” I asked, internally wincing at how awkward I sounded.

Brennan scooted himself closer to me until our legs touched. Taking my hand in his, he held my gaze and said, “I can’t say I love you, because stars know it’s too soon for that to be true. But Iwantto love you.”

My heart ceased to beat.

My lungs failed to pull in air.

I had died.

I was sure of it.

Somehow, though, I managed to whisper, “What?”

“Lieke. I don’t want to be friends.” He groaned in frustration. “That came out wrong. I mean, these last few days with you have been better than any I’ve lived in years.”

Part of me wanted to push back and ask him if that included the years he’d been allowed to live with such abandon. But there was something so genuine and heartbreaking in his voice that I couldn’t bear to question him.

He leaned closer still, and I swallowed hard, unsure how he expected me to react. “I want to be with you, Lieke. To get to know you again and to see—”

“But you can’t,” I whispered, shaking my head. “I’ve waited so long for you, Bren, but it’s too late. Like you said, you don’t have a choice. You have to marry her.”

It hurt to even say it aloud.

The hope on his face sparked my own once again as he said, “No. I can figure something out. When Connor gets back today, I’ll talk to him. Our father trusts him. If anyone can help me—help us—it’s him.”

But Connor’s warning reverberated in my mind.

I cannot let anyone stop that from happening.

“He won’t. He told me—” I started, but then Brennan’s hands were cupping my face, his thumbs brushing over my cheeks as he stared at me.

“I’ll find a way, Lieke. I promise.” I wanted so much to believe him, to believe there was some way this could work out and we could be together.

This time when he brought his lips to mine, I didn’t pull away. His lips were a whisper, soft and sweet, a silent request for more. Then, with a trembling sigh, I closed my eyes and melted into him, letting his tongue coax my lips to part.

For that one brief moment, nothing else mattered. Not the proposal or the princess or the king or the war. Nothing existed but us.

The door to the music room burst open, and Brennan recoiled. Before I could see who had come in, Brennan was standing with his back to me, blocking my view. Whether he was trying to protect me or hide me, I wasn’t sure, and I didn’t have time to ponder it before a male’s voice boomed, “Do you think I’m a damned fool?”

Not Connor. Older.

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