Page 59 of Blooms of Darkness

“Lord Casimir? What are you doing? Ryland, why are you in this hall?” Andras shouted angrily.

I jumped at the sound of Andras’s voice—the verylastthing I wanted to hear.

Kade froze at my reaction, the shadows around us retreating slightly, so I could see him better.

Our heavy breathing mingled, both of us attempting to remain quiet. His gaze moved from my lips to my eyes, and thetug my body felt toward him painfully begged me to kiss him again.

“Sir, we were merely hoping to give the princess our best wishes this evening,” Ryland stammered.

“Get back to your suite immediately. You heard the king. Don’t let him catch you trying to favor his daughter without her approval. My silence cannot be bought, but I will forgive this one transgression if you leave at once.” The asshole adviser sneered.

I heard footsteps fleeing down the hall.

“Lord Casimir, with me.”

“As you command it, Andras.”

Two more sets of footsteps left down the hallway.

I scarcely had the wherewithal to think of the strange interaction between Andras and Lord West.

Kade’s forehead rested upon mine until the sound of footsteps could no longer be heard.

I closed my eyes again, waiting, panting.

Kiss me again,my treacherous body silently begged.

Kade’s thumb traced along my jaw. “’Til next time, Little Rebel,” he murmured.

Before I could even open my eyes, I sensed the shadowy tendrils disappear completely, the cloudlike sensation instantly gone.

A chill now whispered over my skin where his body left mine.

I knew Kade had left as my eyes fluttered open. The shadows of my savior disappeared before I could even speak.

“Thank you,” I whispered into the emptiness.

Unsure how to quench the ache of the heat building inside of me, I remained with my back against the wall until my heart returned to a stable pace. I hadn’t been this close to a man in a long time. His unmistakable good looks and arrogant charm were starting to wear on me.

A faint glimmer of light hummed in the darkened space around me and caught my eye.

It disappeared before my very next breath.

I blinked, wondering what it could have been before settling on the idea nature itself had granted me this gift.

A gift granting me a small reprieve from the darkness shadowing this day. A wish my soul would reach for to remember for whatever may be in store for me in the coming days.

A gift to remember Kade Blackthorn’s lips against mine, as if they’d been created just for me.

Chapter 18

Drip.

Water leaked through two stones in the upper right-hand corner of the dark dungeon, deep below the palace floors.

I noticed it after a year of coming here. It never changed.

Drip.

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