Page 39 of Violet

His lips touch mine.

Everything in me explodes like fireworks. I’m pure cascading color and light. His lips are warm and soft, but he doesn’t lift them from mine. He shifts, applies a little pressure, and then his tongue is in my mouth.

Everything implodes to that. He’s sweetness and something sharp, a slight dizzying burn I want more of. There’re all kinds of whispered promises that don’t quite form, and I chase them like fireflies. I’m flying and…and it’s over.

A barely-there kiss but momentous. For me, it’s transformative, and I want more but he’s already up, away from me. I try to speak, but I can’t. I’m changed. I’m staring. I’m still looking at him as he holds out his hand. “Dance with me, Princess?”

I should say no. I should just go into the ballroom alone and forget this.

But I find myself putting my hand in his, and I nod.

CHAPTER

TWELVE

Stephan

Dancing with her is harmless.

And if it shuts those bullying girls up, all the better. I’m not invested; I don’t really care, but she’s my friend’s sister, and if people see her with me, she’ll land a decent enough match.

Fame’s good for some things.

I fix her mask in place. It’s intimate. And that kiss? Nothing at all, a little boost to a girl who’s quite clearly never been kissed.

It doesn’t matter that she tasted so sweet, a fresh taste that held the hint of wine. Like a thread of wicked teased from the pure.

Of course, there’s no way her brother can know I kissed her. He wouldn’t get it, how she needed it, like a dose of courage.

“People are going to notice we were gone,” Violet says. I had scooped up her shoes earlier, so as I lead her down the steps of the gazebo, I bend and pick them up from where I dropped them and hand them to her.

She releases me and slides them back on.

“Mom, maybe Heath. Definitely Iris, if she’s still here.” She looks at me through her mask. Worry swims in her hazel eyes. “They’re going to kill me. I shouldn’t have run?—”

“Hey.” I put my hand on hers and tuck it around my arm. Her touch makes my skin heat. Her violet scent threads through me. The fact that I can still smell her past her blockers—who the fuck knows what that means? I’ve always had a good nose, but I’m not sure if it’s that good. Maybe just with her.

“What? It’s true,” she says.

“Only if you let it.” I lead her down the path and back toward the mansion. “We must have just had the same idea to come out to the gazebo at the same time.”

There’s a pause. “Right. It’d be silly to think you came out to check on me.”

“I actually did. But that’s not the lie we’re going to tell.” I laugh. “The ‘chaperone’ rule is stupid, if you ask me. We’re adults. We shouldn’t need a babysitter to talk.”

“It’s so Omegas aren’t taken advantage of.”

“Is it?” She’s so innocent, taught well to take on her Omega role in a pack. “Don’t you get sick of how rigid life is here on Sabine?”

“It’s the only life I know.” She shrugs. “But it doesn’t matter if I like the rigidity or not. It’s—it’s how things are done.”

“Like getting mated, popping out a whole litter of pups?”

“If that’s what someone wants, then they should have it.”

She’s not saying the truth, not entirely, but I don’t push. Violet’s life isn’t my problem. I’m just here for the summer and then I go back to my career. So I leave it be.

“You’re with one of the best actors in Emporia, so trust me. I’ll be able to get you back to the ball without anyone questioning your…integrity.”

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