Page 25 of A Court of Sugar and Spice
The Prince holds me, my back against his chest. I’m not sure when his hand moved from my mouth to my stomach, but I’m glad of the comforting warmth there.
He leans down and speaks, barely above a breath. “Don’t move. It can feel vibration. We must wait.”
Panic bolts through my gut. What about Clara? She went to get water—what if she comes back to the ledge looking for us? What if thatthingconsumes her, rips her to shreds in its razor maw before we can stop it?
My whole body begins to shake. I can’t help it.
The Prince tightens the pressure on my belly and throat, a clear warning for me to be still. But I can’t. I’ve gotten no rest for hours, I’ve defied my godfather, battled rat-soldiers, almost suffered rape by an Unseelie, shed my blood to lighten the Nutcracker’s curse, and now I must wait helplessly while my sister walks right into danger.
No. I cannot simply stand here. My dagger is hanging at my hip. The Prince has his sword, and there are more weapons in the bag that lies not far from where we stand.
I lift my face to the Prince’s again, and he bends his ear to listen.
“Let me go,” I breathe. “I’ll fight it.”
“You’re trembling,” he whispers back. “You can’t fight in this state.”
“You then.”
“I don’t have my powers. It would devour me in a moment.”
The mole-rat stirs, lifting its head, nosing around. It looks so stupidly innocent, the nasty yellow tusk-teeth the only sign of the monstrosity within.
“You’re shaking too hard,” breathes the Prince. “It can feel the vibration through the ground.”
“I can’t stop.”
A snarl begins in the mole-rat’s throat.
The Prince moves swiftly, lightly, scooping me off the ground. One of his arms curls around my back, the other under my legs, crumpling my skirts.
He stands stock-still, legs braced, while I tremble against his chest. I truly can’t stop shaking. My body is beyond its limits, overtaxed and overanxious. My nerves are singing with panic. I need to cry, to scream, tomove—anything to release this horrible tension. I can’t bear it.
The mole-rat’s growl subsides, but it remains reared up, its head swiveling this way and that.
The Prince curls me closer to his chest. I’m still shaking, and anger swirls with my raging panic—anger at myself, because I’m the strong one, the adventurous one, the rebel, the risk-taker—yet I can’t control myself. I’m collapsing, crumbling internally, sweating through my fine gown.
Anguished, I stare up at the Prince. There’s still a stiffness about him, and I can’t tell if it’s the curse or his personality. Now that he’s less Nutcracker and more Fae, he’s honestly the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen. Which only makes it worse that he’s seeing me in this shattered state.
A swell of anxiety rolls through me, a paroxysm wrenching my whole body, and I nearly let out a whimper.
But the Prince senses my distress, sees my lips part—
And muffles the sound with his mouth.
He keeps his lips sealed over mine. They’re smooth and soft, warm and salty. I exhale into the dark heat of his mouth.
Tentatively I touch my tongue to his, and when he doesn’t pull back, I sweep my tongue along his teeth. He tastes like my blood, and also a little woodsy, like cedar or oak.
I’ve kissed many people, all humans. Some of those kisses were wonderful. But this kiss—it’s melting my fear, blurring my anxiety, softening the edges of my panic.
Quietly, carefully, he ends the kiss, exhaling quietly. I have a mere second to regret the absence of his mouth before it’s back again, molding to mine with a quiet urgency that sends a flare of need through my body.
He opens his jaw wide, silently allowing me full access. I lash my tongue through his mouth, and he responds with a languid swirl of his own tongue. The act of being inside each other this way floods my body with heat, dampening the area between my legs.
And that, of course, is not what he intends. He merely wants to calm me, to help me make it through these perilous moments of waiting. He’s trying to keep me quiet.
Kissing is meaningless. It’s a simple, temporary, mutual pleasure, and this kiss is no different.
