Page 107 of The Forgotten Queen
Sydria
More.
Sydria wanted more.
She wanted to ride the high of their kiss, let it take her to a place she’d never been.
Marx pulled back, but she dragged him closer, tilting her head, finding his lips. He seemed unsure at first, but the slight parting of her mouth broke his resolve. His hands dug into her sides, closing the gap between their two bodies. Sydria felt every curve of his chest and his arms as he enveloped her in his strength. She wrapped her legs around his waist as her hands drifted between his shoulders and the back of his hair.
Her lips reacted to his—moving, exploring, discovering him. Their bodies melded together in a push and pull of passion. Sydria was lost in a timeless dream, the kiss intensifying with each passing second. Explosive feelings spilled out from every pore of her body. She’d never felt so alive. It was as if a new heartbeat had been put inside of her. She was no longer a shadow of a person. She was restored, better than before.
The kiss accelerated.
Sydria wanted it to.
ShewantedMarx.
Her hands slipped under the collar of his shirt. It was his own fault. He was the one who had left his buttons undone. Her fingers grazed over his shoulders, making their way to his chest.
Marx slammed on the breaks, pushing her body off his.
He stepped back. “The kissing lesson is over,” he said through sharp breaths.
Everything stalled but Sydria’s racing heart. She stared back at his handsome face, at his messed-up hair and his passion-filled eyes.
“Did I do it wrong?”
He swallowed, shaking his head. “You are more than skilled in the art of kissing. I think you taught me a thing or two, so I’m going to go,” he said, already backpedaling to the ledge. “Because honestly, I can’t stay here and be a responsible human being.” He jumped across to his own balcony without looking back.
Sydria watched Marx duck into his room. A mixture of disappointment and happiness swelled inside of her. She hadn’t wanted him to go, but the fact that hehadto leave—had to leave because he’d felt the same undeniable attraction that she did—made her heart leap.
She dressed for bed, reaching for the medicine vial on her nightstand. She went to twist open the cap but stopped. Her heart felt stronger than it ever had before.
The fighter inside of her whisperedYou don’t need that. You’re not weak like Von and Edmay thought.
She opened the drawer to her nightstand and dropped the vial inside, then she rolled over and lay on her back, watching the ceiling fan. She could hardly breathe as she replayed their kiss in her mind over and over again like the spinning fan above her.
There had been nothing fake about that kiss.
30
Commander Stoddard
Stoddard brushed a speck of dust off his pants and crossed one leg over the other. He looked around King McKane’s office as he waited on the couch for the king to arrive. It was a large room with a nice view. He gritted his teeth, thinking about how a man as insignificant as McKane had become a king before someone as brilliant as himself. The injustice of it grated on him. Stoddard had worked and scraped for every little thing that he’d gotten in life, and the highest position he’d been able to achieve was the commander of the Tolsten army—never royalty. And now, he had to hide out from the Council of Essentials. It was maddening.
The door swung open, and King McKane walked into the room. Stoddard wasn’t going to stand from his spot on the couch. Maybe he would have a few weeks ago when he had been trying to strike a deal with the man. But now, the deal had been struck. The money was in Stoddard’s possession. He didn’t need to stroke McKane’s ego any further.
“I see you got my letter,” McKane said, walking over to him. “I’m glad we made arrangements for me to get in contact with you again.”
“In truth,” Stoddard said, “I was going to come and pay you a visit.”
“Why is that?” McKane sat down on the white couch across from him.
“Doctor Von had a visit from one of your son’s guards.”
McKane raised a surprised brow. “What did the guard want?”
“He sniffed around trying to gain information about the princess.”
