Page 47 of Wild Fury (Fallen Royals 6)

She has gone completely still. Her eyes are wide but dry. That alone convinces me she’ll survive. I’ve only seen her cry once. One time, when all the hope and light were sucked out of both of us.

But if I want to survive this, we can’t have interactions like this. The kind that stir up emotions that are too close to love.

Something I’m incapable of.

I reach out, as I’ve done so many times before, but I stop. There’s new agony in her expression, and it rips at me.

Still, I need to do this.

Two weeks, and then… Then I can fix it.

“Theo,” she chokes out. “I don’t know why you’re doing this. Ruby said something about a secret—”

I lunge forward and cover her mouth, keeping her against the tree.

Fuck.

This has Devereux’s name written all over it. That evil family. And I can’t be sure there aren’t people spying through the trees, silently waiting to see what I’ll say. If Sebastian or Hale, or any of their lackeys, spot me talking to her, I can just kiss college football goodbye.

“You know?” she asks. Her lips move against my palm.

I hate how the sensation goes straight to my dick.

She’s referring to the fraternity LBU West has, although it’s definitely more like a secret society. You can’t get in if you don’t know about it, or if they don’t want you. It’s like living there in itself is an audition. But they take their secrets seriously. “You cannot talk about it,” I growl. “Ever.”

She’s practically hardwired to sleuth—which means she’ll dig at this until she figures it out. And she’ll get caught. Because it isn’t just the people you expect: the Felicitys and Sebastians and Hales. It’s the sneakier ones.

“Promise me, Lux. You can’t ask any questions. Or poke around. Or—”

She just huffs.

I slowly remove my hand, but when I step away, I’m met with resistance.

Her hands have fisted in my jacket, and she tugs me closer.

“You want to forget about me, Theo? Break your promise.”

Kiss her, she means.

I trace her collarbone with my finger. She shudders under me. I could convince her this way. Hang the promise over her head wrapped in temptation. A kiss, a touch. That’s all she’s ever wanted from me.

Her obsession runs deep.

“Lux.” My finger is still on her skin, running back and forth. “Two weeks.”

She eyes me. “What?”

“Ignore them for two weeks—Sebastian and Hale and everyone else. Suffer the consequences of just going to class and the dining hall and studying. That’s all I need.”

“Why?”

My chest tightens. “Because that’s what I promised.”

Break your promise. I can hear her say it. It’s on the tip of her tongue. Oh, how she wants me to break all the promises in the world. The one where I agreed not to kiss her. The one that doesn’t let me speak with her. Yet we keep finding ways, it seems.

She yanks me closer suddenly, her hands on the back of my neck. She pulls me down and touches her lips to mine.

My whole world screeches to a halt.

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