Page 52 of The High Mountain Court

He moved to take the red string off his wrist. Remy placed a gentle hand on his arm, “Don’t,” she said. “It will protect you.”

She had whispered a simple protection spell over it. The string wouldn’t do much to ward against larger dangers, but it was still lucky.

“Your eyes are glowing red,” Hale said, mesmerized. She saw the red flames reflected in his own.

Remy lowered her gaze out of habit. A flush crept up her cheeks.

“What did I tell you?” Hale murmured. He held out a long finger, lifting her chin so that she would meet his eyes again, just as he had that day in the forest. He paused, his eyes searching her face, clenching and unclenching his jaw. After a long pause, he spoke, “You are the most beautiful creature I have ever beheld.”

He said it through gritted teeth.

“You say that like it’s a problem,” Remy breathed.

“It is,” Hale said, shaking with restraint.

“It doesn’t have to be,” Remy said, her voice only a whisper.

Hale’s nostrils flared like he could not believe what she had just said. He shook his head even as he leaned in closer to her, drawing himself slowly to her lips.

His soft mouth brushed lightly over hers.

“Remy,” he whispered her name like a prayer.

The sound made goosebumps ripple over her arms.

With a dizzying fervor, she kissed him back. Moving her body in tighter against him, she kissed him harder. Hale groaned as his hands moved over her body, skimming over the lace and settling on her backside.

“Seeing you tonight . . . in that fucking red dress.” His voice was no more than a predatory growl.

His mouth moved faster across hers. Remy opened for him, welcoming in his hot exploring tongue licking into hers with deft skill.

He pulled away only long enough to whip his fresh shirt off over his head and then his mouth was back on hers. Hale lifted Remy, pinning her to the door of the armoire as she wrapped her legs around him. He pressed his hips harder into her and she moaned. Reveling in the sensation of her skin pressed against his, Remy ground herself into him. She absorbed his hiss with her mouth.

A loud knock at the door halted their frenzy.

The continued knocking on the door hastily sobered them both. Hale thrust his arms back through his riding shirt, stalking to the door as he pulled it over his head once more.

“What?” he barked as he yanked the door open only a crack.

“Sorry to . . . interrupt.” Remy heard a laughing male voice through the door. She recognized it as belonging to the silver-haired male from the card game.

“What do you want, Bern?” Hale said with an air of annoyance rather than anger, like he had interrupted them in the middle of lovemaking and not thievery.

“You always were the trickster, Hale,” Bern said. “That little heist of yours was well played.”

Remy went rigid from behind the door. He knew.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Hale sighed, feigning a yawn.

Remy put her drunken swagger into her step as she moved to the door, grabbing a fur blanket off the bed and wrapping it around her shoulders. “Come back to bed . . . ,” she slurred, revealing herself in the cracked doorway in nothing but the blanket and her underwear. She slid herself under the prince’s arm, molding her body against his warm torso.

Bern held her eyes. He did not dare look over her body, but she could tell by the flare of his nostrils that he was scenting her. Whatever he smelled made those icy blue pupils widen.

“I’m not here to take it back from you,” Bern said, shifting his gaze back to Hale. “My . . . friend only wanted me to ensure it did not end up in Renwick’s hands.”

“Yes, this elusive employer of yours—would you care to tell us more about who is bankrolling you these days, Bern?” Hale wrapped his arm around Remy’s waist.

“He is someone that I suspect has similar goals to your own,” Bern said.

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