But the prince doesn’t run away. On the contrary, he walks toward me, but for every step he takes closer, I take one away. I stumble backward until he smiles, and I realize how stupid I must look. My feet grow roots, and I finally let him come closer.
Jacob takes both of my hands in his and tugs me over to the duck pond where he leans against the wall again. “You seem like you have an interesting story to tell.” He doesn’t free my hands but keeps me there right before him, almost between his spread legs. Underneath that silver mask, the marvelous night sky reflects off his gorgeous eyes. He blinks and gives me the softest of smiles. “What’s your tale, Riley?”
His genuine interest coaxes a sigh from me, and I lower my lashes. “There’s not much to tell, really. I just spend a lot of time in the forest.”
“What do you do there?”
I shrug. “Talk to someone and try to save my family from an attack.”
Jacob reaches out and, with a finger under my chin, he lifts my gaze back to his warm eyes. “Do you get a happy ending?”
“I do…but not the way I wish.”
His curiosity is obviously growing as he cocks his head. “What way would that be?”
Maybe it’s a bad idea to tell him this. But since he already figured out that I’m not a princess, I can probably tell him everything now. Also, it strangely feels as if I can be honest with him, and he won’t laugh. After a long moment with my lips pressed into a hard line, the quiet words finally slip out. “I never get kissed.”
His hand still rests lightly against my neck, but now his thumb skims gently along my jaw. His fingers are warm and tender, his touch amazingly pleasant. “What a shame…and a waste.” The next moment, his hand drops as if he just realized that he’d gone too far. Bracing himself on the stone barrier with his hands on either side of his hips, he frowns and clears his throat. “Isn’t there a guy in your story?”
At the memory of my time with Jack this past week, my heart glows unexpectedly, and my grin widens. “Oh, sure there is.” Even if he’s a Wolf most of the time.
Jacob narrows his eyes. A cynical snort escapes him. “So he’s an idiot?”
His joke makes me snicker. “No. Jack isn’t an idiot. He’s smart and funny.” My thoughts drift off to the night when he locked himself in Phillip’s dungeon to keep me safe from the beast. “And caring…” I add in a strangely hoarse voice. And suddenly, I really miss him. “In fact, he’s one of the best men I know.”
“Sounds as if you like this guy a lot,” he taunts, throwing me yet another sideways glance and a lopsided grin. “Do I have a rival?”
“A rival?” A surprised laugh escapes me as I back away. “Why, Jacob? Are you fighting for my heart?”
He pushes himself off the stone wall. Slowly, like a wolf on the prowl, he comes forward, licking his lips. His blue eyes take on a darker gleam in the night with each step he takes toward me. I didn’t realize I was drawing away until the knobby trunk of the maple tree is suddenly at my back again, stopping my escape.
With my mouth slightly parted, I completely forget to breathe as he shapes his palms to my cheeks. We look into each other’s eyes for an endless moment. I think my heart disappeared because I can’t feel it beating anymore. Tilting his head down a little, Jacob strokes his thumb across my bottom lip. His gaze drops to my mouth and then moves back to my eyes. One second later, his lashes lower, and my eyes fall shut, too.
“Fighting for your heart, I am. Didn’t you notice that yet?” he whispers.
And then he catches my upper lip in a tender, sweet kiss. My mouth shapes against his out of instinct. It only lasts for two seconds, but a thousand little pinpricks of pleasure race through me at the touch. His lips leave mine, only to come right back for another soft caress and this time, he puts a little more pressure in the embrace. The third time he does it, my mouth opens, and his tongue delves in. It sweeps against my own, once, slowly. Then he ends our kiss the same way it began, with a gentle catch of my upper lip.
For the past half-minute, I’ve been melting between him and the tree. Everything around me feels like a bed of cozy clouds. I want to stay in this dreamy moment forever and never wake again. But when his lips detach and I can only feel his warm breath on my skin, my eyes flutter open.
Sparkling sapphires linger before me.
Still in a daze, I blink up at him. So this is what I’ve been missing out on all these years. My princess friends get kissed every day—inside their stories and out. They found people to give their hearts to from the moment their tales began.
For me, it took forever.
Jacob’s eyes soften behind the silver mask as he smiles. He brushes his hands down my gloved arms and then laces our fingers together, keeping us close. Blissfully smiling back at him, I draw in a deep breath.
A single, light breeze wafts around us, stirring the skirt of my dress. My skin rises in goosebumps and, all of a sudden, there’s a shift. I can’t even say if it’s just inside my body or around us, but it feels as if something…cracked. Like a rift in polar ice.
The sensation is gone as fast as it appeared, taking the tingle from my skin with it. I wonder if Jacob felt it, too. He has become very still. His gaze hasn’t left mine in the past three seconds, but his hands tightened around mine in an almost worrisome way.
When I try to flex my fingers, he releases me immediately, obviously realizing what he’s doing. And that it hurt. Narrowing his eyes, he quickly shakes his head and clears his throat. Apparently, it wasn’t just me who felt…whatever that was.
I open my mouth to ask him about it, but the words never come. My eyes shoot up, and I stiffen. Behind his shoulder, right there on the duck pond, the Fairy Godmother appears. She levitates a few inches above the water, tapping her index finger on her left wrist.
The time? Yeah, yeah… I promised not to crash at Rory’s castle, and I won’t. But the night has only just begun, and it has turned into something so beautiful. She can’t expect me to go home right now. If she’s tired, no one’s asking her to stay.
Jacob studies my face for a split second. Then he turns around, his forehead creasing in suspicion, but the fairy popped out and vanished seconds before he saw her. When he turns his head back to me, the furrows on his brows deepen. “Is everything okay?”
Shutting off my short irritation, I smile at him, which actually feels more like a cramping grimace. “Yes, everything’s perfect.”
Except the fairy lady has just reappeared between the bushes, frantically waving her arms as if she’s mad.
I sling my hand through Jacob’s arm and pull him away from the tree, casting him a pleading look. “Can we walk a bit?”
He hesitates a second, but then he bends his arm and tucks the other hand into his pocket. “Sure…”
I throw a glance over my shoulder, morosely narrowing my gaze at the brash woman. It can’t hurt to just stay another hour or two, right? Dawn is far away, and I swear I’ll be lying in my bed before the sun creeps over the horizon.
We stroll toward the wide stone bridge across the Timeless Brook that we crossed to get here. The reverse flow of the water has a soothing effect on me. I dare another short look behind us and exhale in relief when I see that the Fairy Godmother is gone.
Jacob’s puzzled eyes try to find mine when I turn forward again, but I’m quick to escape his gaze. He doesn’t need to know that a crazy, tired chaperone is weaseling around.
“Riley, did I do something wrong?”
My gaze is fastened on the ground, my steps slowing to match his reluctant pace. “No. No, you didn’t. That was…what you did…” I look at him, and a deep sigh leaves me, bringing back all the dreamy feelings of earlier when we kissed. “It was beautiful.”
“Then why are you being so evasive now?”