The two of us cut through a dense cluster of foliage and came to a clearing.
My heart caught in my throat.
In front of us was a small meadow, hardly enough to constitute a field. It was little more than a hill of green, perhaps twenty yards across. The stream we had been following pooled near its base, and just above, a small waterfall rushed through a pair of twin boulders.
Sunlight rained down through a break in the trees, thin shards of gold between empty branches and pine.
It looked like a scene from a storybook with the soft gray clouds and a misting of amber, the gentle murmur of water cascading down rock, and the soft chirp of birds setting out to build spring nests.
My pulse was hammering against my ribs; I had to swallow before I could breathe.
Darren cleared his throat, one hand outstretched. Dark bangs fell across his eyes as he grinned. “May I have this dance, love?”
It was the moment from our apprenticeship all over again. I was the fool that wanted to say yes, and he was the boy I couldn’t refuse.
His fingers brushed mine, and I forgot to say no.
You fool. You are going to ruin everything.
I let the prince lead me to the center of the clearing, silk rustling against the dewy grass.
Darren took his place across from me, one hand falling to my waist as the other held my hand.
I set my frozen palm against his shoulder, and he took a step forward.
I wasn’t sure how long the two of us moved. It started off slow. I was all too aware of the hammering of my heart and the way his eyes locked on mine. I heard the soft splatter of mud as Darren quietly led us across the marsh, the quiet buzz of insects greeting the sky. It wasn’t supposed to be romantic. I wasn’t supposed to feel like my heart was shattering from just one dance.
“What is this place?” I rasped.
“Somewhere away from everything else.”
I swallowed and let the prince turn me, trying not to feel. These emotions were a current dragging me away, a tide I couldn’t break.
For a moment, I couldn’t move.
“Ryiah…”
Darren’s thumb brushed my wrist. I felt myself starting to break. It scared me how easy it would be to fall under his spell.
“Love”—the words were so gentle—“please look at me.”
“I can’t.” My voice broke, and I knew Darren could see the tears staining my cheeks. There was no way he could miss the shaking in my bones.
He tilted my chin. “Why not?”
“Because…” I couldn’t remember the reason, not when Darren was looking at me like that, not when I was looking at him like he was the only thing that mattered in this world.
Darren’s lips brushed my hair. “It’s just a dance, love.”
It wasn’t and he knew it. Darren was trying to save the broken girl in his arms. He was trying to save me, and I was fighting him with every last gasp of air.
“I want to dance with my wife.” His words were so quiet. I could feel myself slipping. Down. Down. Down. “Is that so much to ask?”
Was it? Was it really? Before he cursed my name and branded me a traitor? The girl that betrayed a prince?
“It is.”
My confession cut like a knife. Darren jerked away, hurt flaring in his eyes. “You are destroying us.” His hands fisted at his sides. “And I don’t even understand why.”
That pain was my undoing. It broke the control I fought so hard to keep.
I didn’t want to hurt the boy. I loved him more than life itself.
I grabbed Darren’s shoulders and slammed my mouth to his, every bit of emotion snapping under that bridge.
I needed him, and I was tired of pretending I didn’t.
Darren’s chest rose and fell rapidly against my own. For a moment, he didn’t move. Then his hands slid up my back, my throat, framing my jaw, capturing me and crushing me against his lips, drawing me in and stealing my soul.
I could have spent the rest of my life letting him kiss me like that, but I didn’t want soft and slow.
I didn’t care about the consequences. Not anymore.
I implored the prince to move, shoving him back, my tongue dancing across his, his mouth slanting in surrender against my own.
Darren let out a growl, and I gasped as he jerked me forward, choking on air.
He kissed me like he wanted to cherish me and break me in the same breath. His kiss was furious. Unapologetic. Punishing. It spoke of too many nights left alone. It spoke of everything he was holding back.
And then our roles reversed.
I pressed my mouth to his neck and he shuddered. It did things to my senses; my nails dug into his shoulders as I did it again.
I wanted to make him lose control.
Darren’s fingers were on my waist as his teeth grazed my neck.
Gods.
My head lolled back and I could hardly breathe. I had no idea one person could feel so much.
The two of us were stumbling across the meadow, tearing at bits of cloth, his hot hands branding my skin.
Darren picked me up and my legs wrapped around his waist. He slammed me against the base of a tree. I forgot the pain as he held me in place, his arms pinning my own high above my head.