Chapter 28
Aryel managed to slip out of the ballroom with minimal farewells, and the quiet of the corridor was more welcome than Corinne expected. Once they were out of sight of the partygoers and guards, Aryel slowed until Corinne was walking beside him again instead of behind.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
Corinne took a shuddering breath. “I’m a little shaken.”
Before Aryel could respond, voices drifted down the hall, and they slowed, listening. His eyes grew wide, and he pulled Corinne behind a statue, holding a finger to his lips.
“…don’t know why I can’t go back—”
“Because you are drunk, Lana.”
“I feel fine! I need to dance!”
“You need to sleep.”
Lana’s and Janus’s voices drifted closer, and Corinne clapped a hand over her own mouth, trying not to laugh. Aryel did the same, his eyes sparkling with mirth.
“Aryel looked amazing tonight,” Lana slurred. “But he couldn’t keep his eyes off that goddess-damned guard of his all night.”
“Yes, you said that earlier.”
Corinne’s heart skipped a beat. Their voices faded again as they ventured down another corridor, and Aryel peeked out from behind the statue. He sighed and emerged fully before looking at Corinne again.
They both burst out laughing. She hadn’t laughed this hard since that night at the Mykotas’s house, the tension in her chest dispelling, at least a little.
“Come on,” Aryel said, still grinning as they headed off again.
“You know, you were about that intoxicated the first night we met,” Corinne said, recalling that moment all too well as they approached the breezeway doors.
“Don’t remind me,” he said. “I will never be able to undo such a terrible first impression.”
“Hmm.” Corinne opened the door for him, leading them outside. “I don’t know, I think it just shows how far we’ve come since then.”
Aryel laughed once. “I suppose that’s true.”
They stepped into the alcove, and Aryel swore softly.
“I’m sorry, Corinne, I forgot a guard wouldn’t be posted out here until later,” he said.
“That’s fine,” she said. “I can wait.”
He stopped by his door, and she took her usual place beside it, waiting for him to step inside. For a long moment, he stared ahead, and then he turned to her, pinning her in place with that same look in his eyes from earlier.
“I know Lana was drunk,” he said. “But she wasn’t wrong.”
Corinne’s pulse jumped at the change in his tone. “About what?”
Aryel took a step closer, and Corinne didn’t back away when he brushed one of her curls away from her cheek. “About me not being able to take my eyes off you all night.”
That warmth Corinne had fought so hard returned, spreading from her center outward.
“Truly, Corinne, are you all right?” he asked, searching her face.
She inhaled deeply, forcing herself to focus. “They noticed my burn is gone,” she said, holding up her arm, and Aryel took it in his hands gently, his fingers brushing over her newly healed skin. She fought a shiver. “I don’t know what they’ll do. I didn’t know they’d be there.”
“I didn’t either,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.”
Aryel lapsed into silence for a moment. “It could be.”
Corinne’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“Tell them I made you heal it. Tell them the royal family insisted. It would invite odd questions for an injured Lightguard to be protecting the prince, wouldn’t it?”
Corinne could only stare at him. Emotions barreled into her, so many she couldn’t name just one. Before she knew what she was doing, she stepped forward, pressing her lips to his cheek.
The look of blank shock on his face when she leaned back brought her to her senses, and panic overtook her in an instant.
“Oh, Goddess,” she whispered, turning away from him. She started for her own door, appalled at herself, cheeks burning. “I’m sorry, I—”
Aryel’s hand closed around her wrist, and he pulled her back to him, bringing her face to his. His lips found hers like the answer to a secret question in her heart, soft and insistent and sure. And Helaera help her, Corinne gave in to it.
She’d never kissed anyone like this before, but somehow it was like she’d kissed Aryel a thousand times, like his lips were meant for hers.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, her body arching into his, her lips parting when his tongue brushed the seam of her mouth.
The world disappeared, leaving only him, his hands gripping her waist as he pushed her back against the wall.
Corinne wove her fingers into his hair, and he inhaled sharply.
She’d never wanted—needed—anyone this desperately.
Corinne slid one hand downward, brushing the roughness of his close-shaved facial hair before pressing her palm to his chest. The bare skin she’d carefully avoided earlier was warm beneath her hand, even smoother than she’d imagined.
Every moment she’d touched him and forced away her desire now boiled over, like she couldn’t touch enough of him fast enough.
The look in his eyes that night she’d healed him, the soft hitches of his breath when they trained, the blush in his cheeks…
how had she not seen so clearly that he wanted her too?
Or perhaps she had, and she’d denied it up until this moment.
Aryel threaded his fingers into her curls on one side, gently tilting her head to kiss her jaw on the other, then her neck, and a small whine escaped her.
Goddess, that’s embarrassing. His body pressed hers into the stone, and still Corinne wanted more, her hands moving to his back like she could somehow pull him closer.
Muffled footsteps sounded, followed by the opening of a door, and Aryel’s mouth went to her ear.
“Sorry, Sunshine.”
His weight disappeared in an instant, but he pulled her forward off the wall before releasing her in one swift movement. The guard appeared only a moment later, bowing to the prince and a bewildered Corinne.
Focus, Corinne. Don’t be a fool. She hoped she didn’t look as disheveled as she felt.
“I can take it from here, Lady Corinne,” the guard said, and she nodded gratefully, heading to her room as quickly as she could without seeming suspicious.
She glanced at Aryel before stepping inside. He was at his door now, too, staring at her with baffled wonder.
“Good night, Corinne,” he said, those dark eyes boring into hers.
She swallowed hard as he disappeared into his room. Once inside her own room, she sank onto her bed in a trance, staring at the ceiling, one thought repeating in her head.
What have you done, Corinne?