Chapter Twenty-Eight #2
“I didn’t… I don’t want you to dance with her.” My voice was muffled against his chest, and my fingers brushed against the soft fabric of his jacket before curling into it, gripping him tightly. “Or talk to her. Or even look at her.”
“And what if I did?”
“I might gauge out your eyeballs and sew up your lips so you couldn’t ever again.”
“My, my.” He chuckled in a dangerously sexy way and cupped the back of my neck, sliding his fingers into my hair at the very base of my skull. “It seems like I’m not the only one with a possessive streak, my Allie.”
“Shut up,” I mumbled. “You were being mean.”
“Don’t worry.” He brought his hand from my waist to the tiny space between us and tilted my chin up until our eyes met. “There’s only one woman here that I have eyes for, and it’s not a doe-eyed sycophant. I much prefer someone who’ll blind me if it means I only have eyes for them.”
“You’re making me sound like a psychopath.”
“If you are, then so am I, because I’m the one who likes it.” His lips curved into the tiniest, darkest smile I’d ever seen. “You have nothing to worry about. I’ve told you before that I don’t dance at balls.”
“You danced with me.”
“Yes, but you should have realised it by now, darling.” He brushed the tip of his nose over mine, drawing his lips so close I could almost taste him. “I would break imperial law for you. A self-imposed no-dancing rule is nothing. You are my only exception to absolutely everything.”
“Kalon…”
“Shh. While I’m still capable of being a gentleman,” he murmured. “Allie, may I kiss you?”
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Kissing him could spell my death.
At the same time, I would be damned if I died without kissing him just once.
I leant in, closing the remaining millimetres of space between our lips, and answered his question with the very thing he wanted to do. It was a tiny kiss, little more than a peck, but that was all it needed to be to answer his question.
He pulled me in even closer, drawing his hands around to cradle my face, and kissed me properly. His lips swept over mine slowly but tenderly, but there was a fervour to it that almost felt as though he were laying claim to me.
Like he was branding me as his with nothing but a kiss.
And, for a moment, there was nothing I wanted more.
“Haa, damn it,” Kalon breathed, wrapping his arms tightly around me. He rested his forehead on my shoulder and turned his face into my neck just enough that his breath tickled across my collarbone. “What are you doing to me, Allie?”
Speak for yourself, pal.
I had tingles in places that hadn’t tingled in a very long time.
I reached up and patted the back of his head. “Wow. Your hair is so silky.”
“Is this really the time to discuss my hair?” he murmured, brushing his lips across my neck.
A shiver danced across my skin where he was kissing me.
“S-stop!” I shoved at his shoulders and took a step back, slapping my hand over the spot his mouth had just been. “You can’t do that here!”
“Why not?” A sneaky smile stretched across his face. “There’s nobody else out here.”
“Because.”
“Because what?”
“People are going to start wondering where we are, and if I go in there with my cheeks all red, everyone is going to know what we’ve been up to.” I unclasped his cape and took it off with a whoosh, then reached up on my tiptoes to wrap it around his shoulders. “So, please behave yourself.”
He circled his arms around my waist and pulled me right against him. With me successfully trapped, he nuzzled his face into my hair, eventually finding his way back to my neck where he kissed me again. “What if I don’t want to?”
I wriggled back to put space between us and quickly secured his cape before I dropped it. “If you don’t stop, I’m going to start calling you Your Highness again.”
Kalon froze. “That’s not fair.”
“I don’t care.” I cupped his face. “Let’s go.”
With a huff, he let me go. “I’m going to investigate that black magic thing. It’s the only possible way you could have me doing everything you say.”
“Watch it. I’m still upset with you.”
He pushed the chair out of the way of the doors and turned to me with his eyes wide. “What for?”
“You left me, remember?” I pouted. “Even if you were pretending, you still left.”
“I’m sorry.” He touched his lips to my forehead. “Would you feel better if I promised never to leave you again?”
I knew realistically that there was a very good chance he would do just that, but I wanted to hear those words, even if they were a lie.
Just once, I wanted to be that precious to him that he’d make such a promise.
And that thought terrified me more than I could put into words.
“Maybe,” I said.
“Then…” He laid his hands on my cheeks and kissed me. “I.” Kiss. “Promise.” Kiss. “Never.” Kiss. “To—”
“I get it, I get it.” I laughed, pushing at his chest.
“I didn’t finish.” He pulled me even closer and held our lips together. “I promise to never, ever leave you again, my Allie.”
Kiss.
“Cheater,” I murmured, sliding my hands up and wrapping my arms around his neck.
Kiss. Kiss. Kiss.
Screw it.
We could take another minute here.