“A kingdom your father—the king—still oversees.”
I took a deep breath. “My father has been in charge of me for far too long. I’m not really in the mood to keep answering to him.”
“Do you have a choice?” She challenged.
“Don’t we all?” I replied.
I wasn’t sure when we had gotten so close to each other, but I was standing no more than a few inches away from her. Close enough to smell the cinnamon on her hair. Close enough to see the golden flecks in her eyes.
“This is a chance to get away, Jade. This is our chance at freedom.”
She huffed in frustration. “You mean it’s your chance? They’re never going to stop wanting to kill me, Malachi. They want me dead. Everyone does. And now that I’m the human who married the fae prince, even more people are going to want me dead. Are people even going to accept us as their prince and princess?” She stared at me for a beat longer before looking down and saying, “Saints, I don’t even know how to be a princess.”
“I guess we haven’t really talked about that,” I admitted. “I’m sure ruling your own kingdom wasn’t in your plans of things to do this week.”
She giggled for the first time all day. “No, fighting for my life was pretty much planned to take up all my time.”
I smiled then, and I wasn’t sure if it was because of her words or the familiar spark that had returned to her eyes.
“I know you think I’m a monster,” I said, “but I don’t want us to be enemies.”
I fought the urge to step closer to her, to comfort her.
She looked me in the eye and said, “I don’t think you’re a monster, Malachi.”
“I could have ripped his head off,” I mumbled. I didn’t have to explain who I was talking about.
“I know,” she breathed. Had she stepped closer to me?
“Good,” I breathed back. Or was that me that stepped closer to her? “I would kill anyone who touches you, Jade. I would end anyone who mistreats you.”
My words were harsh, but they were true.
A faint smile spread across her lips. “I know that, too.”
“Good,” I repeated.
My hand wandered to her bare arm, tracing the skin from her wrist up to her shoulder, then pausing there.
“Do you want to kiss me?” she asked me. Her eyes were wide but she did not look away. I leaned forward, our lips nearly touching in the dim light of the bedroom. “I can smell lies, prince,” she teased, repeating my words from earlier. “So be careful about what you say next.”
A low growl escaped my throat. Jade was testing me, challenging me. And she knew it.
“If I wanted to kiss you, Jade Farrow, I would do it.”
“Is that so?” She pushed. “Then why haven’t you?”
“You’re the one that thinks I’m handsome, protective, kind—" I began repeating from her conversation with her sister.
She punched me in the arm, but I caught her wrist and pulled her body into mine until our chests were touching.
We stayed there for a few moments, our breath blending, our hearts pounding.
Until I quit resisting, and I gave in to Jade Farrow.
CHAPTER 24
Jade
Malachi kissed me like I was the only thing that had ever mattered.
His mouth crashed into mine in a deep, unbreakable hunger.
My body pressed against his but I still needed more, I needed to feel more of him. He was holding back. I knew him well enough to know that.
I traced my hands up his back, avoiding the large feathered wings that shadowed around us.
Malachi’s arms wrapped around my waist, around my entire body, and pulled me closer to him. Our mouths moved together like they belonged there, like they were destined to be together.
He picked me up in a swift motion and carried me to the bed, leaning over me as he laid me down.
My heart pounded in my chest as he pulled away, just enough to look at me. “I knew you would cave,” he said before kissing me again.
I pulled away this time and said, “Me?” I asked. “Weren’t you the one who swore you didn’t care about me.”
Our mouths crashed together once more as a laugh rumbled in his chest.
I never wanted that moment to end.
The sound of knocking on Malachi’s bedroom door made me freeze.
Although Malachi didn’t seem too distracted.
“Go away,” he mumbled without taking his mouth on mine. I laughed as I felt the vibrations through my mouth.
The knocking just repeated. “Malachi, I need to talk to you,” Adeline said from the door.