Chapter 213: All Warnings Ignored

Elara:

The moment his lips met mine, everything inside me went wild.

Those familiar electric tingles that seemed to erupt across my skin whenever Reign touched me suddenly transformed into something deeper, sweeter, and so startlingly intense that a small gasp escaped me before I could stop it.

He seemed to take that sound as an invitation, and the next instant his kiss deepened, sweeping away the last fragile remnants of my common sense.

Every angry thought I had been holding onto disappeared. The insults I had prepared, the threats I had been planning, and the determination to escape his ridiculous little trap all dissolved into meaningless fragments. All I could think about was the warmth of his mouth, the astonishing softness of his lips, and the way he kissed me as though he had been waiting far longer than either of us would ever admit.

I had been kissed before, especially since arriving in Starfall. There had been moments of tenderness, moments of confusion, and moments I would rather forget. But this was different.

I had no sensible words for how right it felt to be kissing Reign Valemont, of all people. It was as though my body had recognized something my mind had spent months refusing to consider, and every nerve in me had decided to celebrate the discovery at once.

His hand slid from the tree trunk until his fingers settled over my pinned hand, holding it with a gentleness that seemed almost absurd after the way he had attacked me moments earlier. His other arm circled my waist, drawing me closer until there was barely any space left between us. He tilted his head, deepening the kiss, and I lost myself completely in the dizzying rush of sensations that followed.

Somewhere beneath the haze, a small, sensible voice began screaming that this was a terrible idea.

It reminded me that Reign was my nemesis, that our relationship had been built on arguments, challenges, and enough mutual irritation to fuel an entire season of dramatic television.

It reminded me that he was the heir to House Valemont, that his father was Regent Darren Valemont, and that I had spent the past several months fighting to establish myself as someone who could never be manipulated by powerful men. Kissing him was not going to make any of those complications disappear. If anything, it was going to add several new ones to a life that already had far too many.

I heard every warning. I understood every argument. And then I ignored them all.

Because the moment I felt the vines loosening around my wrists, I finally had the opportunity to summon my magic, shove Reign away, and escape before this situation became even more disastrous. It was the obvious choice. The sane choice. The choice any sensible person in my position would have made. Instead, my hands came free, and I wrapped them around his neck.

I kissed him back. Not cautiously, not reluctantly, but with a sudden intensity that seemed to surprise even me. My fingers slipped into the hair at the nape of his neck, and I pulled him closer, surrendering to the kiss as though the rest of the world had ceased to exist.

For a moment, I didn’t feel like the Crown Princess who was expected to navigate politics and protect her people. I didn’t feel like a pawn in someone else’s game, or a girl constantly fighting to prove that she deserved to make her own choices. I was simply Elara, held in the arms of a man who made me furious, made me laugh despite myself, and had somehow managed to make me feel cherished in the middle of a snowy forest.

It was terrifying how much I wanted to stay there.

The kiss grew more intense with every passing second, until neither of us seemed willing to be the first to pull away. Reign held me as though he had forgotten why he had approached me in the first place, his hand firm at my waist while the other remained intertwined with mine.

When he finally broke the kiss moments later, I barely had time to draw a breath before his lips brushed my cheek. He kissed the corner of my mouth, then moved along my jaw, leaving a trail of warm, lingering touches that made my knees feel suspiciously unreliable.

I tilted my head instinctively as his mouth reached the side of my neck, my fingers tightening against his shoulders. His lips brushed the sensitive skin beneath my ear before moving lower, and I found myself holding my breath when he paused near the hollow of my throat.

I knew I should stop him. I knew I should remember who we were, what this could mean, and how complicated everything would become if either of us allowed this moment to turn into something neither of us could take back. But my thoughts had become hopelessly tangled, and my body seemed to have stopped consulting them altogether.

Then Reign’s mouth settled against the skin just above my pulsing vein. He kissed the spot firmly enough that I felt the pressure linger, and when his tongue briefly soothed the resulting sting, a shiver ran through me.

Something sharp brushed my skin. His teeth, probably. He repeated the motion, then lightly nipped at the same spot. A small gasp escaped me, and the sound seemed to break whatever spell had overtaken him.

Reign went completely still. Then he pulled away so abruptly that the sudden absence of his warmth left me disoriented. I hadn’t even realized how much I had been leaning against him until he was no longer there to support me. My legs buckled, and I dropped onto the snow-covered ground, landing hard on my knees as I struggled to catch my breath.

For a moment, he seemed about to reach for me. His hand lifted, his expression changing as though some instinct had urged him to make certain I was all right. But then he stopped himself. His fingers curled slightly before he lowered his arm and took another step backward, putting distance between us with such deliberate speed that the movement felt almost like a rejection.

I stared at him, my mind still fogged by the kiss, unable to understand why he had suddenly retreated as though he had touched something dangerous.

The cold breeze brushed against my face, and slowly, painfully, my thoughts began to clear. The tree stood behind me. Snow covered the ground. The vines had vanished.

Reign was looking down at me with an expression that was becoming increasingly familiar, the guarded amusement returning to his features as though the last several minutes had never happened.

And then the full horror of what I had just done crashed over me.