Ruined - Amy Tintera Page 0,90

waist to keep her in his lap. She thought he couldn’t get any closer, but he drew her against him until she could feel his heart beating next to hers. If he’d asked her in that moment to run away with him, to take his hand and hide from everyone, she almost certainly would have said yes.

A light touch on her knee made her grasp his hair tighter. He pushed her dress up her thigh, his fingers trailing sparks over her skin. That spark was going to catch and she was going to be consumed by flames at any moment. She was sure of it. But there was nothing that would stop her kissing him.

His hand disappeared from her thigh and was on her back, finding the buttons of her dress. There were far fewer than the last time he’d unbuttoned her. He quickly had three undone and her dress slipped down her arms.

His hands pressed into the bare skin of her back, his fingers curling like he was about to completely lose control. She was right there with him.

Cas’s hands stilled suddenly, and she heard the noise half a second later. Horses.

She pulled away from him and his hands disappeared from her back. Her body still buzzed from his touch, and it took a moment for her eyes to focus.

A group of warriors surrounded a wagon in the distance. They weren’t scouting the area, but it looked like they were keeping whatever was in the wagon heavily guarded.

“It’s a wagon,” she said quietly. “Is that the one you were in?”

He shifted beneath her, and she slid off him so he could see. He squinted in the dark, then leaned back against the tree. “That’s the one.”

She lifted her shoulders, straightening her dress, and Cas motioned for her to turn around, a smile on his face. He buttoned her back up, planting a soft kiss on her shoulder when he was done.

“Could have been bad, if they were closer,” she said, a hint of amusement in her voice. She turned around, settling next to him. “We never would have heard them coming.” Five or six armed warriors against her and Cas? They would have been dead for sure.

“I could think of worse ways to go.” He glanced back at the road. “I wish I could help them.”

“There are too many of them. Maybe if we still had Aren, but without him . . .”

“I know,” Cas said softly. “I just feel helpless. I’m supposedly the king now, and I’ve never felt less in control.”

She laced her hand through his, lifting it to her lips. “You’ll be in control again. If there’s anything I can do to help with that, you know I’m more than willing.”

He released her hand, pulling her closer to him and planting a kiss on top of her head. “I know, Em.”

THIRTY-FOUR

THREE STEPS SEPARATED Cas and Em. If three steps were too many, what was he supposed to do when there were thousands?

He closed the distance and brushed his hand against hers. She smiled at him as she stepped over a patch of leaves, letting her fingers curl around his for a moment.

They’d spent most of the day walking to the Southern Mountains, and Cas felt his heart sink further with every step. Once they arrived he would know for sure what had happened to his mother and Jovita, and probably Galo as well. And he would lose Em.

His brain kept trying to come up with a scenario where she could stay with him, where he could convince his mother and advisers and everyone in the kingdom that Em wasn’t their enemy.

I know she deceived us all and is partially responsible for Olso’s attack on the castle, but I promise she’s not as bad as you think, Mother! He could already see her face. She would probably slap him.

He wouldn’t blame her. He knew he’d lost his mind, that his feelings for Em had clouded every shred of good sense he had.

But then . . . she also made excellent points. The decisions his father and his advisers had made were not perfect. They were horrifying, in some cases. His father had always seemed convinced that his actions were for the best of Lera, and Cas wished he’d prodded him further. He wished he’d had more honest conversations with his father, like he’d had with Em yesterday.

He glanced at her again. His body was always trying to lean into her, to be closer, to touch her.

“I think