The Glass Queen (The Forest of Good and Evil #2) - Gena Showalter Page 0,136

I’m fighting for—my own happily-ever-after.”

So he’d given me two avian bracelets, my own forge, and now the most romantic words ever uttered, and I’d given him a pack of lies, letting him continue to believe I was a reincarnation of a fire witch.

Another sob left me, and I sagged against him, resting my forehead against the center of his chest. I was the worst person to ever live.

He held me as I cried, tracing his fingertips up and down the ridges of my spine. “What is this about, Asha? The truth you mentioned, the one I do not know? Is it that you have been meeting with Milo in secret? I know you aren’t to blame.”

“How? How do you know I’m not to blame?”

Rather than answering, he said, “You should know I suspect Milo is poisoning your father and blaming it on Queen Everly, the sorceress. He claims she’s draining the king for his magic.”

Milo, poisoning my father? “He doesn’t have any magic.” Like me? I thought I felt power stirring—power that had nothing to do with Leonora. Buy why would I notice it more now than ever before? “Why would he believe a sorceress drained him?”

“He had a magical infusion at birth. He might not have manifested an ability in adulthood, but he still has the power inside him.”

Ohhh. And Milo did hope to rule the kingdom. I should have guessed something like this was happening. “The king needs to be told the truth.” I didn’t like the man, but I didn’t want him dead.

“He has been told. He refuses to believe it.”

Then what more could be done for him? “You were right. I do need to talk to you about the meetings I’ve had with the warlock, but that wasn’t the secret I meant. There’s one about... Leonora and me.”

He arched a brow. “Do you think my knowledge of this secret will taint our time here?”

“Maybe,” I hedged. “Probably.”

“I think I know what it is, then,” he said, peering deep into my eyes. “But even if there’s more, even if I’m off, trust me enough not to tell me. Trust me enough not to worry about my reaction when you do confess. Trust me enough to know that this truth won’t change how I feel about you, or the future I want with you. Give me this chance to prove myself worthy of you.”

Sob. I think I accidentally snotted on his chest, and my cheeks flamed. “I don’t deserve your kindness and these wonderful gifts, Saxon.” But he did deserve my trust. “I will do it. I will trust you not to break my heart when you learn the truth.”

“When I’m holding your heart in my hands, Asha, I swear I will take the greatest care.” He offered the words at low volume, but carried great weight. I almost stumbled under the heft of them. “But, sweetheart? There’s another gift to be given.”

“There’s even more?” I shouted, lifting my head. “Saxon, it’s too much. Whatever it is, it’s too much.”

“Shall I take it back?”

“Never. Mine! Give it to me.”

His shoulders shook as he laughed, and I noticed the amour glistening atop them. I was making him happy.

“I have breakfast waiting in one stall and a combat training zone in another,” he said. “I will teach you how to subdue or escape anyone who threatens you. Especially the avian. Never again will you be helpless against anyone.” As he spoke, he rubbed his hands up and down my sides.

The rhythmic caress lit a fuse underneath my skin. Tingling heat gathered in select places.

Awareness crackled between us. Suddenly I noticed how close we stood to each other...how much of him pressed against me, the hardness that was flush against my softness...how intensely I ached for him, my limbs already trembling.

“Sax?” I rasped.

He searched my face. “Yes, Asha.”

“I want...my body wants...” Everything. I’d almost died without learning every inch of this boy’s body. In seven days, our worlds could change again. Why not celebrate the life we had right now?

Taking a step closer, he backed me into a stable wall. With a husky voice, he proclaimed, “I know what your body wants, and I’m going to give it to you.”

25

Is what you want what you need?

To get it, must you plead?

Ashleigh

I had known I was Saxon’s fated, the one reborn again and again for the chance to be with him at long last, but the knowledge hadn’t meant much to me. I’d been too focused on our failures. I hadn’t understood