Loving a Prince Charming - By Danielle Monsch Page 0,29

in his arms every night for the rest of their lives wouldn’t be enough. The love and belonging she’d experienced last night was so complete, no other time in her life ever came close. She could almost imagine their hearts had beaten as one.

“Help me, Kira, and I’ll give you everything you desire. I’ll give you a life with the man you love. Why should you suffer? Why should you be denied?”

She was going to save Seth to watch him marry another woman. A woman he would make love to, a woman who would carry his children. Why should Kira suffer the rest of her life? Why shouldn’t she get what she wanted for once – for once? Seth loved her, didn’t he? He might be mad at first, but he would come to understand. After all, he wanted to be with her as well. Last night couldn’t have happened if he didn’t. And once they were together, they could leave their fathers, and these kingdoms, and Rosamund—

I made a promise, and I won’t fail her.

The echo of his words banged against her head, almost painful in their intensity.

Yes, Seth did love her, and he wouldn’t understand abandoning Rosamund. And she would not love him as well as she did if he could.

Kira brought her sword up before her face and gave a small salute before bringing the weapon to the ready. “If you think I’m going to let Seth down because you like listening to the sound of your own voice, you are sorely mistaken. Now, you can move, or you can die.”

The smile faded, and his eyes narrowed as they assessed her. After a long moment, the evil creature disappeared.

Kira closed her eyes and stood there for long moments, doing nothing except breathing in the clear air. She was flayed from the inside out, the deep dark places of her own heart and mind that she pretended didn’t exist lay before her in their grotesqueness. She could never again pretend innocence of her own baser nature.

Swords might not have clashed in this battle, but there would be scars nonetheless.

A strange peace gradually settled in her, and she glanced around to verify the fey was gone. He was.

It was time to finish her part in this tale.

Her feet knew the path to take. There was no hesitation over turns or steps. She ran into the castle and chose the stairway that led to the tallest tower.

She pushed open the door and her eyes zeroed in on the bed in the middle of the room. Seth lay on the small bed, his long legs dangling off the edge. The only sign that this was something other than a normal nap was that he was fully clothed down to his boots and his normally darker skin had a pale undertone.

A small, blond woman was sitting beside him, holding his hand. At Kira’s entrance she leaped up and stepped away from Seth, though she made no other sounds or movements.

Kira walked over to Seth, taking in every detail of his beloved face. This would be the last time she would be this close, and she wanted to savor it. His hair was mussed and his lips were parted, very soft snores audible now that she was closer. She kneeled beside him, twirled his hair between her fingers, and then, with a final stroke, leaned down so her mouth was inches from his. “You’d better not embarrass me and not wake up. Do that, and I promise you a hurting when you do finally wake. Understand me?”

The slight prick of his stubble rubbed her fingers as she laid her trembling hands on his cheeks. She held him as her mouth met his, his lips as soft and firm in sleep as she remembered them being last night, his sleepy scent settling against her.

Love you, love you so much—come back to me. Even if you aren’t mine, I need to know you are somewhere on this world.

His mouth moved under hers, lips parted, and his tongue swiped along the seam of her mouth demanding entrance, cutting off the small sob that rose in her throat with a demand she would never refuse.

One hand cradled the back of her head, digging into her hair to keep her close, while the other grasped her hip and pulled her body into the cradle of his, letting her feel the hardness of his chest, his stomach, lower, igniting in her the same desire.

An annoying noise sounded above her.