Speak the words you already know: I love you too! I can’t keep standing here with my jaw hanging open! He’ll get the wrong impression!
Sure enough, as Myth gaped at Arvel, he was looking more and more downcast.
SPEAK!
“Iloveyoutoo!” Myth was so desperate to answer, the words gushed out, nearly indecipherable.
Arvel blinked. “What?”
Myth tried to breathe and found it surprisingly difficult. “I, just so happen, to love you,” she said to her feet.
“I couldn’t hear you.” Arvel’s tone was sly and teasing. “What was that?”
“I said—NO!” Myth looked up in time to see that the Prince of Seduction had surfaced. “No, no! None of this!” She shook her finger, indicating to all of him.
“Why not?” Arvel asked with a false innocence as he invaded, moving a few steps closer.
“Because I can’t handle you like this! And, and no!”
“But you said you love me,” Arvel pointed out.
Myth could feel her cheeks burn as she rapidly backed up. “I, I do.”
“But you don’t like it when I do this?”
Myth squawked when Arvel scooped her up into an embrace that tipped her against his chest.
“N-no?” she squeaked with no conviction whatsoever.
“Personally, I think you’re adorable when you’re ruffled.” Arvel laced his fingers through the fringe of her ponytail with one hand, and kept the other at her waist. “It’s fun to know I can affect you so, when you’re often unflappably calm.”
“So glad I can amuse you.” Myth groused into his chest and grabbed the lapels of his jacket—as she seemed prone to doing. “I—”
Arvel had one eyebrow raised, and his smile was roguish as he slipped his hand from her hair to the back of her neck. “Yes?”
Just desserts, her mind whispered. Because he’s enjoying this too much. And if I can switch from a trade to social translator in the span of a day, I can summon the guts to do this.
Before she could back down or talk herself out of it, Myth leaned in and kissed Arvel. She could feel her cheeks burn, but Arvel’s choked exclamation of surprise made the embarrassment worth it, and it only took an additional moment for her to realize she really liked kissing Arvel.
The warm pressure of his lips was so satisfying, it bordered on overwhelming. She could practically feel the love that flowed between them.
He tilted her head just so and deepened the kiss, and Myth lost all sense of time as she clung to his jacket—probably wrinkling it beyond hope.
When they finally came up for air, Myth was almost stupid in her joy.
“Please say—after that kind of a kiss—you’ll marry me?” Arvel begged.
Myth laughed and slid her hands up to link them behind his neck.
“It means you’ll have to become the queen someday, but I’ll try to make it worth the trouble.” He practically purred as he kissed her ear.
“It sounds like work,” Myth impressively managed to say. “How can you say for certain you’ll be able to properly compensate me?”
“The finest dresses, the best food, jewels—anything you want.”
“Do you really think that kind of answer is going to move me?” Myth dryly asked.
“Ah, I suppose I should have chosen better for my audience. In that case, you can buy as many books as you want, learn as many languages as pique your interest, you’ll have more access than ever to Fyn, and there’s me of course.” Arvel batted his eyelashes at her and grinned winningly.
Myth made a show of narrowing her eyes. “Hmm…I suppose I’m willing to marry a crown prince if I must in order to get you out of the deal.”
The laughter in Arvel’s eyes faded into something deeper and more enduring. “Myth, I don’t think you know just how much that means to me. Which is why I’d do anything for you.”
Myth tilted her head so their foreheads touched. “And I don’t think you realize just how much that means to me. Thank you, Arvel.”
He scooped both of his arms around her shoulders, wrapping her in a tight hug that felt like he was pushing every bit of love that he could into the gesture.
Myth’s eyes fluttered shut as she treasured the moment.
She had never wanted a prince—she’d never aspired for anything beyond becoming a trade translator.
And while Arvel had laid waste to the only career she’d ever pictured—and she knew the life he offered her would be harder—their relationship would be filled with a special kind of love she’d never thought she’d find.
Myth loved Arvel. And, incredibly, he loved her back.