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There wasn’t much known about the few fae who lived nomadic lifestyles. They lived in the mountains, the traditional home to the giants, ogres, orcs, and dwarves. Perhaps most importantly, none of those groups claimed the crown as their leaders either.

“Save for malicious races of fae, orcs chief among them.” He scowled at the thought of his greatest nemeses. “Fae should help other fae. So, yes. I would fight to keep a tribal member from the fate you’ve endured. I would be your protector, should you want one.”

Before he’d said he wished to be a shield. I’d believed him then, and now, even more so. He might look like a brooding brute, stacked with muscle and not much else, but I’d seen behind that façade. I’d seen his eyes darken when he spoke of orc attacks. I’d seen him relate to the archers he went up against in the tourney and other fae at the ball. Since coming here, though it hadn’t been a long time, I’d seen different shades to the fae before me.

“I would be glad for your help.” I wiped a tear from my eye. “Now, do you see why I must escape? And why I must take Anna and Clemencia with me?”

“It’s clear to me.” He stood. “One moment.”

I watched, stunned, as Prince Vale left the room and walked down the short corridor to the door that separated his apartments from the rest of the palace. A faint snick of the door opening and indistinguishable whispers between the prince and Sir Caelo met my ears.

When the door shut and footsteps came my way once more, I tried to appear as though I hadn’t been doing my best to eavesdrop.

“The changing of the guard is soon. Caelo will get Anna first. She’s staying in a room separate from the vampire prince, so it will not be so hard to extract her. He’ll retrieve Clemencia as well.” Prince Vale came to stand in front of me. “The moment they are in the stables, we move.”

I gasped and leapt up, gripping him in a hug so tight that he let out a soft ‘oph’. More tears leaked from my eyes. It seemed that they simply wouldn’t stop tonight.

“Thank you so much! I cannot tell you how much this means. I—” I pulled away and only then realized how close we stood, how I could count all his eyelashes. Or how, if I reached up, I could caress the stubble on his fine jaw. As if my hand had a mind of its own, it did just that, and in the prince’s eyes, something sparked.

I let go and took a step back, letting my hands fall to my sides even though they burned to touch him again. “That was inappropriate. I’m so sorry, but Anna . . . This is my best chance to save her and—”

“You needn’t apologize for wanting to save those you love,” he murmured, though the words reverberated in the room. “What you’re doing, what you’ve been through, and who you are—Lady Neve, it’s astonishing. I only wish I had gotten to know the real you earlier.”

“I do too,” I breathed, shocked by how much I’d meant it.

Roar and I had made a deal to propagate a story, but he’d broken our arrangement and my trust. Prince Vale, on the other hand, had been someone I felt inclined to despise from the start, but that had been on Roar’s judgment, and I no longer agreed with the warden.

He was someone worth knowing, a fae you wanted on your side, a male who, if I had the time, I would want to know more intimately.

At the thought, my breath deepened. My rising and falling bosom did not fail to draw the prince’s eyes, and he swallowed.

Desire flared in his gaze, igniting my own. I felt it too, had for a while. We had been drawn to one another, and after all the emotions of the day, that attraction hit a peak. A raging band of orcs would be easier to ignore.

And do I want to ignore it? No . . . I do not.

So, I closed the space between us again. My hands found Prince Vale’s hard chest, snaked up around his neck. Would that I could wrap my hands in his hair, but he stood too tall.

“Lady Neve,” his words came out raspy. “We—”

“Kiss me. Please.”

Despite the lust written across his face, I expected a denial or for him to pull back. So, when the prince leaned in and brushed his lips to mine, I gasped as my eyelids fluttered closed.

The sound undid him as much as it did me. Prince Vale wove his hands into my hair, pulling me closer, tasting me, exploring me, devouring me. He gripped my waist, lifted me, and my legs acted of their own accord, wrapping around him.

A low growl left the prince’s mouth as he broke our kiss, shifted his lips to my neck, and nibbled at my ear. His black wings curled around me, a protective, almost territorial gesture that brought to mind our dance. My heart thrummed as I tilted my head back, eyes fluttering open to take in the ornate ceiling with a wonder that only boosted the fire ravaging my blood.

Skies alive, I might explode at any moment. What sort of magic was this?

My other lovers had all been human, and they’d given me pleasure, but nothing like this kiss. Prince Vale clung to me, held me like a precious thing, and as if his only job was to pleasure me. His lips trailed down to the crook of my neck, a sensitive spot, and my legs became weak, loosening around him. I slumped into his hard chest and a soft whine escaped my lips.

The prince must have read something into the ecstasy, for he moved, and in three powerful strides lowered me on the bed. I clutched the silk sheets, relished how cool they felt, but as he pulled back ever so slightly, I released them and gripped him by the shirt instead. “Come here.”

“Caelo will alert us soon,” he said, but didn’t move away.

“Then we should make every moment count.” I pulled him on top of me.

None of this had been planned or foreseen, but now that I’d had a taste of pleasure, a relief from the fear that had gripped me for far too long, I did not let go. I did not think Prince Vale minded so much, either. Since we’d met, there had been a certain energy between us. A warming of the air. A draw to the other.