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The crown of the heir to Ghislain. Sarina had insisted.

“Hey Taly,” he called, grabbing a large wooden box from his dresser before making his way down the hall. “Have you seen—”

He stopped in the doorway to their bedroom, his breath catching.

“Well?” she asked, a bit unsure. Her eyes found his in the closet mirror. “Is it too much? Sarina wouldn’t let me look until she was done and… It’s too much,” she said. “Your face is saying that it’s too much.”

Skye swallowed. He knew how to woo a woman, knew all the right things to say, but in this particular moment, all he could come up with was a simple, whispered, “Wow.”

Her hair had been braided and teased away from her face, gathered into a wild knot of curls over her right shoulder, and secured with diamond pins. Dark kohl lined her eyes, and though her glamour rounded out her features, a faint blush contoured her cheeks. It was the same color that softened her lips to a pale, perfectly kissable shade of pink.

His eyes dipped lower. To the dress…

He’d never seen her in anything like it. The bodice could’ve been painted on for how lovingly it clung to every curve andhollow. Made from sheer gauze and encrusted with thousands of tiny gold crystals, she sparkled like the inside of a geode. The neckline grazed her collarbone. The sleeves were long and fitted. It might’ve been modest if not for the way it plunged down her back. Her skirts exploded in a spill of gauzy, white feathers that trailed along the floor.

“Skye?”

“Listening,” he murmured, not quite able to tear his eyes away from that dip along her spine. Not bare, he realized. More crystals twinkled over a nearly invisible panel of mesh.

One corner of her mouth lifted when she saw how thoroughly she’d captured his attention. “So, I take it the dress passes inspection?”

He finally found his feet and stepped into the room. “That depends.”

“On?”

“How long it takes me to get it off you.”

She rolled her eyes, but he still caught the heat curling beneath it. “You were looking for something?”

“I was?” he asked.

“You were.”

“What was it?”

A huff of laughter. “How would I know?”

Maybe he’d remember in a moment. Right now, there was only Taly—that dress and what looked like 27, no…28little buttons down her right side. He could undo them one by one. Or he could tear the whole thing apart and deal with the consequences later.

He was still strategizing when she reached into the pocket hidden beneath her skirts and produced a small leather folio—his wallet. “You left it in the kitchen. Go figure.”

He caught it. “What would I do without you?”

“Never find your wallet.”

Coming up behind her, Skye dragged a hand down her spine, over that stunning dress. Taly gave him an equally appreciative glance up and down his body. “As much as I hate to admit it, a crown suits you.”

“Thanks,” he said with a smirk.

“Don’t let it go to your head. It’ll swell, and then the crown won’t fit.”

He pinched her rear, but she still looked enormously satisfied at her own cleverness. “I’m not sure you deserve this now.” He held up the box he still had in his hands between them.

Her face immediately lit up. “Is that for me?” she whispered.

“Yes,” he replied just as softly.

“I like presents.”