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Taly hesitated, not sure if she should hit him for that. She was still trying to decide when he kept going.

“Do you remember what I told you the summer I was introduced at the Dawn Court? When you got it into your head that I was going to be attending all these fancy parties, and meeting all these fancy people, and I was going to forget all about you?”

Taly picked at a loose thread on the blanket, winding it around her finger until it cut off circulation. “You said to stay out of your room.”

“After that.”

She sighed, finding the memory. When he’d hugged her tight on the front steps of Harbor Manor before getting into a carriage that would take him away for the next two months. At the time, it had seemed like an eternity. “You said to me,‘Don’t worry. We’re permanent.’”

His fingers found a stray lock of hair, tucking it carefully behind her ear. Grazing the pointed Fey tip and making her shiver. “It’s as true now as it was then.”

“As much as I appreciate the sentiment, Em, you can’t just declare that everything will be okay.”

“I’m a prince. It’s my job to declare things.”

She did hit him for that.

He grabbed her fist, reeled her in, and held her there in the cage of his arms.

“It might not work out. You’re right about that.” His breath warmed her ear. “But consider this—we might hate each other sometimes, sure. But that doesn’t mean we won’t be together. You can still love a thing you hate, and there’s not a moment that I don’t love you, Tink. So, no—I’m not worried.”

Silence between them. His arms loosened enough for her to turn to face him.

“I don’t want to mess this up,” she said.

“I don’t, either.”

“And that’s why I think…” she began softly, then faltered. She wasn’t even sure if she wanted it, but there was a gnawing feeling inside—a sense that she needed it. Because when everything else in her life was shifting and uncertain, he couldn’t be. “I think I would feel better if we took sexoffthe table…”

Her voice trailed, waiting for a reaction. He gave her nothing.

“Just for now,” she added hastily. “Until—”

Leaning in, he kissed her, whispering onto her lips, “You don’t have to explain it to me.”

“You’re not mad?”

“Why would I bemad?”

“I don’t know. I just… figured you might be.” She glanced away. “You’ve done this before. I haven’t.”

His arms didn’t loosen. If anything, they pulled her in tighter. He dipped his head, touching his brow to her temple. “To be clear,” he said, breath warm against her cheek, “I want you, you violent little idiot. I’ve imagined a million different ways to have you, and I am, to put it lightly,impatientto get started.” His voice was a low rumble against her ear. She shivered. “But if it makes you feel more comfortable to have that boundary, why would I argue? I want to get this right, too.”

Taly pulled back just enough to meet his eyes. The air between them stretched taut—breathless, waiting.

Skye said a lot of wrong things. But occasionally, he got somethingexactlyright.

She kissed him. And for once, there was no hesitation—no fear of what came next.

That soft press of her lips turned into another, then another, each one lifting something heavy she hadn’t realized she was carrying.

Skye breathed deeply into the kiss, holding her tighter as she went to her knees to get a better angle. “I’m available for advice any time,” he said between increasingly frantic kisses. “Just want to put that out there…”

She pressed him back down to the bed. He slid a hand around her waist to steady them, grinning up at her like it was his birthday and Yulemas rolled into one.

Suddenly, everything that had felt so scary and overwhelming a moment ago felt natural. Safe.

Who knew that validating her feelings, assuaging her fears, and taking any expectations off the table would be so…hot?