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“Impossible,” he shot back. “It is her birthright.”

“It is my own birthright as much as it is hers,” Scarlett replied. The crown she had summoned earlier appeared on her brow.

The prince’s sandstorm diminished as he beheld her, bedecked in witch flying-leathers and a crown fit for a queen. She felt Sorin place a hand on her back. “We are fine, Love. We are safe.”

“Who are you?” the Earth Prince snarled.

“Scarlett M—” she paused and looked down at her ring. A smile filled her face, and her shadow dragon formed behind her and Sorin. With a roar, it spewed a ring of fire around them. “ScarlettSemiria, Queen of the Western Courts, and a queen of this realm.”

Sorin ventured, his voice calm but assertive, “There is much you do not know, Azrael. I suggest you speak to Talwyn.”

“Talwyn would never keep such things from me,” the prince spat back,but Scarlett could see the doubt in his eyes as he backed away from them, fromher.

“The queens keep their secrets, even from us,” Sorin replied. His tone had softened a touch, like he knew the blow the prince was feeling at being left in the dark.

“I am not you, and she is not Eliné,” the prince shot back.

“Go talk to Talwyn,” was all Sorin said.

Scarlett felt a fire portal flare open behind them, and Sorin took her hand in his, tugging her gently backwards through the ring of flames. The Earth Prince was still staring at them when the portal snapped closed.

“Earth guy?” Sorin asked, turning to look at her. “You called Azrael Luan the earth guy.” He laughed out loud, rich and deep.

Scarlett glared at him and waved him off. “I was flustered. I hate not knowing everything I should.” She huffed a sigh of frustration, blowing a stray piece of hair from her eyes. Then she looked around.

They were standing in the middle of what appeared to be a mid-sized home. She stood in a great room. A moderate kitchen was to the right, with an island in the center of it. There was no separate dining room, and the counter was piled high with fresh groceries. Overstuffed chairs and chaise lounges were scattered around a fireplace that roared to life to her left. Bookshelves filled with books lined both sides of the fireplace. There was a hall that led to a staircase along the back wall. She turned to look out a window and found snow-covered mountain tops staring back. Large evergreens stood stark against the backdrop of the mountains.

She whirled to Sorin, who was watching her with anticipation, his golden eyes so full of joy and love. “Are we at your mountain home?” Scarlett breathed, stepping closer to the window. There was nothing else around for miles. Not that she could see, anyway.

“Ourmountain home,” Sorin said, coming up behind her. “You get all of me, and I get all of you. No one else is allowed in. Ever.”

“Never?” Scarlett asked, with a raise of her brows.

Sorin slid his arms around her waist as he said, “Never. I guess Cyrus has been here once. They have tried. Eliza has come banging on the door more than once,cursing me soundly when I refuse to let her in.”

“How often do you come here?”

“When I need to get away. When I need to think. When I need to drink and brood.”

“So when you need to throw a temper tantrum?”

“When I need to be alone with my twin flame.” His voice had dropped low, guttural.

Scarlett turned in his arms, and the look on his face was pure hunger, his eyes glazed with thick desire. “Hmm. The palace isn’t big enough for us to get some privacy?”

“Not for the sounds you will make this evening, Princess,” he growled as he brought his lips to hers. Scarlett’s toes curled in her boots at the promise those words held. Her twin flame. The one who came for her. The one who wouldn’t let her go. The one who claimed her. She wanted to give him everything she had.

The kiss was slow and gentle at first, until she felt the connection between them practically vibrating. Then she couldn’t get enough of him. She needed to touch him everywhere. She needed him to touch her everywhere. It was as if that bond snapping into place made her need to connect with him in every possible way. She pulled back and purred, “You’re right. These witch-clothes are extremely inconvenient.”

Sorin gave her a devilish grin, and flames licked along her body, up her legs and torso, across her arms, and when they had disappeared she stood in the red dress she’d worn the night of the party on the Pier last summer.

“This one?” Scarlett asked, raising a brow in surprise.

“My Love, the ways I have imagined takingthisdress off of you since that night are impossible to count,” he whispered into her ear, and she felt her core heat and her skin tighten in all the right places. She reached up to remove the crown that still adorned her head, but he hissed, “Leave it.”

He brought his lips back to hers, and this time the kiss told her exactly what he wanted. She pressed herself against him, and she could feel him hard against her. His tongue slid across her lips, and she parted them instantly.He swept in, sliding against the roof of her mouth, her teeth. He nipped her lower lip as he pulled back just far enough to look into her eyes, and beneath the predatory lust, there was a glimmer of concern. “You are ready for this? I will understand if you are not.” He stroked a thumb across her cheekbone.

“Now, Prince, there was mention of worshipping me, and I do like to be adored,” she crooned.