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“Can’t believe you would doubt that.” I grin back and throw myself into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist.

He holds me up, hands tangling in my hair, mouth sliding down my neck where he nips on the sensitive skin.

The fire crackles beside us, casting dancing shadows across our bodies. Dayton sits up, his blue eyes longing. He leans in, his lips brushing against mine with a featherlight touch. It sends a shiver down my spine, and I melt into his embrace.

Our kiss deepens, growing more insistent. His hands travel over my back, drawing me closer. We fall to the couch, sinking into the plush cushions. Our lips never part.

“Tell me, Fare,” he gasps, “how often do people come here?”

My heartbeat grows wilder. “Hardly ever.”

He presses his lips to my cheek, and I feel the smile there. “Perfect. Though, I would do this with an audience. I’ve been waiting too long to have my fill of you to let anything stop me.”

His hands are everywhere, unbuttoning my vest, slipping beneath my tunic. I mirror his movements, pushing the strap of his toga off his shoulder. With his chest bare, I trace every hard line of his muscles.

Dayton’s kisses grow more urgent, more insistent, as if he’s trying to pour all his emotions into his touch. My heart races in response, and I feel a rush of heat that has nothing to do with the flames beside us.

Dayton grips the bottom of my shirt, and I help him, tugging at the hem until the fabric slips over my head and falls to the floor. He pauses, his eyes drinking me in, and then his lips are on mine again, more fervent, more desperate.

My fingers find the knot of his toga, and I fumble with it. He laughs and throws off the entire thing, leaving himself naked.

“You don’t wear anything beneath that?” I laugh.

“Why add another layer to having you?”

I fall against him, the warmth of his chest against mine intoxicating, and I can’t help but sigh into his mouth.

We move together, a flurry of eager hands and breathless kisses, until he’s stripped me of my pants. The heat of the fire blazes over me. I lie on top of him, and he touches my mouth.

Parting my lips, and without breaking eye contact, I suck his finger.

“Tell me, Fare,” he says, “were you with anyone else these last months?”

I let my teeth scrape against his skin, and he hisses before pulling away and circling my entrance.

“Only someone I’m courting would be privy to such knowledge.”

He narrows his gaze. I want to ask him the same thing, but I won’t do that to myself.

“Fine,” he says and slips a finger inside me. “I think I’d like to watch you with a woman. Would you like that, Fare?”

I grit my teeth as glorious pleasure erupts through me. Pleasure only he’s ever given me. “With you, as well?”

“Of course.”

“Then yes.” He slips a second finger inside and my vision turns hazy. “Yes, yes, yes. Oh gods, you feel so good.”

He captures my cries with a kiss, and I feel his cock harden against mine. I arch my hips, and then we’re moving in perfect rhythm, cocks sliding together as he works me.

I might explode from just this.

“Give me more than your hand, Day.”

He pushes me on my back. The couch molds to my body, and he leans over me, looking like a sculpted god. The firelight makes his hair shimmer like melted gold. I grab his cock, stroking it lightly, slippery with precum, rubbing the prominent veins beneath my finger.

“Always so hard for me.” I grin.

“You can bet I’ll be at every event to do this. Know the moment you see me, my cock will be raging to be inside you. That I’ll find the first fucking moment and drag you away to stuff you full of my cum. No matter how pretty you’re dressed up.” He nods to my finery scattered on the floor.

My entire body feels like an electric current. Desperately, I grab his forearms. “Inside me, now. ”

“Of course, Little Leaf.”

He lifts my hips and angles the tip of his cock at my entrance. Then waits, looking down at me.

He’s so still, staring at me like he sees more than an awkward prince who isn’t even worth courting. “Why are you hesitating?”

“Savoring the moment.” He sighs. “I thought of this every night as I pumped myself into oblivion.”

My body trembles at the thought of the powerful Summer Prince alone in his bed, body trembling with visions of me. I blow the hair off my forehead. “What if I told you I did the same thing?”

“Oh, fuck, baby.” He strokes my cock. “What a naughty boy in your room, taking yourself in your hands, getting your sheets all sticky, thinking of me. Tell me you screamed my name.”

“I screamed your name.”

“And you’ll scream it now.” Day slides into me.

The movement is fluid as he sinks all the way to the hilt, my body spasming as I adjust to his size. He curls over me, forehead to forehead, golden hair brushing my cheeks.

“Does it hurt?”

“No,” I whimper, clenching around his cock, wishing we could stay this way forever. “I love the feeling of you inside me.”

“Me too.” He kisses me, then licks my cheek, before bracing a hand on the back of the couch. He begins to move, really move.

Each powerful, long thrust causes my entire body to shake. The sensation of Dayton within me, the way we fit together so perfectly, is overwhelming. I cling to him, my fingers digging into his shoulders, anchoring myself as wave after wave of pleasure crashes over me. “Yes, Day. Yes.”

How could I have ever thought there was any other choice? I could never deny myself even a sliver of this. Just fun—that’s what he wants.

But he’s not fucking me like I’m his friend or like some random fae he met at a bar. The kisses along my neck, the desperate cadence of my name whispered over and over in the rhythm of his hips, how his eyes shine with what might be tears… He’s fucking me like he loves me.

Maybe I’m delusional. A romantic. A dreamer. But I know deep inside, I’m waiting for him to realize what I already know, what our bodies already know, what he has scorched inside my heart. He loves me.

He loves me.

And if this is all I have for now, it’ll be enough. I’ll fuck him like I love him, every time. Because I do.

I wrap my legs around his hips, drawing him deeper. Slide my tongue along his collar bone, tasting the salt of his sweat.

“Whose great idea was it to do this in front of the fire?” he gasps, hair flying across his brow.

“Yours.”

“Always blaming every bad idea on me.” He smiles, and it’s so bright I nearly die.

“The bad ideas are usually yours,” I say.

“Not you, though.” He grips my cock, stroking in time with his thrusts. “I can’t hold on much longer, Fare.”

“Don’t.”

We lose ourselves in one another, our movements growing primal as we chase that final, blinding crescendo. My cock twitches, so ready for release.

“Day, Day, Day,” I gasp.

“Almost, baby.” He throws his head back, powerful muscles in his neck straining. Another thrust, so deep inside me that my stomach flips. Then another and another. I can’t hold on.

“I’m coming, Day.”

He bursts within me. It feels like the world shatters and re-forms. My cock twitches in his palm, ropes of cum shooting between us. I fall, trembling, clutching him. His head sinks to my chest.

We lay entwined for a long while, heartbeats still wild. My breath feels shaky as he moves, kissing my chest, my neck, my cheek. “Fare. Fare. Gods, you’re beautiful, baby. You feel so good.”

Delirious. He sounds delirious.

Doesn’t he know that this is so much better than he could find in a tavern for one night? Or maybe I’m wrong. It’s not like I know.

He’s all I’ve ever had.

Day presses a gentle kiss to my forehead, my fingers trailing lazily up and down his spine. “You’re so beautiful, Fare,” he murmurs, the words a soft caress against my skin.

I love you, I whisper in my mind, feeling the truth of it settle deep within me. But outside, I push him off me and grin. “You’re right, that was fun.”

His smile falters before he laughs. “Come on, let’s clean up. I have a promise I need to keep.”

Our absence was not noted, the celebration still in full swing. Dayton and I make our way to the drink table as we try to rehydrate from our exhausting rendezvous.

“Be right back,” Day says and drifts into the crowd.

I look around the ballroom. Keldarion is exchanging harsh whispers with his parents. He releases a sigh and turns to the crowd.

“Hey, Little Leaf.” Dayton taps me on the shoulder, and I turn to him. “My promise.”

“What promise?”

Dayton shifts awkwardly from foot to foot; I notice he’s got one hand tucked behind his back. “I got you?—”

“Attention, everyone.” Keldarion’s voice booms across the ballroom. The music fades, and a hush falls over the crowd. I glance around, noting the anticipation on everyone’s faces.

Runa looks every bit the proud mother, her icy elegance softened by a rare smile. Erivor stands tall and imposing, a look of satisfaction etched on his features.

Keldarion clears his throat. “Thank you all for joining us tonight. I have an important announcement to make. For some time now, I have been courting Lady Tilla.” He pauses, allowing the weight of his words to sink in.

A hush spreads over the crowd, a mixture of curiosity and excitement. I glance at Dayton, who raises an eyebrow. Keldarion continues, “Lady Tilla has shown me the depth of her strength and grace, and I am honored to have her by my side.”

I gaze back at Tilla, standing among some Spring nobility. Her expression is inscrutable, eyes fixed on Keldarion. There’s something in her posture, a tension that belies the calm mask she wears.

He’s going to propose, I realize, like he mentioned earlier. To me, a proposal should fill the air with celebration and warmth, except it feels like the entire ballroom might freeze. In fact, by Keldarion’s feet, thin lines of ice creep out.

Keldarion takes a deep breath, his gaze steady. “Tonight, I wish to?—”

A high-pitched scream erupts from outside the ballroom, and the whole place ripples with panic.

Keldarion steps forward, his expression hardening with determination. “Stay in the ballroom. I will investigate. Ezryn, with me. High Prince Damocles, Father, and High Princess Niamh, protect the people.”

“Damn.” Dayton’s mouth falls open. “Commanding the High Rulers, and he’s not even in charge of Winter yet.”

The High Prince of Winter draws a glittering sword. “Go, my son.”

Keldarion rushes beside us, Ezryn following closely. “You two, with me.” He points at us.

Dayton staggers to the side with the movement, and I glimpse a rose falling from his hands. It gets crushed beneath the soles of the other guests, but I tear my gaze away and follow Keldarion.

We rush out of the ballroom, closing the large doors behind us, and make our way to the main entrance hall.

Some of the staff and guests have pushed themselves against the walls, trembling.

The main door to the castle is opened, and beyond, I see the true outside of Castletree, the grounds and the bridge that leads to the forest. But before the door is a slumped mound of black cloth.

Keldarion holds out his arm, and we all slow behind him.

“I d-didn’t mean to make such a sound,” one of the servants says, a middle-aged fae woman with a pink apron around her large hips. I recognize her from my visit to Spring last year.

“It’s alright, Marigold,” Ezryn says, his voice reverberating within his metal helm. “What happened?”

She clutches a hand to her chest. “I was bringing some fresh tea to the party and suddenly the doors blew wide open! And in swoops this m-monster!”

I look back to the mound of cloth on the floor. Strange vines—no, not vines, but briars—are tangled in the fabric. Blood pools beneath.

“That’s not a monster.” Keldarion advances. “It’s a man.”

“Kel, wait—” Ezryn says.

Keldarion kneels and grips the black cloth. Ezryn rushes forward. Dayton gives a shrug before he grabs my arm and tugs me behind him.

Carefully, Keldarion rolls the figure over, and the breath catches in my throat.

I’m not sure what I was expecting…but it wasn’t him.

A beautiful fae with long dark hair strewn across his brow and thickly lashed eyes.

But how can I think of him as beautiful when he’s in such a state?

Red blood lines his lips, and deep scratches mar his hands.

He’s wearing nothing but rags. Even so…there is an unearthly quality about him.

Keldarion’s eyes blaze with blue fire. “Who are you?”

The fae reaches up a shaking hand before it falls from Kel’s silver circlet down to his jaw, leaving a bloody trail. “My name is Caspian,” he says. “I escaped the Below. I need your help.”