Page 68 of The Prince and His Stolen Throne

“You really are bad at this,” he said, stroking his thumb over my lips in a distracting pattern. “Repeat after me: Please, Master Wilde.”

I pursed my lips. “You’re not my master.”

“In this moment, I am.” I expected more cajoling or threats, something to force my hand. He only waited patiently. Confident I would obey.

“Please, Master Wilde.”

His thumb parted my lips. “Put some emotion into it.”

“What emotion?”

He leaned down, his mouth only a few inches from mine. “Desperation.”

I stared into his eyes, as dark as the night sky. Even as I looked up at him, I fell into him. Suddenly off-balance, I reached out for something to hold onto. My hands closed around the backs of his calves. His muscles flexed under my touch. “Please, Master Wilde,” I repeated, my voice so breathy I felt more than heard it.

“Please what?” he asked, his own voice rough. “Ask me for something. Make me as desperate to give it to you as you are to have it.”

The rest of the world faded away. I forgot about the others watching, the quest, the roles we both played. What would Wilde do for me if I begged him the right way? What did I want from him? My gaze dropped to his mouth, always issuing orders when it could be doing so much more. “Kiss me.”

Wilde leaned closer yet stopped short. A thin layer of air separated us. “That’s not a request, that’s ademand. Try again.”

I trailed my hands up his calves, over the sensitive backs of his knees. His legs quaked but he refused to bend to me. I continued my path upward to his thighs, digging my fingers into his muscles and earned a delicious tremor for my efforts. I might have been the one kneeling, butone more push, and he’d be the one giving in. “Pleasekiss me.” I poured every ounce of want into those three words.Is that desperate enough for you?

His mouth descended onto mine, giving me exactly what I’d asked for. Wilde had little patience for soft or sweet, immediately delving his tongue between my lips, filling my mouth with the taste of him. It turned out I had more to want after all—wanting his hands on me, wanting to touch every inch of him. Every part of me ached with desire until I thought a single kiss would end me.

Suddenly, he pulled back, taking away his hands and lips. “Remember what I taught you for next time, Treasure,” he whispered in my ear.

I blinked open my eyes to a hazy, out-of-focus world. He had already vanished, not a trace of him left behind. My fists clutched empty air, as if I’d never had him at all.

What the fuck?

When I tried to get to my feet, my knees trembled and almost dumped me back on the ground. As if they hoped that if I remained kneeling, he would come back.Traitors.I forced myself to stand up straight and grimaced at the obvious bulge in my pants.

The chill night breeze and the sense of abandonment quickly dampened my arousal. I brushed myself off and wiped the traces of Wilde off my lips before returning to the others. I braced for their reactions, expecting judgment or outrage at theverypublic display of affection.

Instead, I found them sitting around a campfire, preparing dinner. Delilah glanced up at me and asked, “Finished?”

I cleared my throat and nodded awkwardly.

“Great,” Fitz said. “We were discussing the plan for tonight’s watch. Maximus still has some honey to offer the minor dryads, but we were also considering other fortifications.”

The conversation continued in a bizarrely normal manner.I guess none of them saw the kiss.Part of me was relieved to be spared the humiliation of witnesses. The other part worried that maybe it wasn’t real, that I’d only imagined kissing Wilde.

“You know,” Angelica drawled.

Here it comes.

“Will seems much too good for you.”

I blinked at her in confusion. “What?”

“Capable, smart, already has a good profession lined up.” She ticked off his qualities on her fingers. “Meanwhile, you’re just”—she looked me up and down, her lip curling in disdain—“an asshole.”

The fire sparked and crackled as Maximus shoved more wood into it “Trey’s capable and smart too.”

“And a prince,” Delilah added. She meant to be helpful, but I flinched at the reminder of my deception.

Earlier, I’d been worried about their reaction to Wilde’s identity.How will they react when they find out whoIreally am?