My chest heaves as I struggle to catch my breath, trying to calm my fluttering heart because I’m so nervous and yet oddly aroused at the same time. No one has ever touched me like this. So intimately. His hand is pressing insistently against my body as he smooths a line down the valley of my breasts. I should slap him for taking such liberties, but perhaps this is what is supposed to happen between and man and the woman he is to marry. I would not know. I’ve never even been courted.
I scan the room, hoping to see Kai or one of the others for reassurance, but I find nothing. Wherever they are, they are well hidden.
The prince lifts me back up, holding me tightly to his chest as we continue to follow the song’s rhythm.
Something hard presses between us, and I gasp when I realize what it is. I may not know much of men, but I do recognize this. His length is like a hard bar against my abdomen. Having noticed my alarm, a smile tugs at his lips. He leans down and whispers in my ear. “I think I’ll take you.”
I blink up at him, not sure what he means. But he takes my hand firmly in his and leads us off the floor. He grabs two more glasses of that delightful bubbly drink and gives them both to me. They taste so delicious I have no trouble drinking them both.
Several pairs of eyes track us as he pulls me through a narrow door that leads out into the palace gardens. The full moon shines brightly overhead, casting everything in an ethereal silver glow. Thick rows of hedges full of blossoming flowers line the small, cobbled path straight to the center’s large fountain. A soft breeze carries the delicate fragrance of the many roses that we pass.
My entire body feels light as a feather, and I gaze in wonder at the beauty that surrounds us. These gardens are so lovely, I can only imagine how much more beautiful they must be during the day. As we continue moving farther away from the palace, it occurs to me that he and I are entirely alone out here. Despite the lightness of my mood, panic spikes through me. “Your grace,” I begin, “what about your guests?”
He guides me back against the massive trunk of a nearby tree, and presses his hips firmly to mine. “They can wait.” He grins. “And call me Alexander.”
Pinned between him and the tree like this does strange things to me, but I’m nervous. I’ve never done anything like this before, and I’m not sure what to do. I’m not even certain that I like this odd feeling.
He leans forward and drops his head to the curve of my neck and shoulder. He presses a series of kisses along my sensitive skin. I breathe shakily as his hand moves down my neck to the top of my dress, and he slips his fingers beneath the neckline.
I gasp as he palms my breast, brushing his thumb across the soft peak until it hardens. My entire body lights up beneath his touch, but I... this all seems to be happening too fast.
Kai and the others assured me this man would be my husband, but I’m not sure I want to let him take me before we are wed.
“Alexander, I’ve never—”
He whispers against my skin. “Then allow me to lead, my lady.”
Chapter 13
Kai
We follow Ella and the prince out into the royal palace gardens. I sit beside Cash and Finn on a nearby tree, observing. Devon comes up beside us, his black fur nearly invisible against the dark shadows. I project my bitter thoughts to him. “Your dress seems to have worked. It definitely caught the attention of the prince.”
With a slight clench of his jaw, he says nothing as he continues to stare down at Ella and the prince. The prince drops his head between her neck and shoulder, pressing a line of kisses along her skin.
Nyx makes a soft noise of frustration on the ground near the tree’s base then shifts into his human form. I glare down at him as he climbs up beside us. I arch a condescending brow. “Was that necessary? You risk exposing us all.”
A hint of irritation shifts into his gaze. “I could not see anything from the ground.”
“What do you need to see?” I ask. “Can you not tell from our conversation that it is going as planned?”
He turns to look down at Ella and the prince and he gasps.
The prince dips his hands beneath the neckline of her dress and cups her breast. Nyx growls low in his throat. “Is it going as planned?” he asks. “Does not something seem off to you?”
“I want you as mine,” the prince says in a low voice between presses of his lips to her skin. “Say ‘yes,’ Ella. Tell me that you will marry me.”
“Yes,” she says, her voice a breathy sigh as he cups her breast.
My heart shatters at the sight. We should be happy that our plan is working. And yet, I cannot deny that something feels wrong here. But I push the feeling down, believing it to be mere jealousy. I wish it were me pressing tender kisses to her delicate skin. Me cupping her breast in my palm and making her breath rasp as I awaken her desires. Why does it have to be him?
I had not realized I’d projected these thoughts aloud to my bond brothers until Finn comes up beside me and touches my wing. “I feel the same, brother,” he says as he turns his gaze to everyone else. “As do we all.”
“Let us go
