My heart sinks at the thought. “I must be an idiot because it’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
Sarissa sighs. “You’re not an idiot. You’re in love.”
I stare at her. “Wait. Were you testing me just now?”
She laughs, but her eyes are wet. “You’re willing to give up any future that includes Starbucks. That says it all.”
I turn to pace. I am in love.
I thought I knew what love was. I believed it was like an ember, hidden and protected deep within a person’s soul. In reality, love is a wildfire that burns away everything you thought you knew. It creeps up on you, almost silent, until you’re suddenly overcome, surrounded by flames. And you’d run right through those flames if it meant you could spend the rest of your life with that person.
But life isn’t a fairy tale.
“What if I stay, and then in a few months, we’re tired of each other?”
“After what you guys went through, I’m willing to bet that won’t happen. He loves you, girl. As much as I’d like to tell you otherwise, so you’d come with me, it’s obvious every time you’re in the same room together. Sometimes, he stares at you like it’d physically hurt him to look away. And every now and then, his hands curl, as if he wants to reach for you and he’s barely holding himself back.”
I stop pacing and stare at her, my heart racing. “Are you serious?”
She gives me a look. “Trained observer, remember? I know what I’ve seen. Not to mention, he was an absolute mess when you were unconscious for all those days. Korzyn had to threaten to drug him to get him to eat and bathe.”
I chew on that, turning to look out the window at the gardens below. “Do you think I’d be making a mistake if I stayed?”
“I don’t want you to stay, but that’s my selfishness. I feel like I just found you, and I don’t want to lose you again. But you have to do what’s best for you. Love like yours…I think you’re lucky if it happens once in a lifetime. You’d be a fool to turn your back on it.”
“So what do I do now?”
“Sounds like you need to go talk to that arrogant king. And I need to figure out how to get this chip back to Alexis.”
I open my mouth to protest, but she points toward the door, her eyes sparkling. “Go.”
I go.
I don’t yet have the energy to run, but I walk as fast as I can down the hall. Urgency fills me, and I curse my puny body as I make my way back toward Arix’s rooms.
My breath leaves me as I slam into a chest, falling backward. Strong arms grab me, barely preventing me from landing on my butt.
Arix.
His face is tormented.
“Running already?”
I open my mouth, and he gives me a slight shake.
“The moment I saw you, I knew you’d ruin me.”
I blink at him, still winded, and he pulls me closer, leaning down until his face is close to mine.
“You’re a liar,” he growls. “You’re wild, and you don’t even know it. You deceive when it suits you, even if you may feel bad about it. You’ll do anything to get your way if you can justify it as saving someone else. Even if it means you’ll never be happy.”
I open my mouth, and he leans even closer with a snarl.
“And I love you unreservedly. It makes me stupid. You’ve managed to bring a king to his knees. So will you leave me here, crawling for you? Or will you admit you love me back?”
His words loosen something tight in my chest, and suddenly I can take a full breath again. I raise my hand, burying it in his hair. His expression turns feral, and I bare my teeth at him, furious, ecstatic, and completely, incredibly alive.
“I love you,” I snarl. “So much that it hurts. Are you happy now?”
He throws his head back and laughs. “Happy?”
He bends his knees, and I’m suddenly in his arms as he stalks back toward his rooms.
“I was waiting for you before I knew you existed,” he murmurs, and I lean up, winding my arms around his neck.
“You truly love me?”
“I would let no other female even think about betraying me. I imagined it was just the way we tumbled, or perhaps the thrill of someone new. But when I thought you’d never wake up, I wanted to lie down next to you and not move for the rest of my life.”
He pushes open the door to his rooms, and I wipe my wet face against his shirt. He lets out a low laugh. “No more of that.”
My tears continue to fall, and he gently places me on the ground before kissing the tears from my face.
I sniff. “I always thought I was the fuckup. I thought I’d never amount to anything, so I never tried to be more than they said I could be. I sat and let them take photos of me, and I smiled, and I moved my arms and my legs and tilted my head, and I grew up and did it all again. And then I came here. And you taught me I was more than a puppet.”
“Shh,” Arix soothes me. “You are many things, but you’re no one’s puppet.”
I give him a shaky smile, and he cups my face with his huge hand, leaning down to brush his lips against mine. The kiss is slow, gentle, and so tender that tears fill my eyes once more.
My stomach flutters at the feel of his hands on me. It seems like it’s been years since he touched me like this, and I moan, pulling him closer.
He refuses to deepen our kiss, and I let out a growl that makes him chuckle against my mouth.
“More,” I demand.
“Shh. Gently.”
He keeps his mouth on mine as he lifts me, carrying me to the bed, where he follows me down until I’m lying on
