Page 149 of Fearless

And nothing has ever felt so perfect.

His hold grows suddenly gentle, and I catch a slight trembling of his fingers when he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. I am delicate in his arms, devoted in his gaze. “Are you sure, Pae?”

I smile up at him, having never been so sure of anything in my life. “Yes,” I answer softly. “Tonight will be our forever.”

The loosened corset has a strap falling from my shoulder. Holding his gaze, I slip the other off my arm—an invitation. His chest heaves as I reach for his tunic and the trail of buttons down its center. One by one, I pull them free, revealing a sliver of skin beneath.

Kai’s gaze glides over my collarbones, the lifting of my chest, the falling of my fingers from his shirt. He holds my stare and shrugs the fabric from his shoulders before casting it aside. Beads of water roll down his bare chest and the swirling tattoo there. Raindrops trail the length of his stomach, following the path of ridged muscle.

I’ve never found breathing to be such a chore.

My fingers skim over the rough leather belt hanging low on his hips. Slowly, I trace the hilt of a thin dagger, clinging to the side of his pants. My eyes never stray from his as I pull the weapon free and toss it aside.

His smile is dangerous. “I’ve never seen you pass up an opportunity to threaten me.”

“Don’t sound so disappointed,” I whisper slyly.

That grin grows greedy, but when he lowers himself over me, the movement is gentle. I run my hands across his bare back, feeling every muscle that ripples down the length of it. Then his mouth is on my skin again, kissing the length of my collarbone. The hollow of my throat. Above the heart that aches for him, and the scar his father gave me.

Kai’s eyes flick up to mine then, after he’s skimmed his mouth overthe mangled skin. His lips form a murmured promise. “No part of you will go unloved.”

I nod, rain splattering my face and rolling down my cheeks like the tears I refuse to shed. I nod, because I believe him. I nod, because there is not an inch of myself that I will not give him.

My confession is breathy, nearly lost on the wind. “I love you.”

Then I shiver, because I want him so recklessly that it shakes me to my very core.

And tonight, he is mine.

Lighting strikes, illuminating the fierce cut of his body above mine, muscles tense and gray eyes molten with heat.

“I love you,” I say again, and pull his face up toward mine.

He kisses me, and the world falls quiet. “I love you.”

And when the dress slips from my skin, leaving only the rain to clothe me, he seems to whisper into my very soul. “You are my forever.”

Shadow and Flame.

Formidably inevitable.

“Forever my undoing.”

CHAPTER 55Kai

Dawn streams through the willow’s branches, slipping between the gaps in her embrace.

I roll groggily onto my side, skin slick with morning dew. My hand reaches for her warmth but finds only cold air. Blinking awake, I sit up rigidly atop the damp blanket, my bare chest exposed to the morning chill.

My frantic gaze lands on her. Then it calms. Evolves into something akin to awe.

Pae sits at the end of the blanket, light dappling her smooth skin. Shadows of willow leaves paint her body, ever shifting in the slight breeze. She is a vision, something so ethereal in this moment that I may just believe there is a God. She is the closest thing to a deity.

Her smile is soft, lingering at the corners with a slight shyness she rarely lets me see. “Good morning, Prince.”

My pants are damp with dew, but I bend my knees, propping elbows on them loosely. “Good morning, darling.”

I watch her pull each strap of that damp and dirtied dress over hershoulders. She can feel the gaze I drag over her and kindly lets me continue. Inching closer, Pae turns her bare back to me. “I know you’re better at unlacing corsets, but I can’t walk through the castle with my dress falling off.”

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