Page 103 of The Rebel and the Rose
Tomorrow, they could be rebels.
Tonight, they could be free.
The journey back to the Paramour was really more of a feverish sprint, both of them barely able to keep her hands off each other as they raced through the winding streets.
Time skipped and swirled and then they were alone, holed up in Ransom’s bedroom at the Paramour Inn. Moonlight slipped through the drapes and fractured across the walls as Sera crossed to the window. She was suddenly nervous, her heart so full, she could feel it in her throat. There was a sense of destiny about this night. She couldn’t help feeling like they were teetering on the precipice of something new and vital, that their time at Marvale was going to change everything.
Parting the drapes, she watched the red mills turning high on the hills, those red lights casting a crimson glow acrossthe town. She could hear the music all the way from here. It sounded like freedom.
Treading softly, Ransom came to stand behind her. ‘Everything dances here.’ He pressed a kiss to the back of her neck. ‘Even the moonlight.’
Smiling, she turned her face up to his. ‘Feels like a good omen.’
His hands skimmed her bare shoulders, each feather-light stroke firing every nerve ending in her skin. A familiar warmth rippled down her spine, her magic unfurling in her chest like a preening cat. It was enamoured with Ransom.
Shewas enamoured.
‘Thank you for standing down tonight,’ she murmured. ‘For trusting me. For waiting for me.’
He canted his head to look at her. ‘I’ll always wait for you, Seraphine.’
She blinked up at him, the words tripping out before she could stop them. ‘I thought that once before.’
His brows knitted. ‘Things are different now.’
‘Are they?’ she said, her hope a whisper between them.
‘Now I know what it’s like to go without you.’ The world dimmed to the honeyed light of his eyes, and the way his thick dark lashes cast shadows on his cheeks. ‘There is no Order, no allegiance, no amount of power that’s worth that.’ He lifted a strand of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear, trailing his finger along her jaw. Voice hoarse, he said, ‘I am not a good man, Seraphine, but I can be good to you.’
She felt the truth in every word. Fingering the skull ring on his left hand, she said, ‘What will you be, if not a Dagger?’
His smile was slow and secretive, a flicker of white in the moonlight. ‘Bastian, I suppose.’
Yes, her heart screamed. She loved the way he said his own name, as if he was reclaiming it. It felt like a new promise between them.
‘You might miss it, you know,’ she teased, letting him turn her from the window. ‘Being my enemy.’
He rested on the sill, pulling her into him. ‘I was never really your enemy, though, was I?’
She tugged on that silver chain. ‘I can distinctly remember a time when youdefinitelytried to kill me. Back when I was a thief.’
‘Then you stole the heart right out of my chest.’
Shameless flirt. ‘Maybeyouare the real Silver-tongue of Marvale.’
His brow furrowed. ‘Enough about the prince. I’m only interested in one saint tonight.’
‘Please don’t ever call me that,’ she chided.
‘Do you prefer “spitfire”?’
Laughing now, she nodded. ‘I think I do.’
Outside the Paramour, the night mist thickened, blowing in from the west in lofty silver ribbons. It felt like a curtain was falling over them, hiding them away from the rest of the world. He moved his forefinger beneath her chin, tipping her mouth to his. She kissed him once, soft and slow. Then again, her lips parting to welcome his tongue. He groaned at the first brush, like a dying man slaked of thirst.
She arched towards him, and he deepened their kiss, the hungry press of his mouth dizzying her thoughts. He pulledher closer, and she crawled onto his lap. Pressing her hands against the window behind him, she claimed his mouth, wrenching another deep moan from him. No sweeter music.
He grew hard beneath her, the press of his desire sending heat spiralling through her core. When he gasped against her lips, she stilled, snapping her eyes open. In the reflection of his heavy-lidded gaze, she saw herself shining.
