Page 17 of All the Chaos of Constellations
“Or whether I want to toss you back into that fountain.”
“Oh, piss off.” Novalise whirled away from him and started back up the path through the garden, her gait uneven with the loss of one shoe.
Asher let out a low whistle, admiring the distinctive sway of her hips. “Impressive. I never knew Lady Novalise Starstorm had such a mouth on her.”
This time when she turned back to face him, it was slow. Intentional. Her smile was pure seduction laced with poison. “Yes. And it can do more than just spout off naughty words, too.”
Without warning, images slammed into his mind. The smooth velvet of her skin beneath the palm of his hands. Her waves of lavender hair splayed over his black silk pillows. Hips moving to meet his every thrust. Stars bursting between them in a shower of midnight flames. Nails scouring his back. That mouth of hers taking every last inch of him.
But then she was up on that dais again, looking like she was crafted from porcelain. Fragile. Breakable. Nothing at all like the faultless projection she displayed to the rest of the world.
Asher rocked back onto his heels, wondering what could’ve caused her emotions to swell with disquiet, to leave her trembling with dread. The apprehension growing within her had nearly strangled him. Only when he worried she might actually collapse did he slip into her mind to calm her. “Do you want to tell me what happened back there?”
He nodded toward the observatory in the distance, and her face instantly shuttered.
“Why? So you can ridicule me?” Her voice broke, and it wrecked something inside of him. She wrapped her arms around herself, her pace slow and uneven as she hobbled up the path. Long shadows crawled over her, and she shivered. “So you can tell me I’m nothing but a spoiled princess who didn’t get her way?”
Asher strolled toward her, casually flicking his wrist so a sphere of black and silver flames erupted in his palm. Magic throbbed through the air as he manipulated the flames into a glowing orb of heat that followed Novalise, warming her. “What do you mean, you didn’t get your way?”
“I mean…” Her eyes followed the orb of faerie fire as it encircled her, the corners of her mouth barely lifting before turning down once more. Another sigh escaped her, and her shoulders fell. “I mean, I lost everything, my lord. Now leave me alone.”
Nope. That wasn’t going to happen. He was too invested.
“There’s a number of things you could lose. Your shoe, for example.” He dropped onto a bench beneath an overhang of wisteria blossoms. “Care to be more specific?”
She fisted her hands on her hips. “Are you always so intolerable?”
“I suppose that depends.” He stretched his legs out, crossing one ankle over the other. “Are you always so dramatic?”
“You really have no idea, do you?” Novalise was pacing now, her steps fitful and uneven. She paused, yanked off her other shoe, and tossed it into the gardens. “My star reading was disastrous.”
Asher bit the inside of his cheek. He didn’t believe in star readings or signs, but figured now probably wasn’t the best time to mention it.
“You’re right,” he mused, tucking his hands behind his head. “You didn’t get your way, but it’s not the end of the world. You can control your own destiny.”
Novalise gaped at him. “No, I can’t. That’s the one thing I have no control over.”
“Says who?” he countered.
“Everyone.”
“Everyone meaning your mother?” He hit his mark and her mouth snapped shut.
She dropped onto the bench beside him. Moonlight flickered through the wisteria, highlighting the iridescent water on her face. It was like liquid stardust. Slowly, he reached out and gently swiped his thumb along her cheek. She usually projected radiance. Confidence. But now, she looked crestfallen, as though everything she loved had been taken from her.
Asher leaned back, letting his hand drop. “What happened in the observatory?”
“I already told you.” Her face pinched in anguish. “I?—”
“No.” He grabbed her hand, smooth and unmarred, soft against the calluses of his skin. “Tell me what happened before your reading.”
“I don’t know.” Again, her perfectly crafted exterior faltered, and for a moment, he saw the shadow of fear lurking beneath the surface of her flawless skin. “I’ve had this burning doubt in the back of my mind, like this ever-present sense of dread.”
She ducked her chin, angling her face away from his view. “For a moment, I thought it was you.”
He couldn’t blame her. Not really. The bond ensured they felt each other’s emotions with astute clarity. Yet over the past few days, his emotions had ranged from harbored resentment to plain disregard. Which could only mean her feelings were more substantial.
“And then up on the dais, with everyone staring at me, I started panicking.” Novalise rubbed her lips together, hastily swiping away the smudges of kohl beneath her eyes. “I was so close to having everything I wanted, but all this anxiety bubbled to the surface. It was like I was drowning, like I couldn't get to the surface for air. My palms were sweating, my chest was tight, the blood was rushing in my ears, so loud I couldn’t hear anyone or anything.”
