Page 86 of Grim and Oro
I’ve had months to think about all the things I want to do to her. If she lets me, I’m going to take my time doing them. Over and over again. Until her voice is hoarse from screaming my name, until her legs are trembling, until she is boneless and spent.
She swallows, and it’s as if she can sense my every thought. My every desire.
“Take me to the festival,” she says, voice breathless. I taste her own desire, as sharp as mine.
I don’t want to go to the Skyling newland. But she asked. And I’ll give her anything she wants.
“Fine,” I say. “Get dressed.”
Isla, ruler of Wildling, with a closet full of dresses in almost every shade, apparently didn’t have anything to wear, so she sent me to a Skyling market with a list.
I don’t know how I went from being a warrior and ruler of Nightshade to running errands, but here I am, disguised, wandering from stall to stall, asking if anyone hasglitter.
And the worst part is, I don’t mind. I don’t mind at all.
Later, back in her room, she takes ages to get ready. After an hour, I can no longer contain my impatience. “Are you preparing for battle or for a foolish party, Hearteater?” Even putting on my armor takes just minutes. What could possibly take over anhour?
“Both, if you’re going to be so insufferable,” she says, finally opening the door.
I stare, stunned. Seeing her in everything I bought takes my breath away.
She’s wearing a short blue dress and shoes that look torturous to walk in. My eyes move directly to her legs. Then, they rise to the hem of her dress. To her chest. To her shoulders, dusted in the glitter I found for her.
I swallow hard. I’m done. Ruined. I might as well bury myself, at this point.
“How do I look?” she asks, spinning around, the hem of her dress lifting gently. I flex my hands to keep from reaching out to touch her.
She looks incredible.
But she’s wearing the wrong colors. I frown.
“You look like a Skyling,” I say, not hiding my preference for seeing her in my own realm’s shades.
“Good,” she says. “That’s exactly what I was going for.”
This celebration is ridiculous.
Everyoneis ridiculous, dressed up in glimmering fabrics that make my eyes bleed. It’s too crowded. Too loud. Too joyous.
I scowl as someone has the nerve to touch my arm as they pass, and I have to remind myself that we are disguised. No one knows who we are.
Everything in me wants to leave, until I turn to her and notice she’s beaming at everything I hate.
Her joy is more radiant than all the balloons in the sky.
She loves this. “It’s beautiful,” she breathes.
I feel the slight heat of embarrassment. She knows I’m looking at her. She frowns and places her hands on either side of my face, trying to turn my head toward the balloons, but I don’t budge. I’m looking at exactly what I came here to see. I tell her the same thing I’ve thought a thousand times. “When you’ve seen something truly beautiful, everything else starts to look painfully ordinary.”
She takes my hand, and my first reaction is to tense, to drop it. But then I curl my fingers around hers, and yes. I like this. I could get used to this.
“Come on,” she says, and I realize I’ll follow her anywhere.
Azul, ruler of Skyling, is giving a speech somewhere nearby. She asks about him, and I answer her questions. I’m glad I formed illusions around us, for he would have spotted me instantly, and that would have been the end of this.
Seeing him makes me remember how reckless it is to come here uninvited. But I don’t care. In this moment, my fingers twined with hers, I don’t care at all.
Isla does, though. She drops my hand, and I grab it again, pressing her palm more firmly against mine. Her desire flares, and I glance at her.
