Page 54 of Burn Bright
"If he does, then I'll have to stay at the prince's side," Cas murmured, his hand covering my cheek, and his thumb rasping gently down to my mouth. "The line of succession will be insecure enough with him still alive, if the king banishes him from court. I don't think Rygil would take steps to remove the problem, but there are those close enough to Rygil who might seek to remove any obstacles.Neva—"
"His life is indanger."
Andyours.
But I didn't sayit.
He was leaving. This was goodbye. His touch shivered through me, and I didn't dare let him speak, for I knew he felt the sameway.
I didn't say,"Will I ever see youagain?"
And I didn't say,"Stay,please."
We both had our causes, and neither was any less important than the other. The princehadto discover how to keep histhrone.
But if this was goodbye, then I didn't want it to pass us by unremarkedeither.
"I will miss you." Sliding my hands up his chest, I saw the heat flare in his eyes, just before I kissedhim.
The kiss gave him the permission he needed. Cas pushed me against the wall, and crushed his mouth against mine. My response was just as frantic. Leather creaked as my hands found the hard carapace of his hunting leathers, exploring the expanse of his chest. Cas's sheer size overwhelmed me, and I realized how particular and careful he was—and always had been. He was heat and solid muscle. Purestrength.
I was alone, and then I found you. I poured myself into the kiss, trying to tell him what words could not, my tongue darting againsthis.
Hard calluses stirred against my shirt, as if he did not quite dare touch me. Grabbing his wrists, I dragged his palms flat against my body, feeling them mold to my hips. It wasn't enough. It would never be enough. My nails skated up his forearms, digging into the flex of his biceps, mouth opening on a gasp. In another world, maybe, we could have beentogether.
It was as if my hunger transferred itself to him. Hands slid up my sides, learning the curve of my waist. Soft and gentle at first, the pressure slowly increasing, until one warm palm settled in the small of my back. Every inch of hard muscle was pressed againstme.
Heat swarmed through my veins, as if Casimir's kiss stoked the flames of the firebird within me. His hand paused, thumbs brushing lightly against the undersides of my breasts, and then he drew back, both of us inhaling sharply. He hovered there, turning his face into the hollow of my throat, as if to catch hisbreath.
And perhaps hisequilibrium.
Another second, and we both might have beenlost.
Thick lashes shielded his eyes as he pushed away from me. Our eyes met, his filled with regret. All of the emotion slid off his face as he locked himself down. The smooth planes of his cheeks were granite once more. My hand fell from his chest, my fingers curling sharply into my palms, as my throatconstricted.
I'd never wanted to beg a man to stay the way I didnow.
Yet those cursed words wouldn't pass my tightly constrictedlips.
"Goodbye,Neva."
And then he gathered the reins of his horse, and led the gelding from the stable, and suddenly I was cold again, one hand pressed gently to my stinging lips and the other still clenched in a tightfist.
The last time I saw him, the dawn’s soft light obliterated the shadows from his shoulders and dark cloak and then… then he was simplygone
All that was left for me now wasGravenwold.
