Page 100 of Love & Letter Charms
“Mmm.” His smile curve up on one side. “It might have contained a word beginning with L.”
She quirked an eyebrow, finding refuge in their familiar banter. “Lamentable liar?”
His laugh was rich and genuine. “Actually, it was rather shorter. Four letters. Begins with L-I and rhymes with ‘fleece.’”
She glanced down before daring to look up at him through her lashes, a shy smile ghosting across her lips. “You know you do not need to wish for me,” she murmured. “You already have me.”
His gaze flared—warmth and adoration blazing into something bright and unguarded. “Stars,” he breathed, “if I did notlove you so completely already, that would undo me all over again.”
The raw honesty in his voice sent heat blooming across her cheeks.
“And I shall never tire of how beautiful you are when you blush,” he continued. “Is that too forward? I’m saying it regardless. You blush frequently and it’s utterly enchanting and I adore it.”
A laugh bubbled up from somewhere deep in her chest. “You sound like … him. You. The way you write in your letters.”
“Well, yes. We are, as it happens, the same person.”
The reminder made her feel shy again, the magnitude of it all—that her secret correspondent and this wonderful, maddening prince were one—threatening to overwhelm her.
She remembered the moonflare token still clutched in her palm and held it out, the silver moth catching the light. “If I could wish for anyone,” she said quietly, “I would wish for you.”
For a moment he didn’t move, didn’t speak, and she glanced up just in time to see him swallow before he stepped closer. He reached out and enclosed both her hand and the token within his larger ones. The warmth of him seemed to encompass her entirely, and she found herself swaying toward him.
Then he stopped, shaking his head. “Wait. No. There is something I must say first.”
He released her hand, and every part of her wanted him to take it back. But his expression had changed, his usual confidence seeming to waver, replaced by a raw, unguarded honesty.
“I need to apologize,” he said, taking a steadying breath. “For not revealing myself sooner. I know how it must have seemed—a deception, a betrayal of the trust you placed in me through our letters. I felt as though it was the only way for you to come to know me, but that does not excuse keeping the full truth from you for so long, letting you think you were corresponding with one person while growing close to another, when all along we were?—”
She stood on tiptoe, gripped the front of his jacket with both hands, pulled herself toward him, and pressed her mouth to his.
For a heartbeat, they both froze—he from pure surprise, she from the shocking realization that she hadn’t the faintest idea what came next. But then his arms came around her, drawing her against him, and her uncertainty dissolved into something far more overwhelming.
The moonflare dropped from her clenched hand as her fingers slid upward, threading into his hair, soft and warm beneath her trembling hands. His palm traced a path down her spine, settling at the small of her back, where it spread and drew her closer still until there was scarcely space for breath between them. His other hand tangled in her hair at the nape of her neck.
Her lips parted on a trembling breath, and his met them again, surer this time, a rush of warmth and need that made her pulse stumble.“Stars … L …”The sound of her name, half gasped against her mouth, carried such raw longing that it sent shivers racing through her, heat unfurling beneath her skin.
Her magic broke free in a rush of sound, a thousand threads of melody unfurling at once. Music tangled over itself in scattered harmonies, swelling and spilling outward until it became everything: air and heartbeat and breath and light as the world tilted and all she could feel was him. His breath, his touch, his heartbeat thrumming against hers. The sensation broke over her like a wave, dizzying and all-encompassing, flooding every thought until she was lost in it—overwhelmed, undone, yet utterly unwilling to draw back.
He tightened his grip on the back of her neck, further angling her face upward. His mouth moved against hers with growing certainty, drawing her closer, drawing her under, until the world itself seemed to bend around the space they shared.
And she was drowning. She was flying. She was coming apart at the seams and being remade with every thundering beat of her heart. But she did not let go.
Gradually, the rush softened. The fierce rhythm of the kiss slowed, faltered, until they were simply breathing the same air, mouths barely apart, foreheads almost touching. Her pulse raced wild and uneven as he murmured, breathless against her lips, “Are you still with me?”
She nodded, her nose brushing against his, her hands now fisted in his jacket, as though he were the only thing holding her upright. “I … yes.”
The rush had not fully left her; it surged and receded in turns, a tide of heat and light that threatened to take her under. But as she breathed him in—his warmth, his steadiness—she felt it settling. The tide was easing, and though she still felt the pull, it seemed she had not been swept away after all.
“I promised I would not let you drown,” he whispered, knowing where her thoughts lingered.
She nodded again, eyes still closed, and then it turned into a side-to-side motion as she gently dragged her lips back and forth across his, because—stars above—the soft brush of his skin against hers sent the most wonderful tingles throughout her entire body.
“Are you enjoying this?” he asked, and she both heard his smile and felt it against her mouth.
“Yes.” Her laugh was soft and breathy, and this was without a doubt the most intoxicating thing she had ever experienced. Even more entrancing than the driftshade.
He kissed her again, the soft, sweet press of lips on lips. “L …” he murmured. “L for Lovely …” Another kiss at the corner of her mouth. “L for Luminous …” The next kiss on the curve of her cheek. “L for Literally Everything I’ve Ever Wanted.” His lips brushed over the delicate skin of her closed eyelid as a breath of laughter escaped her.
