Page 1083 of One More Kiss

Chapter3

Edan’s facepaled as I raised my wand higher. “Stop. You must rethink this.I see you. Not what you can give me, but who you are. I’ve realized so much, but it will mean nothing if you wave that wand.” He took a step toward me. “All that we need is us—you and me to face the world, together. Surely, you feel it, too?”

The heart could betray the most honorable of intentions. I wavered.

Edan noticed and moved closer. “Why? And who? Wait. I guarantee I know exactly who paid for this wish.” He clenched his hands into fists and began to pace the length of the room.

I lowered my wand and nodded. “Yes, you do, but, Edan, this is my job. I must do this, even if I don’t want to—that’s how it works.” I hung my head, ashamed and guilt-ridden. “You know that.” My voice was just above a whisper then.

“No, it’s not—not if you refuse.” He stopped pacing and stared at me. “It’s Princess Hadley, isn’t it?” His mouth curved into a deep frown. I’d never seen him so upset, so…angry.

“It is.” I swallowed, although my mouth was dry as the desert in the neighboring kingdom. I wanted to say so many things, but I feared… feared he would reject anything now that he knew my true intention for visiting. Could I really go through with this?

“I cannot stand to be in her presence. I met Princess Hadley at a ball last year, and I told her so to her face. She’s self-centered and power-hungry and doesn’t even attempt to hide her ambitions. Yet, she’s paying for a wish to have me marry her, to fall in love withher?” Edan’s expression changed from angry to hurt. “How could you do this to me? After all of your speeches on free will and true love, and how the kingdom is wrong to magic things together on the whim of someone else’s desire as they do? What about that, Tatiana? Was it all lies?”

I nearly broke down again at his words and shook my head. “No. It’s all true—every single word. I believe that with my whole heart. I didn’t want to do this—I don’t, especially not to you. I’ve been warring with myself, attempting to find a way around it, but I have no idea what to do.” I pressed my hand to my chest. “It’s killing me inside.”

Edan crossed the room and closed the distance between us. “Tatiana, you shouldn’t reconsider only because it’s the right thing to do, or only because of our friendship.” He paused, taking my hands in his. “You should…because I’ve been waiting for the right time to ask you to be my Queen.”

I gasped in shock. “Are you—”

He raised his index finger and touched my lips. “Shh. Let me finish.” I bobbed my head, my heart practically doing somersaults inside my chest. “Why do you think I’ve wanted you in my garden, requesting your services at least weekly?”

“I…uh, I thought. Well, I—” I couldn’t manage a coherent sentence, my eyes certainly as large as dinner plates.

“I’ll soon be taking the throne, and I want you at my side. But now”—He released my hands and speared his fingers through his hair—“I have to wonder if all we’ve shared and discussed—does it mean anything to you? If you were willing to grant her a wish? I thought I knew you better, Tatiana. I thought we could change the kingdom together.” Edan paused again, staring into my eyes as I tried not to cry. “Do you feel the same?”

I couldn’t take anymore and threw my arms around his neck. “Yes, I feel the same. I always have. I had no idea you would return my affections. I’m at—”

“You talk too much.” Edan grinned, then caught my mouth in a soul-searing kiss, and I thought I might melt into a puddle on the floor beneath my feet. I was experiencing my first kiss. I was actually kissing the man I’d secretly longed for, pined over since I was a teenager. Oh, my goddess.

“I can hear you thinking,” he said with a smirk against my lips.

I giggled and pulled away just a bit, gazing into his emerald eyes. “Sorry. This was…my, um, well… first kiss?” I scrunched up my nose, and he chuckled.

“First of many more to come.” He leaned his forehead against mine. “Of that I’m certain, if you’ll have me.”

I made a show of thinking about it for a moment. “Hmm… I don’t know.” And he squeezed me tighter. “Yes!” I squealed. “Of course I’ll have you. I can’t imagine myself with any other man.”

Edan pressed a chaste kiss upon my lips, and again, I thought I might die from the unfamiliar sensations coursing throughout my body. “You’re mine, Tatiana.”

“And you’re mine, Prince.” I couldn’t stop the stupidly wide grin splitting my face. I knew I likely appeared as a moron, but I couldn’t have cared less.

Oh, shit. Griselda. Reality came crashing down upon my head, like a bucket of ice-cold water.

“What is it?” Edan’s voice was laced with concern. “Why are you frowning?”

I dropped my arms from his neck as my heart plummeted to the floor. “What do we do about the guild? They’ll think I’ve gone rogue like…my mother.”

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