Page 121 of Of Masks and Fury

“But you weren’t.” Her hand slid into my hair, stroking. “You came for me. You always come for me.”

I leaned into her touch like a newborn firecat seeking affection. “There’s no version of reality where I don’t come for you, Isi. You’re mine.”

“I’m yours.” Her eyes sparked with that fierce light I loved. “And you’re mine. And when my father brings his war, we’ll face it together.”

“Completely.” I cupped her face, brushing her cheekbones with my fingers. “From the moment you stabbed me, I was yours.”

She laughed, the sound washing over me like sunlight. “That seems like a lifetime ago.”

“You changed everything for the better.” I held her gaze, making sure she read my heart in every word. “My court. My kingdom. Me. You made me want things I’d stopped letting myself dream about. Partnership. Someone who sees past the crown to who I actually am.”

Her expression softened. “Trew…”

“I love you.” Simple. True. “The princess. The woman who climbs through windows and fights with deadly skill and challenges me at every turn. The woman who’s brave enough to stand beside a rebel king even when it costs her everything.”

Tears filled her eyes, but she was smiling. “I love you. So much it terrifies me sometimes.”

I pulled her closer. “Be terrified with me.”

“Stop talking,” she said against my lips, “and kiss me.”

She didn’t wait for me to respond. She claimed my mouth with a kiss that erased every coherent thought from my mind.

It wasn’t gentle or tentative. It was Isi pouring her fear, her relief, her love, and her desire into me. Her tongue swept across mine. She pressed her body flush against mine, her soft curves molding to hard muscle.

I groaned into her mouth, one hand fisting in her hair while the other gripped her hip. Her hands were everywhere, in my hair and across my shoulders and chest, like she was trying to memorize me with her touch.

I matched her intensity, letting her feel how much I wanted this and her. How I’d raze the world if it meant we’d find moments like this at the end.

Steam rose around us. Stars twinkled overhead. And we were finally, completely alone.

She broke the kiss only long enough to gasp. “I need you.”

“You have me.” I pulled her back, kissing her like I could breathe life into her lungs. “In every way that matters. I’m yours, Isi. Completely yours.”

Her answer was another fierce kiss, and I gladly surrendered myself to it.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

ISI

The kiss consumed me, days of restraint and fear burning away in the heat between us. We’d kissed numerous times, but now, we kissed in freedom.

I pressed my thighs against his hips as I straddled him, the position dizzying. Heat pooled low in my belly, a desperate ache that had nothing to do with the steam rising around us and everything to do with the man beneath me.

Safe. The word echoed through my mind with every beat of my heart. We were finally truly safe enough for this.

I pulled back enough to breathe, my forehead resting against his. “I want you.”

“Yes.” His hands slid up my sides, his fingertips gliding across the underside of my breasts through the hideous dress. “I know, love.”

I kissed him again, pouring everything into the press of my mouth against his.

His groan vibrated through my chest as his fingers found the buttons running down the back of the dress. “This monstrosity needs to come off you.”

“Please.” The word came out breathless.

He worked the buttons with patience given the way his breathing had turned ragged. Each one that came free felt like another layer of my father’s control falling away.