Page 53 of The Kraken Bride

But as I poured more of myself into the kiss, the tension in him shifted from frenzied need to savoring. It mounted, pulsed, and sharpened until the same tidal wave crashed into me.

His ocean found my flame, and instead of one extinguishing the other, they twined together, as if they never should have parted.

He tilted his head, and I tilted mine, and the kiss deepened. A kiss he slowed, growing deliberate, desperate, and intentional all at once. As though he was committing to memory something he’d sworn never to need.

An indistinct sound rumbled in his chest just before he tore from the kiss. But he didn’t release me. Rather, he settled his hands at the sides of my throat and rested his forehead against mine, our mouths almost touching as our breaths mingled again.

The pause was an agony far worse than the kiss itself. I gripped his shirt, wrinkling the material. “Why did you stop?”

His eyes closed. “Many reasons. Too many.”

Nein. I deserved more than that. “Tell me one good reason.”

“That is easy. You are even more potent than I realized.”

With his words, the sea seemed to mold itself around the dome to listen. I tried for humor, hoping to lighten his mood. “Honestly, Sebastian. My potency sounds like a good thing.”

He softened, but only slightly. “It is. And that is why you are a danger to my very existence.” The more he spoke, the more his voice became the consistency of sandpaper.

The fire in my blood cooled. Had my mission failed so spectacularly? “You still see me as a weakness?” A danger to his power. Not because I was a dragon with ties to the dragon crown. Because I made him feel.

He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I cannot afford what you make me want, princess.”

Nein. Nein! “You can.” I was his firebrand, and he knew it. “But you are afraid.”

“I am.”

The lack of denial shocked me into silence. He’d admitted it. Admitted he feared losing me.

With his guard down, I could have asked about the cost of the rune. Draining, as I suspected? Could have requested he share one of his secrets now, not later. But I’d just spent an hour teaching him that being close to me didn’t have to hurt. I’d not undo that lesson on questions sure to put his guard back up.

He released me, second by second, piece by piece, lifting his head, withdrawing one hand, then the other, then stepping away. Determination hardened his expression.

I knew he would walk away. He had before, when I’d gained too much ground too fast. First at the Tideweave, then during our date. I wrapped my arms around my middle, the inches separating us beginning to feel like a chasm without a bridge.

“Gunnar will escort you to our room. I’ll see you at the ball.” He strode off without another word, as expected, but this time he wasn’t quick about it. He moved at a snail’s pace, as if he warred within himself.

I took comfort in that and didn’t chase after him. Didn’t demand we continue what we’d started. What that kiss promised. That would be foolish. The wiser course of action was to think this through and plan my next move.

Gunnar arrived to collect me, and he looked shell-shocked. “This way, majesty.”

Majesty. A title for a queen.

Trembling, I followed him past the reefs. As we passed line after line of guards, they watched me as if I were some kind of apparition. “Why are they looking at me like that?” I whispered.

“You made him laugh.” A quiet wonder laced Gunnar’s words. “Out loud.”

Had he not before?

I almost smiled. Confirmation that I’d reached him. And now, he’d had a taste of the good stuff. Us, together. Soon, he would want another. And another.

I would be his only dealer.

I would make him laugh again. And again.

I would make him admit what I was to him.

Give up now? I’d rather die. When the ball arrived, I’d have a new plan locked and loaded. My firebrand wouldn’t know what hit him.