Page 74 of Stone Temptation

“Luke?” I said gently. “You good?”

Blink. Blink. Blink.

He wasn’t coming to.

“Come on, Luke. Snap out of this.”

Gently. Don’t frighten him.

Whatever was going on in his head, a light foot would work better than stomping demands.

“Can’t… Can’t… Can’t be here.”

“Where, Luke?”

No answer, twenty seconds until his next blink.

Bollocks. This wasn’t working.

I checked his gargoyle protection. Still intact, thank the gods.

“Wakey wakey, Luke.”

A grunt to my left from Seth. “He might need a mote enchanter. I’ll make a call. This clearly isn’t working.”

The knobhead mumbled more words, but I batted them away like the insects they were. Anything that came out of his mouth wasn’t worth shit.

I smoothed Luke’s sweat-damp hair, the world around us falling away.

An overwhelming desire to kiss him took over me, pushing me into the role of fairytale prince, him the other prince waiting for the peck of freedom.

True love, you mean?

Don’t even go there!

My heart flipped, my chest feeling like it was about to implode. This wasn’t right. Fairytale shit never happened outside of books and movies. Kisses weren’t magical, at least in my experience. Nice, but not for breaking trances.

Nonetheless, my mark needed my help. He was trapped, out of my reach. Stroking his forehead and talking to him weren’t working.

I licked my lips, excitable heat dancing through me.

Kiss… my inner voice whispered. With one kiss…

Gods. This was ridiculous.

I brought my lips closer, terrified, elated, confused. Hungry, desperate to make contact with that mouth.

What was I doing?

Kiss…

Kiss…

Kiss…

I pressed my lips gently to his, a million sparks crackling to life.

By. The. Gods.