Page 137 of Dare
The heat of Jeryn’s body simmered against mine. Our breathless pants mingled. And yet self-consciousness gripped his features.
“I don’t know how …,” he began.
I heard the rest of his confession. He didn’t know the steps to this type of dance.
My mouth lifted into a grin. Proving the jester right, I took Jeryn’s hands and guided them to my waist. Follow me, my expression said.
And the look on his face declared, Anywhere. And I lost the ability to exhale.
Sinuously, I whipped my hips from side to side, demonstrating the tempo. Gradually and patiently, he mirrored the cadence until we moved like water.
Then we were dancing. Then everything sped up.
My arms journeyed up his chest, and my fingers swam in the blue strands of his mane, and his fingers dug into my flesh. Our foreheads landed together. Damp air thickened between us, the music growing heavier, its thump resounding.
I pivoted, whisking our joined hands overhead, then whirling beneath them. My body spiraled around his, my feet kicking with the rhythm. Aligning my back with his, I ground my ass into Jeryn’s, tremors wracking his frame.
In a sudden motion, he whirled, his torso abutting my spine. We swayed, the prince’s chin hovering over my shoulder, his arms enfolding me. Those hard fingers splayed over my hips, searing through my flouncy linen dress.
When his mouth brushed my jaw, I gasped and rotated. Resuming our original dance, I clutched his nape and revolved my body with his.
The mesmerized prince made good on his vow. He followed me wherever I went.
***
The time came to say farewell. Armed with our plans and promises to reunite, we said a temporary goodbye while the stars animated the sky.
At the shoreline, Briar and I gripped one another tightly. I hadn’t told her what I’d seen in the fountain room, although I knew this pair well now. Once rumored to be a prickly Royal, the princess had changed. If I admitted to having walked in on the scene, Briar would blush and chuckle sheepishly. Whereas Poet would make a sinful remark, devilish amusement glittering in his eyes.
Nonetheless, that memory belonged to her and Poet, likely among numerous others. For I was certain they’d found plenty of nooks in this forest, in which to make each other shout.
“Soon,” the princess whispered into my hair.
“Soon,” I pledged over her shoulder, although she couldn’t hear me.
We would see one another again soon. Along with the plans we’d made, the jester and princess had sworn to negotiate for my tower mates when they arrived in Summer’s mainland. They would bargain to get Pearl and Lorelei and Dante out of Rhys’s clutches, then into the safety of Autumn.
They had also agreed to monitor the wellbeing of Jeryn’s family remotely. While the Queens of Winter and his parents couldn’t be told of his whereabouts, much less that Poet and Briar had seen us, they would at least make sure his kin were alright. Also, they would send us tidings on the states of our kingdoms.
“Come here, sweeting,” Poet said, sauntering our way and opening his arms.
I strapped myself around the jester and gave him a mighty hug. As we broke apart, I plucked a leaflet and quill from my pocket, then wrote, Behave yourself.
His lips slanted. “I make no guarantees.”
As the rest of our clan gathered by the tide, Aire read my words and grumbled. His bronze cloak flapped in the wind, and the breeze combed through his hair as he regarded Poet. “Since when would you ever behave yourself in any situation?”
“I wouldn’t. Not unless it impressed my equal,” Poet murmured, tucking his wife into his side. “I’m at her service.”
Aspen mock-huffed. “I cannot with this man.” She tilted her gaze to Briar. “You’re one lucky bitch, you know that?”
“I remind her every day,” Poet said fiendishly. “And on every surface.”
“Whatever it takes, do not let him elaborate,” Jeryn commanded with a stony expression.
As the prince strode toward the gangplank, Poet leaned into me. “He looks at you when he thinks you’re not aware.”
The words clutched my heart. I scribbled, You notice that?