Page 76 of Dawn of Hope

He leans down, his breath tickling my ear as he speaks. “I figured you never really got to see one of these in Blackwood before. I wanted to be there when you saw the sunrise for the first time.”

My face heats and my stomach flutters. Dane brought me to see the sunrise, because he knew I had never seen one before, not living in Blackwood.

He cares about me, and not just cares in the sense that the Guardian cares about everyone on Dawnlin. No. He brought me here to make me happy, to make me feel better after a terrible nightmare, and he’s tried to keep me safe.

It feels like more.

More is terrifying.

I can’t have more. I am a princess. I have duties and responsibilities. My life isn’t here, and it never can be.

But his life is.

He knows nothing about my life because I haven’t been honest with him.

I spin to face him, craning my neck to meet his eyes. His arms wraparound my waist, both of his hands settling into the small of my back and pulling me closer. His movements feel so comfortable, as if he has known me for years, not just a couple of weeks.

“Dane, I…I need to be honest with you. I can’t help but feel like there’s something…more here.”

“What makes you think that?” The corner of his lips turn up and his eyes shine playfully.

“This,” I say, gesturing to his arms wrapped around my body.

“And what if there is?” He shifts on his feet, the distance between us closing. My breath hitches, but I lift my hands and firmly place them on his chest to keep him from getting any closer.

I need to make sure I choose my words carefully. The idea of being with someone is foreign to me. It has always been a dream, a distant one that I pictured late at night when I was awake and alone, with only books to keep me company. It was one whenever someone mentioned my parents’ love story in passing, but never bothering to tell me the full thing. It was one that I hoped for whenever I was confronted with the idea of betrothals and alliances.

My relationships have never felt normal, and I had accepted long ago that they never would be.

But this one does, or is starting to.

I can’t let it. It isn’t going to last. I may have met Dane in Blackwood, but his life is here, and mine is not.

My entire reason for being in Dawnlin is to find the cure and leave. I now know the timeline isn’t what I expected, and I could be here for a long time. A large part of me hopes I am not, but then part of me also hopes I am.

I tear my gaze away from his face and stare at my hands against his chest, trying to find the courage to push away the first thing that has ever felt like a normal life.

“There…can’t be.” I say. “You know why I’m here. You know I have to return to Blackwood, and you are needed here. I can’t stay with you, and I worry that whatever this is will be a distraction and keep me here longer than I should be.”

I feel a pang in my chest as the words settle between us. Distraction may not be the right word, because I hate to admit to myself that he feels like hope.

Hope for a more normal life, one where I have friendships with real people who care forme, not for Princess Lennox.

Dane gives me hope for more.

Hope for love.

While hope fills this magical world, I can’t have hope when it comes to Dane.

“I don’t want to distract you,” he murmurs as his fingers brush my cheek. They trail along my face and under my chin. He lifts it, forcing my eyes to meet his again. “Trust me. I don’t want to be a distraction. I want you to get what you came here for.” His eyes dart over my face, and I know he is telling the truth.

“I already told you I can’t trust you.”

“You did. And I told you I was going to change that.”

“Are you?”

“I’m working on it.” He grins and his gaze drops to my lips. His hand wraps around the side of my neck, his thumb grazing over my pounding pulse.