"I won't."
"Oh, and it's just that simple?" I snorted. These two had to be out of their minds if they thought this wouldn't end with the three of us on the ground and in pain.
"It is. We've done this before, Little Bird. Trust me," he replied. It was those last two words that stilled my tongue. I knew if I argued he would take it as a lack of faith in him. The bond we’d formed was still new, fresh. I didn’t want him to think I didn’t trust him.
“Fine.” I huffed out a breath. “But if you let me fall, I’ll…” I trailed off vaguely, not really sure how to threaten a prince.
"You'll what?" Roan teased. I couldn’t see so much as hear his grin in the dark. I’d bet my left tit that he was smiling at me—ridiculously amused. Okay, maybe not the left one. The left one was just slightly bigger than my right and if I was going to give up a tit, I’d probably want to give up the one that had less value. That’s how it worked, right?
“Do you even realize when you drift off or does it just happen?” Roan asked suddenly.
I blinked. “Um … I guess it just happens,” I answered.
He chuckled again and pulled me closer until there was literally no room separating him from me. And in this cold place, he was a warm breath of fresh air. I snuggled down into him and sighed.
“Go to sleep, Little Bird. I will keep you safe,” he whispered into the darkness surrounding us. There was something about being in the dark, a certain dynamic feeling. I felt magnetized, drawn to him.
“Roan?” I said his name as quietly as I could.
“Yes?”
“Will you…” I bit my lip hesitantly. It was an odd request—the timing wasn’t exactly appropriate, but I found that for some reason, I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted to feel his lips against mine in the shadows of night. I wanted to strain against him and feel him do the same. My heart raced in my breast, hungry for this. I felt my legs tighten around him. “Will you kiss me?” I shoved the question out as quickly as I could. And then, I waited.
The abrupt silence that fell between us felt like answer enough and my muscles tensed as I pulled away. “You don’t have to if—” I started, but Roan’s hands found my back and drew me back into his chest.
“No, I want to,” he said. “I’m just surprised. What brought you to ask me for that? Especially right now?”
“Your dashing good looks?” I guessed.
He snorted, and his head bowed against me, his forehead pushing into my shoulder as he tried to hold back laughter. It took him several more moments to stop. “Not,” he huffed out, still laughing, albeit quietly, “that I don’t appreciate the compliment, but you can’t even see me down here.”
I shrugged. “I know what you look like. I know what I’ll be kissing and you’re prime kissing material, Roan.”
“That I am,” he agreed absently. “Lean toward me, Cress. I want to teach you how to really kiss.”
“I know how to kiss,” I said defensively, doing as he asked anyway. “I’ve already kissed you and Orion.”
Roan’s fingers trailed up into my hair, tugging on the strands and sending a thrill through me. His breath washed over my face, a warm reminder of other places his mouth had been. I felt myself tighten all over as he pushed against me, but his lips didn’t land where I expected them to.
“Um … Roan?” His lips touched my cheek and whispered down to my jawline. “That’s not my mouth.”
“No,” he said. “It’s not.”
“When I asked you to kiss me, I meant my mouth.”
“I know what you meant,” he said, breath puffing against my skin. “But as I’m the one doing the kissing, love, I figured I should get some leeway.”
My thoughts scattered like mice caught by the light as he dragged his mouth down the length of my jaw. His lips parted as his tongue touched my skin before he kissed the underside of my chin and pulled away. “Roan,” I croaked out his name. “Please.”
“Please what, Little Bird?”
“Please kiss me,” I begged, unabashedly.
“With fucking pleasure.” His mouth came down on mine hard. He parted my lips with his tongue and dove inside at the same time that his fingers clenched in my knotted hair. My nails locked onto his shoulders and dug into him, eliciting a grunt from him. Roan’s hips tilted up, grinding into my core.
I panted, dizzy from his kiss as he dragged me away from him for a moment. I could hear his harsh breathing in the dark, as if he were trying to catch his breath. Then his head tilted down and his forehead touched mine. “You are so dangerous, Cress. Perhaps the most risky thing we’ve ever let into our court,” he whispered.
“W-what?” I didn’t understand. My mind was still caught up in that all-consuming, soul sucking kiss he’d just laid on me. One I’d asked for and one I wanted to experience again and again.
He lifted his head and his hair brushed my cheeks as he shook it. “Never mind. You got your kiss, love. It’s time to sleep.”
“I thought you said you weren’t sleeping?” I replied.
He untangled his hand from my hair and pushed me down so that my cheek rested against his shoulder. Gods, it felt right to be in his arms. It felt the same as it had with Orion. It felt like home.
“I’m not. You are. Sleep.”
A soft snore lifted into the branches around us and I glanced to Orion. In the dim light, I could see his head tilted back, and his mouth propped open ever so slightly. I watched his chest rise and fall in steady even breaths for a second before speaking. "How is he already asleep?" I asked.
"He's letting his body heal, sometimes that means the mind needs to stop and rest so the body can focus on what it needs to do," Roan answered. Then he shifted and wrapped both of us in his cloak, giving me an extra layer of warmth.
"He'll be okay though, right?" I asked.
"Of course he will. Believe me, Orion's been through much worse than this."
I wanted to ask what that meant. What had Orion been through? I considered asking, but a part of me wanted to hear it straight from Orion’s mouth. I mean … I wouldn’t like it if someone was handing out my secrets like candy. So, I kept my mouth shut and let the thump of Roan's heart and his breathing relax me.
Then, despite his edict that I go to sleep, he spoke again. "I’m worried, Cress.”
I didn’t lift my head, my eyelids drooping even as I responded. “‘Bout what?” I asked.
“I care for you,” he admitted.
I smiled against his shoulder. “I like you, too.”
He shook his head above me. “And I’m worried because the Court of Frost is a dangerous place,” he continued. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
"I'll survive,” I said. “Apparently that's what I do." I tried to go for confidence, but it sounded hollow to my own ears; I just hoped it didn't to his.
"The Court of Frost is much different than the Court of Crimson. They are more ruthless and brutal than I can explain, but it's always in ways you won't expect. And there are conditions of going into a court that is not your own. We’re not the ones in charge like we are in the Court of Crimson. We must bow to the Court of Frost’s power heads.”