“Indeed,” Ava confirmed enthusiastically, chewing and swallowing a piece of meat before continuing. “It’s always warm there, so they have an abundance of fruits.” She washed down the venison with a swallow of mead. “Fruit pastries, and pies, and wines, and candies.”
“Is Ronan blood made of sugar?” I chuckled.
She glanced down at her arm, as if to see the blood beneath her own skin. “It very well may be,” she agreed lightheartedly.
“Perhaps it accounts for your delightful personality,” I said teasingly.
“Was that sarcasm?” Ava asked, squinting one doubtful eye at me even though her lips curled with amusement. “Or did you just call me sweet?” My bottom jaw dropped awkwardly, because that was a trap no matter which way I answered. If I said it was sarcasm, I risked being rude. But if I admitted to having called her sweet, it would land me in another kind of trouble. My cheeks started shading at the conflict, and Ava looked thoroughly pleased by it. “There you go, blushing again.”
But I was getting bolder about her teasing me, and about teasing her back. “It was sarcasm,” I stated flatly.
Ava laughed at that. “No need to get sour.”
“It might be my lack of Ronan blood,” I said.
“Maybe,” she agreed with a smirk, “we can’t all be perfect.” Before I could come up with a decent retort for that, Ava asked, “How did you know they were cooking venison?”
“The exquisite smell of a hunter,” I said with exaggerated pride.
“Honestly?” she asked in disbelief. I nodded. “I want to test you.”
I huffed amusedly, but nodded a second time. “Alright.”
Ava jumped out of her seat, excitedly grabbing my hand and pulling me out of mine. She dragged me to the furs I’d set out to sit on earlier while grooming Albus, and plopped me down on them. “Close your eyes,” she said, already glancing around the room for something to test me with. “And cover your ears.”
I did as she said, laughing the entire time until I felt something touch beneath my nose. I inhaled, and had my eyes been open, I would’ve rolled them. “That’s the mead,” I chuckled. Even with my fingers in my ears, I could hear her gorgeous laugh, and she removed the cup to go and find something else. A few moments later, I felt the presence of the next item. I inhaled, and my nostrils were flooded with a sharp smell that made me pull my head back. “The antiseptic,” I said.
Ava muttered an excited praise, and pulled one of my fingers away from my ear just to lean in and say, “Keep your eyes closed.”
I laughed, returning my finger to my ear to wait. She brought something else, and though it was a bit harder to identify, it wasn’t difficult. “I believe that’s charcoal.” Another proud exclamation, and I felt Ava’s presence depart only to return a moment later. I inhaled the wonderful smell of the outdoors, the deep, comforting scent of pine. “Firewood,” I guessed easily, and the conjecture was met with a giggle. Something was replaced under my nose shortly after, so she couldn’t have gone far to get it. I inhaled deeply, involuntarily feeling one corner of my mouth turn up in a smile. I don’t know if she’d simply stuck her arm under my nose, but I knew it to be her. “That’s your scent, Ava. I’d know it anywhere.”
The scent disappeared, and though I heard no mumble of praise this time, I waited patiently for the next test. Instead, her hands landed on my knees, and I was about to open my eyes to see how the game was being changed when something warm pressed against my mouth. I knew the very moment it happened that they were Ava’s lips. Soft and careful, I’d never forget how they felt against my cheek, and when I recognized them, my breathing stopped and my face flushed.
Out of stunned awe, my fingers slid away from my ears and my arms fell to my sides, and I sat there, frozen. I hadn’t done anything yet. I could still pull away, and it could be like I hadn’t done anything wrong. But that was so far from what I wanted, and I’d already indulged in it by not pulling away immediately. So when Ava’s delicate hand cupped my face, I parted my lips to indulge in it a little more. And I kissed back. I swayed with her every time she leaned forward to kiss me deeper. I matched every tender movement and parting of her lips with the movement and parting of my own. I met the careful caresses of her gentle tongue with the tip of my own and I got drunk off the taste of her.
Her other hand had joined its partner to touch my face, and now one slipped around the back of my neck while the other tangled in my hair. With the next forward sway she pushed us all the way over, and though the hand in my hair cushioned my fall, out of instinct to steady myself as I fell backward, my hands landed on her hips. I knew I should stop this, but now that my hands were on her, I had an overwhelming urge to indulge those too, and I didn’t have the mind to stop them. They ran up the sides of her ribs and then back down, worshiping the gloriously full shape of her body. They slid up the middle of her back, pressing between her shoulder blades to bring her chest closer to me. They snaked back down, past her hips and her lower back to the plump flesh beneath it, and here I grabbed to bring that part of her closer too.
In response, Ava released an approving hum into my mouth, a sound as soft and sweet as any noise she made, her hips pressed seductively harder into mine, and I felt it in my heart and my stomach and between my legs. I was so torn between the feeling of her against me and the building tension in my chest. Between an extraordinary desire and knowing what satiating it would mean. Between sense and sensation. And sensation would’ve won out if it weren’t for the fact that I was beginning to panic. I’d meant to indulge, but I’d indulged much too far. Before I could convince myself not to, I shifted Ava off of me and stood.
“Why’d you do that?” I asked frantically, wiping my sleeve over my lips because just the taste of her was too tempting.
The confused look on her face made me feel immediately guilty, and even worse was that she appeared somewhat hurt. “Wh-I… because it felt right,” she offered as she got up, and it was the first time she’d ever looked that unsure of herself. “You didn’t seem to mind.”
“I mind,” I countered frenziedly. “I mind very much.” I took a deep breath to try and calm myself. There were so many conflicting feelings. “That’s punishable by death, what I just did.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” she said, and I couldn’t meet her gaze because of the pained look in her eyes. The look I’d caused by being too informal.
“I kissed you back,” I told her, trying to make her understand. There were laws; she should know that more than anyone. “I put my hands on you.”
“You’re welcome to do it again.” She took an earnest step forward.
I took a frightened one back. “It can’t happen again.” I inhaled deeply once more, still trying to ease the panic. “It’s improper.”
“Because I’m a woman?” she asked, sounding mildly offended.
“Because you’re a princess,” I replied impatiently. I’d never met with anything more frustrating. I could let her treat me like an equal, and I could pretend like I believed it, but there had to be a line. And still the only thing I wanted was to cross that line. “And I’m…” I paused, sighing before I met her gaze. “I’m nothing. I’m a traitor’s child.”
“You’re so much more than that,” she whispered disappointedly.
I refused to look at her again for fear that I’d buckle. I had to hold my ground, but I wanted to lose this debate. “It doesn’t matter,” I started, thinking it would help my case, “and it won’t convince me not to take you back to the castle.”
There was such a tense, lengthy pause that I finally had to look at her. It was the first time I’d ever seen her look truly upset. “I don’t care about my title,” she said angrily. “Or the wealth you don’t have.” She took a couple strides toward the door, passing me and turning around to say, “I kissed you because I happen to admire who you are, and what you stand for.” A couple more strides, and she reached for the handle. “But you know what? Nevermind.” She huffed, opening the door. “To you I’m just a whore that would sell myself for a false sense of freedom.”