Defend the Dawn (Defy the Night #2)(45)

His hand shifts higher, growing more daring, until his thumb brushes across the bodice of my dress, lighting a fire in my belly and stealing every clear thought from my head. I shiver and make a tiny sound, and that’s all the encouragement he needs to tug the laces a bit looser. His mouth finds my neck, and his fingers slip past the laces of my bodice to trace the swell of skin.

I inhale sharply. “Oh,” I whisper, because I can’t think of any other words. I’m sure someone will be knocking at the door for the prince at any moment, but right now, I don’t care. Butterflies scatter in my abdomen. “Oh.”

He smiles at my reaction, lifting his head to kiss me again. His arm snakes around my back to pull me even closer, and this time we’re clutched so tightly that I can feel everything. The boat sways again, and I press against him, and it’s his turn to make a low sound in his throat.

“I’ve wanted to be alone with you for so long,” he says, and there’s no disguising the intense longing in his voice. I don’t know if he means the time we’ve been together in the palace, where watching eyes and listening ears were everywhere, or if he means the time we spent together in the Wilds as Wes and Tessa, when he was so afraid of discovery that he’d never let me catch a glimpse of him without his mask.

Either way, it doesn’t matter. He kisses me again, his fingers slipping under my corset in a way that makes me whimper into his mouth.

“Hush,” he whispers, and a wicked light sparks in his eyes like we’re co-conspirators. “We shouldn’t give Rocco and Kilbourne too much to think about.”

My cheeks burn fiercely—but my thoughts have stalled on his comment, tempering some of my flames. A part of me doesn’t want him to stop. I crave the strength of his hands and the warmth of his mouth. I want him to keep going until every last stitch of fabric is on the floor.

But another part of me knows he’s only being so free because we are out of the palace, where Prince Corrick would never be caught bedding a … a commoner.

We shouldn’t give Rocco and Kilbourne too much to think about.

The words seem to have a lot of different meanings, and I’m sure he means to protect me from the listening ears of the guards.

But just now, on the tail of Lochlan’s comments about Corrick’s reasons for bringing me along, it’s enough to chase all my warmth away. Because there’s a part of that sentence that sounds like he’s protecting himself.

Corrick notices immediately, because he’s drawn back to look at me. “Tessa?”

“I—just—we should—” I’m choking on my words because my thoughts—to say nothing of my body—weren’t ready for such an abrupt change in direction. I have to take a deep breath to steady myself. I tug at the laces of my corset, pulling it tight again. “You’re right. We shouldn’t give the guards reasons to gossip.” My cheeks feel hot, and I already know I’m going to have trouble looking Rocco in the eyes. “We’ve been in here too long. Surely it’s inappropriate—”

“Tessa.” His hands fall on mine, forcing them still.

For a moment, I let him. My eyes are on the collar of his shirt, on the smooth column of his neck. His fingers are warm against my own.

He ducks his head, his eyes seeking mine. “Talk to me,” he says. Quietly. Gently. No command in his tone.

I pull my hands free and fuss with the laces, dodging his gaze. I don’t know what to say. My emotions are all tied up in knots, my stomach churning again. This time, it has nothing to do with the rocking of the ship. All my thoughts are crashing into each other, and I hate—hate—that Lochlan put these doubts in my mind.

But now they exist, and they cling to the inside of my head and refuse to let go.

“Lochlan thinks you brought him along just so you can make sure he falls overboard,” I say. “Please tell me that’s not true.”

Corrick blinks and draws back. It takes him a moment to answer. “I wouldn’t shed a tear if it happened. That shouldn’t be a surprise.”

It’s not a surprise. But it’s also not the answer I want to hear. “Is that why you brought him? Are you and Harristan getting rid of him?”

I don’t know what’s making me demand answers on this, of all things. There’s no love lost between me and Lochlan either. But despite all his promises, I know everything Corrick has done. The King’s Justice was feared throughout Kandala for a reason.

And maybe the thought of asking questions about myself is too frightening to bear.

Corrick’s eyes have locked down so quickly that it’s like I’ve been thrust into a room with a stranger. “I could have put a rope around his neck on the docks, Tessa.” His voice is cold and flat when he says it. “I could’ve had the guards put an arrow in his chest in that candy shop. I could have had him chained to a post and set on fire during the—”

“Stop it!” I say sharply. “Stop!”

“As I’ve said in the past, I bring nightmares to life. If I wanted him dead, I didn’t need to drag him aboard a ship. Trust me, I’d rather have another guard with us.”

My heart keeps clipping along, and I’m completely flushed for an entirely different reason from five minutes ago. I don’t know how he can shut down his emotions so quickly. Right now, it’s a talent I wish I shared. “Any of those things would have been public,” I say. “On a ship, you could claim he fell, or that he was killed—”