These Twisted Bonds (These Hollow Vows, #2)(50)

His eyes glitter in the moonlight, and his jaw goes hard. “Stop it. Stop thinking that this world would be better off without you.”

“You said yourself that you’d put Sebastian on the throne before seeing your court fall. That’s exactly where he would be if it weren’t for me.” I step back, shaking my head. These are the thoughts that haunt me. “If I hadn’t taken that potion—”

Before I know what’s happening, Finn spins me around and presses me against the wall. He stares down at me, his silver eyes hard. “But you did. You took the potion, and in doing so, you salvaged one beautiful thing in a world full of ugliness. I, for one, will never be sorry for that.”

I can barely process his words before his mouth is on mine and— gods, the heat of his hard body pressed against me, the feel of his lips sipping at my mouth, like I’m the finest wine and he’s fighting between warring instincts to savor and devour.

When he sucks my bottom lip between his teeth, I open for him. I kiss him back with equal hunger.

This isn’t just a kiss. It’s all the words we haven’t said written with our mouths, with our bodies. It’s unbridled anger and hope and fear and lust—all woven together and electrified. There’s no loneliness here. No regrets. Just the taste of him, like rich red wine, and the feel of his strength wrapping around me, surging inside me.

My arms loop around his neck and my hands dive into his hair, freeing it from the tie so I can feel the silky curls between my fingers. Finn tears his mouth from mine and trails hot, open-mouthed kisses along my jaw and beneath my ear until he finds the juncture of my neck and shoulder, where he bit me not so long ago. His tongue sweeps across that spot, and I gasp as the sting of pleasure floods my blood and the memory blooms in my mind.

Finn groans and positions his thigh between my legs as if he’s remembering too. “I thought I’d made it up,” he murmurs. “But you taste even sweeter than I remember.”

Stop. I love you. Stop. Please. Please, please, please.

An ache swells in my chest, terrible and desperate and not my own, but it makes my head clear just enough. This a mistake. This kiss. These touches. Melting at the sound of his sweet words. It’s all a terrible mistake, and I’ve already made too many of those.

I shove him away and haul up my shields, blocking out the sudden surge of Sebastian’s feelings.

Finn doesn’t resist. He doesn’t even stumble. He simply takes three steps back, as if he’d been bracing himself for the moment I’d come to my senses.

Chest heaving, he stares at me. I wonder if I look as untethered as he does, if my lips are as swollen, or if the hunger I see in his eyes is mirrored in my own.

“You can’t kiss me.” My protest sounds weak. Forced. Probably because it is.

Finn draws in a long, shaky breath, and I can practically see him pulling himself back together.

“Sorry to break it to you, Princess, but I wasn’t the only one doing the kissing.”

“Well, I can’t kiss you either.”

He arches a brow. “And why is that?”

Because I can’t think straight when you touch me. Because I won’t be a fool again. Because it would be too easy to believe your sweet words and let myself fall for you. Because I still have something you want, and I can’t trust that you want me more than this power.

I’m too shaky, too vulnerable to share any of those reasons with him, so I go with the one I know will hit him the hardest. “Because I’m bonded to Sebastian.”

Finn doesn’t move, doesn’t physically bristle, but I see the change in his eyes. Like a door being closed. “Interesting.”

I press my lips together, but I can’t help it. I take the bait. “What?”

He shrugs. “Misha’s under the impression that you no longer want the bond. That you’re hoping to find a way to sever it.”

I huff. “You’re right. Misha does talk too much.”

“Is it true? Do you wish to undo the bond?”

I set my jaw. “Sebastian didn’t exactly enter into it under honest pretenses.”

“And you think there’s some exceptions clause allowing you out of it because he deceived you?”

Finn finally turns away from me and strolls to the railing. “You have so much to learn about this world, Princess.”

Of all the pompous, condescending bullshit—

I turn to leave but stop, my back to the stars. “Don’t confuse ignorance for naivety, Finn. I’m no longer the foolish girl who could be so confused by physical attraction and pretty words.”

“I’m sure Sebastian will be more than happy to put that theory to the test.”

I look over my shoulder. He’s studying me like he wishes he could get into my mind. “I was talking about you.”

He swallows. “Be ready to leave before dawn,” he says. “It will a long day.”





Chapter Thirteen

The moment Finn materializes in the Unseelie throne room, Riaan grabs him from behind and puts his sword to the shadow prince’s neck. “Tell me why I shouldn’t slice you open right here and right now.”

Finn’s goblin disappears in a blink, and I stay in the shadows, just as we planned. This morning, we rode our horses through the portal and into the Unseelie capital. While Misha, Pretha, and the others helped transport the children to infirmaries in the city, Finn’s goblin brought Finn and me straight to the palace throne room.