All the Queen's Angels

Chapter 5: Touch 🥀

After passing miles of hillside and the occasional cottage, we finally dock by a stretch of forest. The Vincenzio troupe wordlessly escorts us through the brush until we reach a two-story brick building at the edge of a town. Before we enter, Leander tosses me his cloak and ends up having to rip Laurent's jacket off to give to Ambrose. With his wings and my bare form covered, we head inside a packed tavern. The patrons barely notice us as we retrieve some keys from the bartender and head towards the narrow staircase tucked in the back of the dim bar.

As I reach the first step, someone drunkenly reaches for my cloak and begins to pull it down. Ambrose whips around and grabs the stranger's throat before the cloak even falls to the floor. Tension ripples through the tavern as the patrons notice our hostile presence. Leander quickly grabs a fistful of Ambrose's hair and yanks him back, muttering stiff apologies through tight lips, and all but drags him up the stairs. Once at the top, he unlocks a room, throws Ambrose to the ground, and turns to me, snarling.

"Keep your pet under control or we will find ourselves with a dead body come morning," he hisses. The general then tugs me towards the adjacent room but I pull away and yank Ambrose to his knees by the collar.

Without breaking eye contact with the Vincenzio brat, I crush my lips against Ambrose's and kiss him—hard. I angle my head to kiss him deeper and he relaxes, playing along. He settles his palm at the small of my back and pulls me closer into his arms. I kiss him as long as I dare, not pausing for breath. Satisfied with the shock on Leander's face, I pull away from Ambrose with a sigh, and as he gasps for breath I take the time to trace his bottom lip with my tongue.

"I'll make sure he behaves in my room," I say holding the prince's livid stare. And without another word I push past them into the hotel room and pull Ambrose behind me. The last things I hear are the guards moving to either side of the door.

Only when the door shuts do I realize the enormity of what I just did. Reading all those romance novels in my tower actually came in handy, but at what cost? Too embarrassed to turn and look at him, I begin to ramble.

"Um...thank you for going along with that—I should've asked beforehand I just panicked—".

"Stabby," Ambrose interrupts, but I keep blabbering.

"I-I just can't imagine how they'd treat you once they got you alone and they could've easily killed you and blamed it on the customers downstairs and—"

"Stabby," he urges again.

"I'm just so sick of them treating you like trash because of me and I'm really, truly sorry—".

"Evangeline," he snaps. I swallow my pride and turn to face him. In a heartbeat, Ambrose slams into me and presses his lips to mine, threading his fingers through my hair and gripping me tightly against him. Reluctantly, he lifts his lips from mine and I shudder at the cold air filling the few agonizing inches between us.

"Do it again," he breathes.

There is no hesitation when I clasp his neck, or when I pull him close so he tilts his head, or when I press my lips firmly to his.

"Again," he whispers against my lips. I kiss him softly, savoring his warmth.

"Again," his voice husky. I kiss him harder, his lashes fluttering against my cheek. Over and over he murmurs his soft plea into my lips and I succumb to them again and again.

The skies have shunned me, but I find heaven on his lips.

He presses me into the wall and trails slow, soft kisses down my neck, my throat, my collarbone. I melt into him and run my fingers through his hair, the crimson strands impossibly soft. He gets down on his knees and I sigh, leaning back as he plants kisses down my chest and the soft planes of my lower abdomen.