The Summer Court

Chapter Forty-Nine

The princess shifted, the slit of her gown falling open around her thigh. At the reference to his gift, she felt bad that she had not thanked him for it yet. She wasn't sure of all that it meant or the secrets that would come from the game he had concocted, but she wanted to find out. Taking in a breath, she thought about what wish to tell him. She decided on an easy one. One he might know already. "I wish to find love in The Summer Court."

"I think you will," his voice was soft, encouraging. She tried not to think about him loving her by the end of this. She rubbed the satin of her skirts nervously between her fingers. He gently let go of her hand, his eyes locked on her now exposed leg. Elsine felt the urge to rearrange the fabric to hide it, but it seemed pointless now. Her eyes darted around to see if the guards were patrolling. They should be clo― the glide of his knuckles over her thigh made the princess lose her thoughts. "This dress will be the death of me," he rasped affectedly.

Heat blazed its way over her body seeming to lock her spine and keep the princess rooted where she could only watch as his wrist turned, and the full breadth of his hand splayed over her thigh. Her lips parted, mesmerized by the tingling sensation his touch was sending through her as his hand glided down to her knee. She watched him; his lashes lowered as he carefully cupped under the bend of her knee so that he could pull her leg over his lap. Caught up in how he was igniting her, she shifted so that she was facing him, her leg gently bent where he had situated it― the emerald fabric slipping down her thigh a few more centimeters.

"Was that a secret?" Her voice came out heavy even though she had thought to tease him. It sounded more like a seductive question to her ears. Her breath rattled in her chest as his fingers made idle patterns across the sensitive skin of her inner thigh. Titiana save me, she prayed desperately. The princess did not understand the feelings and reactions he evoked in her. She wanted to hide. She wanted to be found. She had no idea what that meant, but her body did.

He seemed wholly distracted as he traced his fingers between the freckles on her thigh, "I guess you already knew that." His lips tilted.

"I wondered," the princess corrected. She was not so prideful to think such things. Nor was she so sure of herself to think she had power over anyone. At least power such as this. And she was certain, at this moment, that he was the one with the power.

"I think of you often. I enjoy your company," he shared. His honesty startled her a little as it always did when he wasn't teasing.

She lifted her eyes from watching his fingers and admitted, "I still think of you most." Her heart started to race. "I wished that I was with you instead while I was on other outings." The confession rolled off her tongue and now that it had been voiced, Elsine wondered if she should have kept it to herself.

His eyes met hers, a storm of emotions she couldn't read passing through them. He didn't speak for a moment, his fingers stilling on her upper thigh. He looked like he was trying to decide what to tell her next and the princess wondered how many secrets he had to tell. "I stole Hamish's favorite cufflinks." He said, a wicked grin lifting the corners of his mouth.

Elsine laughed, the secret unexpected in the middle of this particularly heated moment. Shaking her head, she hooked her fingers around his forearm. "I am going to have to ask you to return those, sir," she giggled but gave him a long look so that he knew she was serious. Hamish would miss them, and she didn't want her loyal servant staff to be blamed for such a crime.

"It shall be done," he promised.

Elsine nodded approvingly as her eyes moved to her fingers on his arm. She rubbed them over the loose fabric that billowed around it. "I wish I had more time before I have to become queen."

He studied her with a serious expression. She wanted to ask what he thought of that; if he thought she was a coward. She wondered if he thought she was unfit for the crown. He kept his thoughts to himself. She looked away to where his fingers had resumed their intoxicating swirling. Bending his head, he pressed his lips to her knee to whisper his next secret against her skin, "I want you." His hand brought her leg to his chest so his lips could slip carefully over the inside of her knee. She couldn't breathe. "More than I should. More than what is proper," he breathed, his fingers sliding dangerously upward.

She inhaled at the heat that had started slowly but now burned between her thighs. She wanted to find out just how much he did. More than she would admit even to herself. She needed him to stop touching and kissing her like that if she was going to be able to leave this garden. But the wish she returned for his secret desire was only tinder for the fire. "I wish you would kiss me," she told him, her voice soft and quiet.

Pressing his lips to her thigh he smiled, "Whatever you desire, little mouse. Where shall I oblige you?" Her cheeks heated further at the answers that rushed into her mind. Everywhere. Her voice was stuck in her throat when he paused to lift his eyes to her. Elsine suddenly wished she could hide her face without looking silly. She wasn't sure that him seeing how he affected her would be good for either of them. It probably gave him too much of an advantage over her. She dropped her gaze away shyly. He kissed her thigh again and then pulled up her other leg that was lost in fabric― both knees now bent over his lap. His hand lifted, tracing his fingers down along the edge of the strapless neckline of her dress as he leaned closer. Elsine sucked in a breath at the light graze of his finger where her cleavage swelled. She held tightly to the bench so she wouldn't sink her fingers into his soft mass of curls.

His hand curved around the back of her neck, bringing his lips to her pulse. Her eyes closed at the sweet warmth of his breath on her skin. She was shivering but not from the chill of the night air. He brought her closer until his mouth slanted over hers. She hadn't allowed herself to kiss him after what had happened with Darius, but here she let him. Letting go of all her dos and don'ts and having what she wanted. Even if it was wrong. Her attraction to Kannon, by itself, was one of the less confusing things in her life. She melted into his kiss, allowing herself to not worry about what was to come or who to choose.

She kissed him back, and her hands let go of the bench to weave her fingers into his hair. His kisses were slow and hungry. Her blood turned molten under her skin. When they broke away for a breath her eyes fluttered open and danced with his before he captured her mouth again. A sound of need came softly from her against Kannon's lips and the princess swore she felt him shudder. He kissed away from her lips along her jaw, slowing at her neck, taking his time as he made a lazy trail to her collarbone.

"You owe me another secret, my lord," Elsine pointed out breathlessly as her fingers dug deeper into his hair.

He laughed under his breath― his lips spreading fire as they brushed over her racing heart. "You will have to come to visit me for more secrets. It's getting late." The beating in her chest sped at the thought of visiting him in his room. She knew it was a dangerous offer. Intriguing nonetheless. And full of scandalous promise.

"They better be good." She pulled his mouth back to hers with her grip on his curls. The princess wanted to drown in his fire for just a moment. Just one more kiss.

**Edited Kylie R. Trask 2022**