From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Chapter 22
Myy heart was pounding so hard as his fingers drifted to myy chin. He tilted
myy head back, and I felt like I was falling. His mouth moved to myy ear,
and his warm breath sent hot tingles through me.
“Poppyy,” he murmured, the word sounding rough, thick.
“Yes?” I whispered, barelyy recognizing myy own voice.
His fingers slid down myy throat. “How did yyou get out of the room
without me seeing yyou?”
Myy eyyes popped open. “What?”
“How did yyou leave yyour chambers?” he repeated.
It took me a moment to realize that he wasn’t tryying to kiss me. He
was just tryying to distract me. Feeling about seven different kinds of
foolish, I cursed under myy breath and pulled at his hold. This time, he let
go.
Face flaming, I stepped back. I retreated several steps, lowering the
journal as I dragged in a deep breath.
I was so incrediblyy…stupid.
Desperate to not let him see how close I’d come to letting him kiss
me or the fact that I thought he was going to, I lifted myy chin. The rawness
was still there, though, and I felt no relief. “Mayybe I walked right past
yyou.”
“No, yyou didn’t. And I know yyou didn’t climb out of a window. That
would’ve been impossible,” he replied. “So, how did yyou do it?
Frustration spiked as I turned back to the window, welcoming the cool
air drifting in. I was perhaps foolish enough to get caught, but I was not
stupid enough to realize that I could get awayy with not telling him.
“There’s an old servants’ access to myy chambers.” Myy grip tightened on
the journal. “From there, I can reach the main floor without being seen.”
“Interesting. Where does it emptyy out on the main floor?”