The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

entered the Vale, but she…”
“She was gone.” He nipped at my lower lip, drawing a
gasp from me. “And you brought her back because you
tried. Because you refused to give up. You did that, Poppy.
And because of you, those parents won’t be mourning their
child tonight. They’ll be watching her fall asleep.”
“I…I just did what I could,” I told him. “That’s all—”
The sheer intensity of the way he claimed my lips cut off
my words. That low curl in my stomach intensified as he
tilted his head, deepening the kiss.
Balmy air curled its way around my legs as he drew the
skirt of my gown up. Shock at his intentions warred with the
elicit pulse of pleasure. “We’re in public.”
“Not really.” The tips of his fangs grazed the underside
of my jaw, and every muscle in my body seemed to clench.
Up and up it went until his fingers skimmed the curve of my
ass. “This is a private garden.”
“There are people around—” A breathy moan escaped
me as the skirt rose above the dagger. “Somewhere.”
“No one is even remotely close enough to us,” he said,
slipping his hand out from behind my head. “The wolven
made sure of that.”
“I don’t see them,” I said.
“They’re at the mouth of the alley,” he told me,
catching my ear between his teeth. I shuddered. “They’re
giving us privacy to speak.”
A short giggle left me. “I’m sure that’s what they think
we’re doing.”
“Does it matter?” he questioned.
I thought about that as my pulse sped up. Did it? What
had happened last night flashed before me, as did the
memory of seeing Casteel prone on the Chambers’ floor.
Believing he’d died. In a heartbeat, I remembered what it
had been like when the blood had drained from my body,
realizing there would be no more new experiences, no more