Page 15 of Broken Hearted
As her body pressed against mine, a sense of rightness settled on me, wiping traces of any other woman from my thoughts.
Isolde was in my arms, right where she belonged. No one else existed but her. No one else mattered but her.
I let my gaze drift over her features, as if drinking them in for the first time. Her high cheekbones, her straight and small nose. Her delicately pointed ears. The dark eyebrows and inky lashes that framed her striking pale blue eyes.
She was beautiful beyond compare, and a possessiveness that I’d never felt before swelled in my chest as I gazed at her.
Reaching up, I traced a finger around the shell of her ear, and her slight shiver brought a lazy smile to my mouth. I dragged my finger from her ear to her cheek and down to her chin, and then gently tipped her head back, aligning that irresistible mouth with mine.
I’d held myself back long enough. I didn’t justwantto feel her mouth pressed against my own— Ineededit.
I leaned down, anticipation humming through my veins stronger and more palpable than even my magic. Deep inside I knew what would happen when our lips touched, what it would mean, and I welcomed the revelation.
Just as my mouth pressed against her own, putting an end to the sweet torture, I awoke with a start.
A fine layer of moisture coated my skin as I blinked against the morning sun, trying to make sense of what had just happened.
A dream. It was just a dream.
But it had felt so real. I hadn’t dreamed in forever. Since before I started taking Elisana’s tea.
I closed my eyes, trying to remember the details of the vision, but they’d already started to slip away from me like sand through an hourglass.
Isolde. The beach. An almost kiss.
I shook my head and reopened my eyes. The coastal breeze blowing through the windows did nothing to cool me, and I tossed the thin blanket off and got to my feet. I was grateful at that moment that Elisana was waiting to share a bed with me until we were married. I wasn’t sure I could look her in the eye right now. Lumbering to the bathroom, my mind was still half in a haze as I splashed cold water on my face.
When I looked up at myself in the mirror, my eyes had a feverish look in them, and my skin was flushed. Even as the dream was fading from memory I could somehow still feel the press of Isolde’s body against mine, the softness of her skin beneath my fingertip. Her scent, freshly fallen snow mixed with mulled spices, still tickled my nose.
“What are you doing, Adrien?” I asked my reflection.
Groaning, I pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes, trying to banish thoughts of the black-haired beauty from my mind and replace them with Elisana, my fiancée, my love. But that didn’t work, so I filled the clawfoot tub up with cold water and submerged myself in an icy bath, hoping to shock Isolde from my system. I forced myself to stay in the tub until thoughts of the Winter princess had faded to the recesses of my mind where they belonged.
I didn’t have any official duties to attend to today, so after I bathed, I threw on a casual linen shirt and breeches and then went down to the breakfast room where Elisana and I ate most mornings.
When I arrived, she was already there, seated at her usual place to the right of the head of the table, waiting for me. Spotting me, she got to her feet and rushed over, throwing herself at me. Bringing my arms up and around her, I held her tightly, doing my best not to think about how different she felt in them than Isolde had in my dream.
Perhaps I hadn’t stayed in the tub long enough after all?
Going up on her tiptoes, Elisana gave me a quick kiss, and I ignored the acid feeling that churned in my gut. It was probably just because my stomach was empty.
“What are your plans today, my love?” I asked as we both settled into our seats.
“Well,” she said with a smile. “I’m working on more wedding planning. I’m determined to make sure this wedding is the largest and most extravagant that Ethereum has ever seen. At least twice as large as Dawn and Zander’s.”
Something twisted in my gut. “Does it really matter how large or lavish the wedding is?” I asked, uncomfortable that it sounded like she was trying to one-up my brother and his wife. If it were up to me, we would just marry on the beach with only the officiant and the two of us. I had no need for such pomp and circumstance.
Elisana frowned, a sour look settling on her face. “Yes, it matters,” she snapped, and it startled me, but she immediately wiped the look away and smiled demurely as she reached forward and took my hand. “The size of the wedding, darling, should mirror the love and devotion we have toward one another. Are you saying that your love for me isn’t very big?”
“Of course that’s not what I’m saying,” I said, feeling a pinprick of annoyance rise up inside. But then I took a calming breath.
What did it matter if she wanted a large wedding or not? I was in the position to provide her with what she desired, and if it made her happy to invite half of Ethereum to witness our joining, then why stand in the way?
I lifted her hand and kissed the back of it. “If you want a large wedding, then that’s what you shall have,” I said, and her smile grew.
Releasing her hand, I picked up my fork and speared a strawberry. “Has there been any news from my brother?”
Elisana’s brows bunched together in confusion. “Your brother?” she asked with a head tilt.
