Leia Stone

I swallowed hard. “What … was that?”

He sighed, releasing my chin, and ran his hands through his hair. “Give me time to look into this.” But I could see it in his face … he knew. He knew something and wasn’t telling me.

“Sawyer. What am I?” My voice was firmer this time and I could see the pity in his eyes.

He tucked a lock of blond hair behind my ear, looking sad, like he’d just received bad news. “You’re amazing.”

Sawyer?” I called to him, and he looked over at me, eyes still orange. “I’m okay.” I placed a hand on his chest and his eyes flickered blue. “I’m okay,” I repeated again.

His breath shuddered, and then he leaned forward, touching his forehead to mine. His eyes slowly faded from orange to blue. “Demi, I will never let anyone hurt you. Ever.”

My throat went dry. I believed him.

Could you fall in love with someone who you hadn’t even kissed? Because I was falling for Sawyer Hudson, hard.

“But I don’t worry anymore,” she said matter-of-factly. “Something about being gone in those woods has changed you. You’re more capable now than ever. I pity the person who gets in the way of you bringing Sawyer home. You can do anything, Demi. I see that now.”

Her words knocked the breath out of me, lighting a fire inside of me that had gone out last night when I’d heard the bad news. She was right. No one was taking Sawyer from me, not before he got to meet his son, and not before I got to love him at least eighty more years.

The Dark Woods had turned me into a wild woman, and the Magic City Prison was about to suffer my wrath

I didn’t stroke the king like he was a horse! What in the Hades was I thinking?

But then his lips were on mine as he made the first move, breaking the cardinal rule of the May Day tent. A small electric spark shocked my skin and I gasped. He did the same—both of us inhaling the other’s surprise. Heat traveled down to my core and I leaned forward, deepening the kiss.
His lips were soft and unsure at first, but then they opened and I slid my tongue inside just like Kendal told me to and it collided with his. A small moan escaped him and my world spun as a grin pulled at the corners of my mouth. His hands at my waist stroked a smooth circle on my hips while his tongue did the same in my mouth.
Holy Maker.
This was the best first kiss a girl could hope for. My stomach burned with heat and my heart grew fluttering wings in my chest. The warm pillowy lips on mine made everything in me scream for more

The sniffers started to shuffle out of the room, but halfway through the space they stopped and both turned over their shoulder to look at me. Inhaling again, one of them actually moaned, and then they left

I peered behind us again, not sure that my suspicion was correct. ‘You see those half dozen birds behind us?’ I asked him.
He craned his large dragon head quickly over one shoulder and then nodded before facing forward again.
‘Yes.’ He sounded distracted, as if my chatter was taking his concentration.
I pulled my hunting knife from the sheath at my thigh, hoping I wouldn’t spook Kendal, whose face was still buried in her hands at my feet. ‘They aren’t birds.’ I tried to sound calm, but even in my own head I could hear the terror in my mental voice

Hades!’ the king cursed, pushing even faster as his wings cut through the air with ease. ‘I hate to ask this of a lady but… can you fight? You said you hunted, right?’
A lady? I wasn’t a lady. Not really. Not delicate and easily spooked like Kendal was.
‘Yes,’ I growled. ‘My knife is already out.’
‘Look down at your feet. There are two stirrups. Slip your feet into those and unbuckle your waistbelt so that you can stand up.’

I stared at the dragon king’s neck, the shiny black scales and the way they reflected the morning sun. They almost looked metallic, which had me transfixed. I reached out timidly, unsure if I was allowed to, and stroked the skin. His body shuddered beneath my touch, and I snapped my hand back, eyes wide