Chapter43:

The words were out of her mouth before she could even think about them. It had nothing to do with her ability to command the other forty-one, now forty-two, men to do whatever she’d like. This request originated in her heart. It had lived there for so long, she couldn’t imagine a world where she didn’t constantly yearn for Eli’s lips to be on hers. His hands moved so they were on either side of her face, and she pressed her palms to his chest, but he didn’t lean in, and she remembered that, should anyone see them, should anyone find out, her mother would hesitate at nothing to take his head. There would be no second chances, no possibility of calling upon the people to spare him or barter for a blow of a lesser degree. If Queen Rona had the opportunity to take Eli’s life, she would, so Kit could hardly blame him for hesitating, even if he wanted to taste her as badly as she needed him. Kit opened her mouth to try to take it back, to try to extinguish the position she’d put him in, but