All Hail the Shifter King
Title: Say Something
Word Count: 691
Notes: A little something out of order, from The Lords of Kensington. I told myself I was going to post entirely linear for this novel, but this scene tackled me while I was listening to Great Big World's "Say Something" and it demanded sharing.
"Part of me wishes we could just leave," she murmured, closing her eyes and leaning against his chest. It was so comforting, not having to look at all the gorgeous women around them, the thin and beautiful girls in their bank-breaking gowns and perfect hair, the sidelong glances they shot her as they danced so gracefully. She hated their disdain, hated their pettiness, and most of all hated herself for being so affected by it - part of her wished that she could be more like them rather than the tomboy that spent every free moment digging in the dirt in foreign countries. Maybe if she'd learned to put on makeup, or dress properly, or do more with her hair than pull it into lopsided ponytails and scruffy buns, or if -
"After everything you've been through to get here?" he teased. "I thought this was the princess moment you were waiting for."
"It is and it isn't." She leaned back and looked up at him. "This, with the two of us? This is almost perfect. But everyone else just makes me feel -"
"- like you're on display?" he asked. She smiled wryly and nodded, flinching back when another couple danced too close. "Why do you care about everyone else?"
"Because they're the prettier princesses." She sighed and looked down, biting her lip. "Sorry," she muttered. "I just keep ruining..."
He lifted one hand from her waist to tuck his fingers beneath her chin, tilting her head up so that she looked at him again, and one of his rare, genuine smiles touched his face. She only had a split-second to admire it before he leaned in and kissed her - not a quick brush of his lips but a long, gentle kiss that sent a ripple of pleasure through every muscle in her body, made her reel like a teenager being kissed for the first time. It was over far too soon, leaving her staring up at him, lips parted and cheeks flushed.
"I can't, in good conscience, use the words 'pretty princess' in a serious context," he said softly - she giggled at this, a nervous, fluttery sound, "but you are, by far, the most beautiful woman here."
"You're just saying that," she whispered, trying to use humor to distract from her blushing. All it did, though, was make his smile fade - the expression that replaced it was so serious, so sad, that it broke her heart. The music swelled behind them as he held her - they weren't even dancing, now, just standing in the middle of the dance floor.
"I haven't told you enough," he told her - she could barely hear him over the wrenching music and the beating of his heart, "but you are, Kat. You're so beautiful it kills me, and if I don't get a chance to tell you again -"
"No," she said, shaking her head and pulling away, glaring at him. "No, shut up. Don't say that."
"You have to -"
"This isn't different from last time. It's just like Rion Fell and things are going to be fine." She could hardly resist the urge to shake him, anything to make him believe her, anything to make her believe herself. Anything to get that horrible, haunted look off his face.
"Kat, please. I -"
"No." She clamped her gloved hand across his mouth, biting her lips in a futile effort to hold back her tears. "Don't you dare, Ryder. You want to tell me, you tell me when this is over, understand?" The first tear streaked down her cheek and she took a shuddering breath, fighting the tightness in her chest and the stinging in her eyes. "There's always second chances," she whimpered, clasping his face in her hands. "There has to be."
He looked away from her, then, the first time he'd ever turned from her gaze in the time she'd known him, and a pair of tears slipped down his cheeks and soaked into the satin of her gloves.
"Nobody gets second chances forever," he whispered, so quietly she could barely hear him.
"I don't need forever," she replied. "Just long enough."
Word Count: 691
Notes: A little something out of order, from The Lords of Kensington. I told myself I was going to post entirely linear for this novel, but this scene tackled me while I was listening to Great Big World's "Say Something" and it demanded sharing.
"Part of me wishes we could just leave," she murmured, closing her eyes and leaning against his chest. It was so comforting, not having to look at all the gorgeous women around them, the thin and beautiful girls in their bank-breaking gowns and perfect hair, the sidelong glances they shot her as they danced so gracefully. She hated their disdain, hated their pettiness, and most of all hated herself for being so affected by it - part of her wished that she could be more like them rather than the tomboy that spent every free moment digging in the dirt in foreign countries. Maybe if she'd learned to put on makeup, or dress properly, or do more with her hair than pull it into lopsided ponytails and scruffy buns, or if -
"After everything you've been through to get here?" he teased. "I thought this was the princess moment you were waiting for."
"It is and it isn't." She leaned back and looked up at him. "This, with the two of us? This is almost perfect. But everyone else just makes me feel -"
"- like you're on display?" he asked. She smiled wryly and nodded, flinching back when another couple danced too close. "Why do you care about everyone else?"
"Because they're the prettier princesses." She sighed and looked down, biting her lip. "Sorry," she muttered. "I just keep ruining..."
He lifted one hand from her waist to tuck his fingers beneath her chin, tilting her head up so that she looked at him again, and one of his rare, genuine smiles touched his face. She only had a split-second to admire it before he leaned in and kissed her - not a quick brush of his lips but a long, gentle kiss that sent a ripple of pleasure through every muscle in her body, made her reel like a teenager being kissed for the first time. It was over far too soon, leaving her staring up at him, lips parted and cheeks flushed.
"I can't, in good conscience, use the words 'pretty princess' in a serious context," he said softly - she giggled at this, a nervous, fluttery sound, "but you are, by far, the most beautiful woman here."
"You're just saying that," she whispered, trying to use humor to distract from her blushing. All it did, though, was make his smile fade - the expression that replaced it was so serious, so sad, that it broke her heart. The music swelled behind them as he held her - they weren't even dancing, now, just standing in the middle of the dance floor.
"I haven't told you enough," he told her - she could barely hear him over the wrenching music and the beating of his heart, "but you are, Kat. You're so beautiful it kills me, and if I don't get a chance to tell you again -"
"No," she said, shaking her head and pulling away, glaring at him. "No, shut up. Don't say that."
"You have to -"
"This isn't different from last time. It's just like Rion Fell and things are going to be fine." She could hardly resist the urge to shake him, anything to make him believe her, anything to make her believe herself. Anything to get that horrible, haunted look off his face.
"Kat, please. I -"
"No." She clamped her gloved hand across his mouth, biting her lips in a futile effort to hold back her tears. "Don't you dare, Ryder. You want to tell me, you tell me when this is over, understand?" The first tear streaked down her cheek and she took a shuddering breath, fighting the tightness in her chest and the stinging in her eyes. "There's always second chances," she whimpered, clasping his face in her hands. "There has to be."
He looked away from her, then, the first time he'd ever turned from her gaze in the time she'd known him, and a pair of tears slipped down his cheeks and soaked into the satin of her gloves.
"Nobody gets second chances forever," he whispered, so quietly she could barely hear him.
"I don't need forever," she replied. "Just long enough."