Jace lets out a long sigh. “I know.”

Neither of us say anything after that, and eventually I drift off to sleep.

CHAPTER THIRTY

JACE

I wake up to an empty bed. I roll over to see Viv perched on the loveseat in the corner of the room, tying her shoelaces.

“Hey,” she greets once she sees I’m awake, giving me a hesitant smile.

“Hi,” I reply. We stare at each other, gauging the other’s mood.

Viv breaks the silence first. “I grabbed your bag for you,” she says, nodding to my suitcase, which is sitting on the armchair by the windows. “I thought I’d save you the walk of shame.” She winks, acting more like her usual self as she finishes tying her shoelace and stands. She’s dressed in a pair of running shorts and a bright pink sports bra.

“How thoughtful,” I tease, smiling.

Viv relaxes visibly at my response. I sit up in bed, stretching my arms above my head. I have no idea if Marcedenia has some special type of mattresses, but I seriously feel as though I just spent the night on a cloud. I have a feeling the girl shifting her weight back and forth between her feet while staring at me deserves most of the credit, though.

Vivienne’s gaze drops to my exposed torso as I stretch, and I watch her cheeks redden as she realizes I’m still naked. My own body reacts to her blatant admiration.

“How come you didn’t wake me up?” I ask. I mean for more than just retrieving my bag, and she knows it.

Viv bites her lip. “I’m always the one who initiates it,” she admits, not meeting my gaze. “And I wasn’t sure if you would…”

She stops talking when I climb out of bed and walk over to her.

“I always want you, Viv. Always, okay? Even at inconvenient times, like when you play charades with my mom and sister, or when you were there at the hospital. Whenever I’ve stopped you—or let’s be honest, tried and failed to stop things—it’s never been because I didn’t want to. Okay?”

She nods. I kiss her as soon as her blue eyes finally find mine. Hungrily, greedily, desperately. We’ve already blazed past all the physical boundaries I was so certain would be in place, and I can’t muster the necessary restraint to keep myself from doing so again, especially when Viv is kissing me back just as eagerly.

It’s another half hour before the two of us emerge out a side door into the palace gardens. It’s still early, but the temperature outside has already risen to warmer levels than it reached yesterday. Viv’s strawberry blonde hair is adorably mussed as she stretches her hamstrings.

“You ready?” she asks, beaming at me.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I reply, returning her smile as I stretch my own leg. “My muscles have purposefully forgotten what it’s like to run with you.”

Viv rolls her eyes as she starts jogging. “You’re a professional athlete, Jace. Keep up.”