Grim made a calming noise that couldn’t have possibly come from him. He leaned his head down, so his chin rested where her crown would have been if she had worn it. “I can portal us anywhere, remember?” he said.
It did make her feel better. She took a step toward the edge and leaned over, just a little. The world was beautiful. It was mountainous and wide, and she felt suddenly free. For nearly half an hour, they just watched the world in comfortable silence.
As she moved back again, her foot knocked against something she hadn’t noticed before. It must have been included in each of the carriages for the night. A bottle, with transparent liquid filled with bubbles. Water?
“Skyling wine,” he said, frowning. “Disgusting.”
Isla uncorked the bottle and tentatively sipped it. She grinned. “This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted.”
Grim sighed.
It was sweet, and sparkling on her tongue, and—
Grim plucked the bottle out of her hands after her second sip. “You might want to wait a little while before drinking more,” he said. “Unless you don’t want to remember the night.” He offered her the bottle, letting it be her choice.
She shook her head. No. She didn’t want that at all. She wanted to remember all of this.
Isla turned to face Grim and tilted her head.
“Can I say something honest?”
He looked taken aback. Nodded.
“You are the most unpleasant person I’ve ever met.”
Grim raised an eyebrow at her. “And you are the bane of my existence.”
She took a step toward him. “I was disappointed when I didn’t kill you.”
Grim ran his hand up her thigh, taking her dress with him. She bristled at the cold, at the fact that soon, if he continued, anyone around would be able to see her undergarments ... but they were in the sky. The next balloon was yards away. “And I’m disappointed you haven’t tried again.”
His hand curled around her waist. His lips traced her neck. Her back arched, and she moaned as he began kissing her across the glitter on her shoulders, her chest, as he started licking it. “I don’t think it’s edible,” she said.
“I don’t care.”
And then she was kissing him. Their lips crushed together, and his hands were instantly everywhere. He swept his tongue into her mouth, and she groaned. With one rough motion, Grim lifted her into the air, then placed her on the edge of the basket. Isla’s eyes flew open, wind dancing behind her back, roaring in her ears.
“Relax, Hearteater,” he said, and his breathing was uneven. Her legs widened, and he settled between them. His hand gripped beneath her knee, and she wanted more, more—
“Portal me to my room,” she said.
Grim pressed her fully against his chest—and pushed her over the edge.
Before she could scream, the world tilted, and she landed on Grim. He was on her bed. She was straddling him.
A thousand violent words in her throat, but all of them withered and died when she felt him—every inch of him—against her. Her hips rocked back and forth, ever so slightly, and the friction made her head fall back, her shoulders hike up.
Grim laughed darkly beneath her. “The sight of you, on me ...” He stopped her, with two hands curved under her backside. He lifted her off him.
She was desperate for his touch, aching—
He gently set her down next to him. He seemed faintly amused by her bewilderment.
“Not tonight, Hearteater,” he said, tucking hair that had fallen across her face behind her ear. “Sleep.”
Isla was flushed with need, with want—
He was too.
