Page 24

Chapter Eight

Bringing breakfast to Niera was intended to make up for whatever rift he’d caused the night before. His lack of self-control when he kissed her couldn’t have won him points. His nerves ran on high-octane fuel all night, and sputtered all morning, the unknown looming like a storm cloud over his day.

He woke with one goal: Make things right with the enrapturing woodland fae.

He only hoped that everything else would fall into place.

Bringing up his curse certainly wasn’t on his list of topics to discuss over breakfast. Not after his tongue fumbled obscene words and a timid, shy boy-creature possessed his otherwise confident mind. That’s what Niera did to him. She made him nervous. Made him worry he wasn’t enough, couldn’t be enough, and he desperately wanted to be everything she could hope and wish for.

Gods, if only he’d gotten his hands on that Sherwood cat…

“My curse,” he said slowly, abandoning his sandwich for a thoughtful sip of coffee. “How about this: I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours?”

“What makes you think I’m cursed?”

The hitch in her voice gave away her reaction to his suggestion. Fact was, he didn’t know if she was cursed, only suspected there was more to her fear of the ocean, the sea fae, and her desperate desire to keep miles between herself and a possible relationship.

Every instinct assured him she fought whatever this connection was harder than she struggled to hold onto her energy and magic because of those pesky sea fae.

Staying just out of reach. Almost unobtainable. Typical curse irony.

“I’m not, but something tells me there’s a bit of dark hexing sparking your every decision since you arrived here.”

A little nudge, but no outward deductions. Maybe, just maybe, she’d indulge his curiosity and help him understand why she continued to push him away when it was obvious she didn’t want to.

“Okay, I’ll make you a deal.” He lowered his cup to the counter and faced her fully. Gods, every time he looked upon her face, his heartbeat went haywire and his skin tingled like someone held a torch near his flesh. A pleasant burn without the damage. “I’ll entertain you with the details of my so-called curse, but in return, you must tell me why you’re so against pursuing something with me. Even if it’s a friendship.”

Niera perked up. “That’s easy. I’m a loner.” When he tilted his head and stared at her without speaking, she sighed. “Okay, fine. I agree.” She pointed a finger at him. “But you can’t leave anything out.”

“It’s not so convoluted that I’d forget the details.” A humorless chuckle escaped him. He brushed aside a wayward strand of his hair, folded his hands on the counter, and leaned on his forearms. “Believe it or not, it’s pretty straightforward. I was lured by one of those malicious sea fae into a courting relationship, not realizing she was promised to another. That other was a cousin of mine, distant, but a relation. My uncle thought I was trying to sabotage a contract between his family and the female sea fae’s family so my parents would gain more wealth and move up the social ladder. What he didn’t know was that my father didn’t need me to marry for money or social standing. He was the advisor to one of the”—he waved a hand in a nonchalant manner—“most prominent families in our city, though his position and that connection was kept quiet. The only reason I knew was because I was set to succeed him and had begun attending sessions and meetings to follow in his footsteps.”

“Why would it be a secret? Your father’s position?”

The corner of his mouth curled. He’d kept his true roots close to his heart. Not even Danny and Brayden—both of whom were considered “regs,” Cat’s Paw Cove’s lingo for human—knew much about his past. When it came to Niera, his tongue loosened and the urge to spill all the details came overwhelmingly easy.

“To preserve his life, and the well-being of his family. Being an advisor to this particular person is fraught with danger. Kidnapping. Murder. Ransom. You name it. My father kept the family’s financial status hidden and his position masked behind a calculated front.” Alistair shrugged. “In hindsight, I suspect the female had an idea about my father’s position, my inherited position, and decided to play the seductress. I had no knowledge about the pact her family had with my uncle’s family, so it wasn’t deliberate on my part.”

“Hold on a moment.” The hesitation in her voice drew his attention. She watched him with a mixture of curiosity and speculation that both warmed him from the inside-out and made him squirm in his chair. “Why am I starting to suspect you might be a sea fae yourself?”

“Close, but if I were related to the sea fae, I’d be embarrassed to admit it.” He shuddered for effect, earning a smirk from the pretty fae. “Another sea-faring creature.”

Niera’s probing gaze burrowed deep. It felt like being picked apart in a rather pleasant way. To give her a hint, he lowered some of the walls he kept around his magical essence. It was the first time since he’d become land-bound that he let anyone within his barriers.

He didn’t trust the sea fae not to send one of their spies to meddle with his life.

Niera’s eyes widened, the warmed honey hues of them casting their own spell over his mind. “Merman.”

He winked. “Beautifulandsmart.”

She flushed a pretty rose he couldn’t keep from tracing along her cheek with his fingertips. She ducked her head, a shy gesture, but he caught the twitch of her lips before they curled up.

“That explains your love of the ocean, which is my bane.”

Her silence weighed heavy, unspoken words churning in the air between them. There was something more she wasn’t revealing, he was certain.

“It shouldn’t be. Woodland fae, at least in my understanding and studies, hold no aversion to salt water. You’re an exception, and your evident dislike for the sea fae makes me wonder what curse they settled on you.”

Niera laughed and shook her head. “I see what you did. Handsomeandsmart.” Her eyes glittered with anticipation. “You’re correct about my disdain toward the creatures, but they have nothing to do with my looming curse.”