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Luna

W e’d learned a lot about what didn’t call my magic yesterday but had no luck with anything that did.

I admired Evelyn and Ambrose’s dedication to their extensive process.

They had a list of tests, and for each one we completed, Ambrose recorded the outcome.

They were all listed as failures.

Vincent was quiet but reassuring.

I liked that about him.

It was almost dark when we finally finished the experiments, and Vincent walked me back through the woods to my cottage.

Something in my heart warmed at his consideration.

That same something inside me wanted to reach for him, wanted to entwine our fingers as we walked, and maybe not let go.

He’d squeezed my arm before he left, saying we’d figure it out and that he’d see me in a few days for the meal with Darius.

I wanted him to stay, but my mouth wouldn’t open to say the words.

His wind wrapped around my arm in its own farewell as he walked back through the trees until they hid him from sight.

It was for the best.

Probably.

Even as I thought that, days later, my mind still wondered why.

Yes, he’d been an ass when we first met and then made the stupid bargain that forced me to confront Darius.

I wasn’t exactly innocent in our meeting.

Magically fueled or not, I’d thrown a drink at him.

Then I hadn’t hesitated to ask him for a favor once I’d found out who he was.

I wanted to believe we could be more than our first meeting.

He’d tried to get out of our bargain.

I knew that’s what he wanted, but no matter how much our feelings for each other might have changed, we still wanted the outcomes we’d bargained for.

I still wanted to save the inn.

He still wanted to write a piece that wasn’t a recommendation.

And some part of me wanted to know if what Darius was accused of was real.

Now that I’d heard the accusation and Vincent’s overheard conversation, I needed to discover if it was true.

Forging some new relationship with him would mean nothing if he secretly tried to deny half-fae a right to learn magic.

I’d complicated matters by being so honest with Darius.

It appeared he didn’t think much of Vincent from his initial reaction.

I chalked that up to court politics.

The Norden and Osten Families were still getting used to their leaders’ friendship.

It was understandable after hundreds of years of animosity.

Two outfits lay across my bed.

Vincent would be here soon, and I didn’t know what to wear.

The first, a plain black dress, was one of the outfits Vincent and I had purchased for my new fae look.

Whenever I left Cliff House property, I’d been trying to stick to the new look we’d come up with so that if— when —the inn was featured in Vincent’s column, readers would remember me as a respectable fae from a respectable family.

The second outfit was louder, a gold skirt and a white off-the-shoulder blouse .

I should stick with the plan.

The black dress is fine.

My gaze flicked between the two outfits, and my heart rate sped up as I reached for the fae dress.

No, that didn’t feel right.

This was my first time entering Pierce House.

I wanted to do it as myself.

If Darius was genuinely going to accept me, I wanted him to accept me for who I was, not the front Vincent and I had constructed for his column.

The black dress went back into the closet.

Moments later, as I put the finishing touches on my coronet braid, leaving the peeks of silver out and twisting them around my face, Vincent knocked at the door.

His smile was huge when he saw me, his gaze running the length of me.

“You look amazing.”

He didn’t look so bad himself, but he always looked good.

He wore his favorite dark brown jacket and a plain white shirt beneath.

“You don’t want to chastise me for not wearing the black dress?”

The smile flattened.

“I’ve told you multiple times, Luna”—he stepped into my space—“you are breathtaking the way you are. Others may expect the more traditional dress, but I regret the purchases in that dress shop every day. It’s a failing of the fae that you tame yourself for them.”

He was so close.

He smelled so good.

His lips were right there.

My body was moving before I could overthink it.

I’d wanted to know what he tasted like since the day we met.

Then, we’d been more whipping wind and quick judgments.

Now, when my lips met his, wind swirled around us, blocking out everything else, like a safe harbor from the storm.

The rest of him took a moment to catch up to my snap decision.

His lips were firm, unyielding, as I’d caught him off guard with my advance.

It only took a moment for his hands to follow the wind’s path.

Strong arms wrapped around me, and my own arms slipped around his neck to reach for the thick locks of hair that continually drew my attention.

I may have started this, but Vincent and his wind worked in tandem to escalate it.

His lips turned searching as his tongue pressed against the seam of mine.

The cyclone of his wind pressed us closer together.

I didn’t mind, suddenly wanting nothing between us.

My lips parted, granting him access and meeting him stroke for stroke.

Our tongues tangled in a dance we’d waited too long to start.

I didn’t know if it was his hand or his wind that slid up the length of my ribs, and I didn’t care.

They were both him—both sending waves of want crashing through me.

Breathless, I pulled back.

He stumbled forward, following, nipping my lip, unwilling to let me go.

“Luna,” he said in a gruff voice that had my insides melting.

“That was the perfect start to the evening,” I said.

My gaze roamed my cozy cottage, flipping between the couch and the bedroom.

He followed my gaze with interest.

Then I sighed, resigned.

“But should things escalate further, we will be late.”

“Right.” He tugged on his shirt sleeves and tried to compose himself.

The plants were still swaying in a light breeze from his wind.

I couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction.

He cleared his throat and handed me a small box.

“Happy name day.”

“Vincent, you didn’t need to get me anything. I can’t thank you enough for coming with me. This could prove to be an unfortunate evening.”

I opened the box.

It was a necklace, a pendant in the shape of the moon’s phases.

The pendant was silver, perfectly matching the color of my moon-stricken hair.

“You looked so fierce the first night we met, glaring at the full moon. It didn’t stand a chance against whatever you demanded of it. That look—it was power and grace, beauty and strength in perfect harmony.”

I wasn’t sure I could speak.

My throat was thick with emotion.

I wanted to think I communicated everything I couldn’t say as our gazes held.

“Will you help me put it on?” I asked, turning my back to him.

His fingers skimmed across the curve of my shoulders like a light breeze.

It was even more satisfying than when his wind did it.

Sometimes, it does things I lack the courage to.

His response to my question had gooseflesh pebbling my skin.

He and his wind working in tandem would put me in the eye of a storm.

It was a thought that had me tingling with anticipation.

As he fastened the clasp, I shook my head free of images and the desire to continue our kiss.

His fingers lingered, his touch soft.

I needed us to reach Darius’s house before things got out of hand.

The way we were headed, I’d have him in my bed in moments, and we wouldn’t leave the cottage for days.

I turned to face him.

The heat in his eyes made my knees weak.

As if he knew, his wind was there, steadying me.

“Perfect,” he said.

“Thank you, Vincent.” I attempted to compose myself.

“We should probably go.” He looked wistfully over my shoulder toward the bedroom.

I laughed, knowing that our thoughts were aligned in this, too.

Vincent had procured us a carriage for the ride to Pierce House.

I sat beside him on the bench but didn’t touch him.

Our kiss had left me more than a little flustered.

I didn’t know what to do with my hands.

They folded in my lap, then flopped uselessly at my sides as I searched for a place to put them.

Should I reach for Vincent’s?

Did he want to kiss me again?

I knew it was silly to wonder as he snuck glances at me, too.

Where might that kiss lead once we made it through this evening?

I was abuzz with anticipation.

His wind blew the blond strands of hair from my face, growing frustrated when it realized the rest of my hair was braided.

I laughed as I toyed with the charm he had given me.

It was what I needed, something to keep my thoughts from the heavier ones—the reason I’d got us invited to Pierce House to begin with, fulfilling my end of our stupid bargain.

Part of me knew if I said I didn’t want to search Darius’s office tonight, Vincent would let me off the hook.

He’d say it wasn’t necessary, even though I was sure he wanted to write features as much as I wanted to run Cliff House Inn.

My hand fell to my skirt, smoothing it.

That wasn’t the only reason we had to do it.

If Darius wanted to mend things between us—if he wanted some semblance of a relationship—I needed to know who he was.

Maybe I could ask him instead of sneaking into his office?

I dismissed the thought.

Inviting me to the house did not mean he would openly confess his sins.

I had to know if he was trying to stop half-fae from learning magic.

I couldn’t be part of his family if he were doing that.

Vincent’s hand covered mine, lifting it to his lips.

“Second thoughts?”

I gently bumped his shoulder.

“I knew we’d get here.”

He gripped my hand tighter.

“You know I don’t need the information.”

First, I wasn’t sure that was true.

One thing we hadn’t talked about was how much longer his boss would wait.

He must be facing pressure to report on his findings.

It seemed very Vincent to keep that pressure to himself.

I shook my head.

As much as I wanted him to succeed in his career goals, this wasn’t only for him.

“ I need it.” I turned my hand to meet his, intertwining our fingers.

“Out of the blue, Darius wants to start fresh. That’s what tonight is...trying to forge a relationship with my father.” I cleared my throat as I tested out the title instead of his name.

“If I think there is any chance of it succeeding, I need to know that he is not involved with this.”

“I’m sorry that I made you doubt him at all.”

“You didn’t create and submit the evidence!” I said.

Vincent’s face turned pensive at that, but I continued.

“Here is the plan. I’m sure tonight will be a formal meal. He even said my grandmother would dine with us. I’ll excuse myself when they move us from the dining room to the family room for a digestif. You will find a reason to follow me. I can leave my bag there. Say I needed it and chase after me.”

“You’re giving this a lot of thought,” he said.

“Well, I’m nervous. I ramble when I’m nervous. You should know that by now.”

“You’re beautiful when you ramble. I support your decision to play spy in your father’s house, but can we discuss what we might find?”

“I know what we might find, Vincent.” I sighed.

“That is why I must do this. If I were sure he was uninvolved, I’d say we could skip it, but I’m not. Mom was so sure he only cared about pureblood fae and power. He never came back to see me after deciding I had none. That doesn’t speak to someone with no motive to stop others from being educated in magic.” I’d worked up steam on my argument.

“If that is the kind of male he is, I don’t want anything to do with him. Even if he is finally ready to act like my father.” I nodded more to myself than anyone, but Vincent’s dark brown eyes were molten when I’d finished.

“You really shouldn’t look at me like that,” I said, and yet I couldn’t help but wiggle in my seat as I spoke.

The attention was indecent, to say the least.

“I wish I’d kissed you the first night we met,” he said.

“When you complimented my wind while insulting me. ”

“You could make up for it now.” I smirked.

His lips were on mine before I took another breath.

He picked up right where we’d left off in the cottage.

His tongue stroked mine as it invaded my mouth.

His hand was at my neck, tilting my head to grant a better angle.

A chill ran up my spine, the cold thrill mixing decadently with the heat pooling low in my stomach.

Wind danced along my neck and shoulders, and I shivered in delight when his arms pulled me closer to him as he drew away with a last, lingering press of his mouth to mine.

He shifted in his seat, and I did the same.

He set my senses alive in a way I had yet to feel—an unspeakable excitement mixed with a perfect calm in my chest at what the night would bring.

I knew I was taking many risks.

Coming into my father’s house was a big step.

Dining with him and my grandmother, who I’d never met, was another.

Determining if he could have such animosity toward half-fae as to work against us was icing on the cake.

“I’m glad you’re with me,” I said, holding Vincent’s gaze.

“There is nowhere else I’d rather be.”