Page 52

Magic was a funny thing. Each school had its own set of skills and rules, but at a certain point, the effects overlapped.

For example, Skye didn’t control air—he manipulated aether.

But since aether made up a sizeable percentage of the air around him, stirring it could whip up a breeze just the same.

And as he sat on the edge of the bed, a steaming cup of coffee in one hand, he did exactly that—swirling aether, air, and the smell of hot coffee right beneath his sleeping mate’s nose.

Taly mumbled into her pillow, shifting toward the smell. Swallowing a laugh, he inched the cup closer.

One gray eye cracked open. “Whaf’zat?”

“What do you think?”

An arm slithered from beneath the blanket. She grabbed for it—cursing when he pulled it just out of reach.

Again.

Then again.

“You suck,” she groaned, flopping onto the pillow and yanking the blankets over her head.

Taly had never been a morning person.

Skye set the mug aside and climbed over her, pressing kisses to her spine through the thick quilt. “C’mon, Tink. I’ve already chased all the scary morning monsters away.”

She tried to backhand him from under the covers. It didn’t work. “How the hell are you so chipper?”

“Sex,” he said, peeling the blanket down to nuzzle the delicate point of her ear. A shiver ran through her, and she stretched, hips flexing into the mattress. “Lots of sex.”

They might’ve both had a few years of pent-up frustration to work out.

Which might be how they broke the bed. Again.

And some of the shower tiles, though Skye only took partial responsibility there.

Yes, he’d followed her in—how could he not when she’d sauntered off with a sly “boys are messy” thrown over her shoulder?

And yeah, he’d had his hands on her the second he could.

But she was the one gasping harder, harder , harder when he had her up against the shower wall.

What was he supposed to do? Tell her no?

In hindsight, he was glad he’d taken the liberty of reinforcing the privacy wards on their floor.

And then after… He wouldn’t say it was better . The sex had been everything he’d imagined, and he’d imagined a lot . But the after—that was the part he hadn’t been prepared for. Hadn’t even realized was something to want.

Because nothing had changed. Not really. They talked like always. Laughed like always. Nudity just added a very, very nice layer to the experience. For all her hand-wringing, they hadn’t broken anything. And now, he was more certain than ever.

He knew it in the way he knew how to breathe. This was it—his place, his happiness. This was his forever.

Skye coaxed Taly onto her back, but she held the sheet over her face so that only her eyes showed, glaring up at him from beneath a tangle of sleep-mussed hair.

“Hello,” he said, grinning. He tried to tug the sheet down, but she held fast.

“I haven’t cleaned my teeth yet,” she mumbled.

“I don’t care.” He pried the sheet from her fingers and kissed her, long and deep. Then, with a grin against her lips: “A little stale.”

A fist connected with his shoulder, but he just laughed and kissed her again. “I was supposed to tell you to get up,” he murmured, mouth drifting along her cheek, dipping to her jaw. “Breakfast is almost ready.”

Taly groaned. “How can it be morning already?”

He nipped a fading bruise on her neck—a match to the dozen or so she’d left on him. Quick study, his Taly. It hadn’t taken her long to figure out how to use her magic to make the marks stick. “You have a busy day. You get to go with Sarina to try on dresses.”

Taly groaned louder. “You can’t tell me I don’t have a dress somewhere in that labyrinth of junk in the basement that won’t suffice.”

“I don’t know about that. You’ll have to take it up with the powers that be.” Then, pulling back, he dragged away the rest of the blankets, leaned down, and pulled the tip of her breast into his mouth, effectively ending the conversation.

He should’ve been sated. More than. But all he had to do was look at her—or get a passing whiff of her scent—and he was right back where he started. Aching.

“Em?” she breathed as he flicked his tongue over her nipple.

Then again—lower, needier—“Em…” His name was a sigh as he slid a hand beneath the sheets, fingers teasing between her legs.

He still couldn’t believe he was the lucky bastard who got to touch her like this.

“As much as I would like to continue this,” she murmured, voice hitching as he dipped inside her. “Um… my, um, coffee is getting cold.”

Skye growled against her breast.

“Priorities, Skye. Coffee before orgasms.”

“Your priorities are backward.”

She pinched his shoulder, and he rolled to the side with a huff. He knew better than to get between that woman and her morning cup of coffee. “Drink fast.”

Grinning, she threw off the rest of the blankets, and Skye was man enough to admit it. He whimpered at the sight of all that soft skin, those curves… Shards help him.

She settled back against the headboard, wriggling to get comfortable. His eyes tracked every bounce and shift. “You know, I don’t get you?”

She hummed around a sip of coffee. “How so?”

“Last night, you were covering yourself every time you rolled over. But in this?” He tugged at the strap of the camisole, letting it snap back into place.

A damp circle clung to the fabric where his mouth had been.

The little pair of teal underclothes hugging her hips were just as flimsy.

“You realize this is see-through, right?”

She shrugged. “It’s different.”

“How?”

“It just is,” she said around a yawn, stretching without thinking. The shift of her body made the flimsy fabric pull tight. Skye swallowed hard. “This is probably a little late to be asking, but should we be worried about…” She made a vague gesture.

He arched a brow. “I don’t know what this ”—he repeated the gesture—“means.”

“I haven’t been taking a contraceptive tonic.”

“And?”

“And I know that Fey are… challenged regarding reproduction, but how likely is it that last night… Exactly how fast do I need to get my ass to an apothecary this morning?”

Skye laughed—he didn’t mean to. And he was quick to rectify his mistake when Taly frowned.

“An apothecary won’t be necessary,” he said, letting his knuckles graze her bent knee, dotted with small scars from a human childhood.

“Even if you were in season right now, the odds of getting pregnant without a healthy dose of fertility magic cast on both of us is slim to none.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “When I was human, Sarina made it sound like all I needed to do was wave at a man, and I’d be tracking him down in nine months. Compared to the Fey, I suppose it must seem like that.”

She chewed on her bottom lip, thinking. “I’d still feel better if we both started taking a contraceptive tonic. Just to be safe.”

It was unnecessary, but Skye nodded. If the price of her comfort was choking down that nasty concoction once a week, he’d gladly pay it.

He watched her drain the cup, his hand sliding up her calf, prying her legs apart—

But she twisted her fingers over the top of the mug. A spark of golden aether had the dark liquid instantly refilling.

Taly took another sip, eyes flicking to the front of his trousers and the evidence of his readiness to move to the next activity. “Don’t look so surly. You kept me up late last night.”

She hadn’t been voicing any complaints at the time.

No doubt, his eyes were a little wild, a little hungry. “If you never want me to bring you coffee again, this is the way to accomplish that,” he warned.

She called his bluff with another long, luxurious sip. Coffee made her happy, and happy women wanted sex—it was basic male logic, and he wasn’t about to self-sabotage.

When she lowered the mug, she looked thoughtful. “I guess this is it, huh? We’re… a thing.”

“Why do you sound so nervous?”

“What do I call you now?”

“Mate,” he offered, but her nose wrinkled. “What?”

“It’s just so… Fey . Like we’re animals, and you’re about to wrestle me to the ground to rut.”

Skye didn’t mind the image that conjured. “What do you want to call me then?”

A shrug. “Boyfriend?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re not human anymore, and I don’t have to pretend that I don’t find their words for things stupid and unspecific. I’m not a boy, and I’m not your friend. I’m the man who gets to take you home and fuck you.”

Heat flushed her cheeks, desire soaked her scent, and Skye looked—nope, she was still only halfway through her coffee.

Next time, he was going to bring a smaller cup.

“There’s always… élan.” Beloved . It was a term commonly reserved for the bonded, and at the mention of it, her expression sobered.

“Do you think it would hurt?” she asked. “If we broke it?”

“Yes.” Severing the bond would be excruciating. And the longer they waited, the worse it would be.

She’d never given him an answer. Back in the garden, she’d never said just what it was that she wanted. After last night, after he’d felt her reaching for the bond, he’d thought… “Do you want to break it?”

A pause. A breath. “I feel like I should.”

Which meant that she didn’t. She was just being Taly and thinking about everyone else before herself—focusing on what he stood to lose rather than what they might gain.

He pressed a finger to the frown forming between her brows, smoothing it away. “It’s not selfish if it’s what I want too.”

Taly attempted a smile, batting his hand away. “Get out of my head,” she said with none of her usual bite.

Skye peeked into her cup, then to her. Back to the cup. “I think you’re done.”

She held it out of reach. Or tried to—his arms were longer.

“There’s still at least two swallows left!”

Not anymore. He downed them, wincing at the Shards-awful taste. How the hell did she still stomach this stuff?

“Now you’re done.” He tossed the mug toward the nightstand. It landed right-side up with a clattering rattle.

“Oh, don’t look so impressed with yourself.”