Page 7

Chapter seven

Brandon

I woke up with a heavy weight on my body. Warmth filled every limb in a delicious haze that I thought I’d never experience again after almost dying in the snow. Wait. I sat up with a start and opened my eyes. An opulent bedroom filled with deep red furnishings met my startled gaze. The thick blankets covering my body slid to my waist relieving the heavy sensation.

A feminine gasp dragged my attention to the chair by the fireplace. Roisin sat in the ornate gothic chair, the flames from the fire licking over her skin in the way I’d imagined kissing her the second after I’d made her promise to kiss me before I died. I regretted I hadn’t died because I’d missed out on that kiss.

“You’re finally awake,” Roisin said.

“How long have we been here?” I rasped out through a dry throat. It felt like I hadn’t drunk water in days.

Roisin shrugged. “It’s hard to tell when the sun doesn’t set. They have months of light and then months of darkness. Tay said we were lucky we came in the light months because you would have frozen long before she found us if we’d arrived in the dark months.”

I wriggled my fingers and toes expecting pain like I’d heard about from frostbite, but every inch of my body felt good. Spectacular actually, going by the twitch in my cock from thinking about asking Roisin to join me in bed so we’d celebrate my survival with more than a kiss. I choked on a laugh imagining how horrified her expression would be, especially with how hard it was to get her to promise me a kiss. Why was my first thought upon waking about Roisin?

“How do you feel?” she asked shifting in the chair and sending the light spilling over her chest. I swear I saw her nipples through the sheer material of the dress she was now wearing. It wasn’t the rainbow-colored dress she normally wore. This one was white. Very bridal night.

And there went my cock to full hardness. I plucked one pillow from behind my head and placed it over my lap. Roisin’s blue eyes with the indigo ring watched every movement I made. I’d like to imagine she was appreciating my bare chest, but she might be assessing me for harm.

“I feel surprisingly good for almost dying. At least I did my duty and kept you safe.” I glanced around the room. The enormity of my almost death sinking in. What if I’d died while trying to protect Roisin? What if no one ever discovered where we were? Grandfather would be so disappointed in me if I’d died from extreme weather. He’d instilled in me from a young age my duty and responsibilities to the Fae. And here I was lusting after a Fae Princess of all women. Yet, there was a thudding in my head that said my feelings for her were more than just lust. If only I could find out if she felt anything for me. It might be wrong for me to feel this way, but I’d never been surer of anything in my life even after the short time we’d spent together. “You were safe while I was unconscious?”

“I was with you the entire time and perfectly safe.”

“Who undressed me?”

A blush filled her face. “Tay insisted on having a servant do it. She said she’d heal you better that way.”

I swiped my tongue over my dry lips. “The demon…” I couldn’t believe I said that. “Healed me?”

“She did. You would have lost fingers and toes if she hadn’t, so I agreed to it.”

“Thank you.” I wriggled my fingers trying to stop imagining losing them.

How would I have been a member of the Fellowship without fingers and toes? I wouldn’t. They would have retired me before I’d even really begun my journey as a member of the Fellowship. Before I even became their leader.

I suppose I had to thank a demon.

“Demons are real?”

“Oh, aye.”

“Huh, I should have expected that.” I massaged the muscles on the back of my neck.

Roisin’s gaze followed the line of my bicep down to my bare chest, and if I wasn’t mistaken, I’d say that was a very appreciative feminine look. Thank God for the pillow over my cock because it jumped even more at the notion she liked the way I looked.

“Want to join me in bed?” I winked.

She jerked her head sideways and stared into the fireplace. A dark black mantel piece surrounded the glowing yellow-orange flames.

“You learned the stories of the Trappers?” she said changing the subject and not addressing the sexual tension between us. I’d let it go, but this pull between us was stronger every time I looked at her, which was a lot. She’d have to talk to me about it one day and I’d wait all my life if I had to. However long that was. I’d almost died guarding her in this new realm. Death might not scare her, but it did me now. I’d never thought about my death until I was on its doorstep. All the things I’d studied for, the training I’d endured so that one day I’d be the next leader of the Fellowship would have been for nothing. Keeping Roisin alive was my duty, yet there was more to my feelings for her than a responsibility. They scared me more than this realm. Excited me more than completing my training and entering the Fellowship as a full-fledged member.

“Yes.” There went the raging hardness of my cock as my thoughts turned to the atrocities the Trappers inflicted on the Fae. All because we’d failed in our role as protectors of the Infinite Spring, and they’d drank from the magical water becoming tainted and power-hungry.

“It’s strange seeing a fire. I’ve read about them, but words can’t describe the heat caressing my skin from the golden glow of the dancing flames.” She lifted her hand toward the fireplace. Ice crystals formed on her palm and then melted in an instant, dropping water to the timber floor at her feet.

“Fire and ice,” I whispered.

“They don’t mix well together, do they?”

“Total opposites,” I agreed.

“I can’t imagine what my family went through.” She shuddered as though she’d imagined it. “I’m so different from my siblings. My parents. Even though Ciara was a babe in our mother’s womb at the time, she too was still a part of it, whereas I wasn’t.”

“Hey.” I flung back the sheet overwhelmed with the need to comfort her and forgetting my lack of clothing, but the warm air in the room hit my naked body. I yanked on the thick blanket and wrapped it around my waist, dragging it with me as I walked over to her. Kneeling before her, I took her hand. It was cold to my touch even though she was by the warmth of the fire. She stared into the flickering flames as though mesmerized by their display. “Look at me.”

Her pretty gaze fell on my face. Surprise flitted through them, and she tried to tug her hand away, but I held on tight.

“There’s nothing wrong with being different.”

“Isn’t there?”

“No.”

“They all treat me differently.”

I stroked a thumb over the back of her hand. Her skin was soft. Every second I held onto her, the delicate skin warmed, chasing away the cold of her ice powers .

“I don’t have siblings.”

“And?” she asked with a royal haughtiness that made my cock twitch again. I liked her sass.

“But I imagine if I had a younger sister, I’d be extra protective of her. I’m sure that’s why they treat you differently. My dad left when I was young. I grew up being very protective of my ma. It was hard being away from her while studying for the Fellowship. I’d say your family is the same way with you.”

“Aye, they’ve been trying to find a cure for the spring for years. I always recognized Ciara would be the one to fix it.”

“But you didn’t stick around to talk to her about it.”

“Dia, no. They would never have let me take a book from the magical shelves. Let alone travel to another realm. You should have seen how appalled they were to find out I was at the Fellowship.”

“We’d let no harm come to a Fae.” I stroked my thumb over the back of her hand again. “I’d let no harm come to you.”

A smile pulled her pretty lips up. “You almost froze to death. How would you have stopped me from being harmed?”

I choked on a laugh since she had a point.

A delicate giggle escaped her lips making me long to kiss her yet again. I leaned toward her, testing the pull between us. She didn’t back down, but as I was on my knees in front of her, I was in a more submissive position. Perhaps that’s why our attraction didn’t threaten her. Didn’t she realize this position gave me a direct line of sight to her breasts, which were indeed covered by white sheer fabric? Her pert nipples begged for my mouth to cover them and tease them into even harder peaks.

Shit. I had it bad for the Fae Princess.

My gaze traveled lower to the junction of her legs, but she was firmly squeezing her thighs together as though she was keeping them glued shut on purpose. What would it take to get her to open them wide for me? My tongue darted along my teeth. What would she taste like? She smelled delicious, her scent growing more aromatic by the second next to the fire, or was it because of me being next to her? Me being so close I almost tasted her arousal.

“Brandon?” she whispered as though once again caught in a haze.

I sure was. A haze of lust and desire for Roisin and more going by the thud of my heart in my chest. I dragged my gaze back to her face. Her cheeks flushed a pale pink reminding me of the petals of a pink rosebud.

“Roisin? As delicate as a rose.” I lifted my other hand and stroked her cheek with the backs of my fingers, unable to keep from touching her any longer. Sparks of electricity danced up my fingers to my arm and along the back of my scalp.

She gasped as though she’d experienced the connection between us. Roisin’s eyes widened, then she jerked her head back and shoved me hard in the chest with ice-covered hands .

“Are you as prickly as a rose too? Will you scar me if I get close?” I exhaled. All I wanted was her, and I’d take her prickles, all the scars she’d give me if only she’d give us a chance. Maybe my almost death had made things clearer for me because I couldn’t deny this magnetism she had over me. Being in this magical kingdom changed me because I felt stronger here.

Perhaps it was Roisin who’d changed me?