Page 24

24

Everett

“Most people believe that dreams and shadows dance in silence. But if you listen closely enough, you’ll hear their song.”

Author Unknown

M y skin feels tight from my bath in the river, but at least I no longer reek of death. It is a fruitless notion for me to wish Kerris finds my scent as pleasant as I find hers, but I wish it all the same. Which is why I stooped to borrowing the soap Maddox infused with pine needles and sap. It smells much better than I thought it would. Not that I would ever give him the satisfaction of admitting it.

Moonlight falls over Kerris’s fine cottage like a beacon, calling me to her side. Maddox would not stop asking questions about her during today’s hunt. What she likes. What she hates. What makes her different from an Unseelie female.

As if I would share anything with him.

Kerris might not be mine, but she certainly will never be his. I would run him through before I let him near her.

I scale her roof with ease, the stiff thatch cracking under my weight like a quiet threat.

Before I knock on the glass, I catch a glimpse of my reflection and stifle my groan. The back of my hair is not cooperating with the front. No matter how many times I press it down, the strands keep lifting right back up. As frustrated as I am, I refuse to let this deter me from seeing Kerris.

Her room is dark, so perhaps she will not notice my unruly hair.

My knuckles meet the glass pane in a discreet knock.

I listen for sounds of life but only silence responds. Where is Kerris?

Did she forget that I promised to call? Does she not wish to see me anymore?

Who would blame her?

She does not need you.

You are the one who needs her.

I allow myself one more knock. A desperate plea for more time in her warm presence.

Sounds of stirring drift from within. The rustle of a quilt. A quiet curse that pulls a smile from my lips. The stumbling of feet as her form appears.

The most beautiful face that has ever graced my eyes materializes like a vision in the glass. Her hair is a lavender riot, a thousand times more unruly than mine.

My fingers itch to push the silken strands back from her face as she struggles with the latch on the window. When she finally manages to open it, a waft of honeysuckle washes over me, and my cock swells in my trousers. Not that I say so out loud. I will not make that humiliating mistake again.

Kerris offers me her beautiful smile, and I tuck it away in my memory for when I am alone. “I’m so sorry,” she says in her sweet voice. “I fell asleep waiting for you.”

She must not have the same eagerness in her chest that lives in mine. I could not sleep tonight even if I tried.

Although I would like very much to spend the night with her again, I do not want her to be tired when morning arrives. She has her own life to live, and I will not have her think me a selfish thief for stealing all her hours for myself. “I am sorry for disturbing your dreams. I will go back to the canyon.”

Before I can turn away, her soft fingers wrap around my wrist. “Don’t leave.”

Then I will not leave.

“Come inside. Please.”

Kerris lets me go, making room so that I can climb through her window.

The sheets of her bed are as delightfully rumpled as she is, and the robe she wears gaps ever so slightly, revealing a hint of lace and silk and sun-kissed skin.

Bite your tongue.

Do not mention the stirring.

Kerris closes the window with another yawn. “Do you mind if we lie down? I’m exhausted.” She climbs onto the mattress and slips beneath the covers without another word while I am rooted to the creaky floor.

Surely, I am misunderstanding her meaning. “You wish to share your bed with me?” The thought does nothing to quell this infernal stirring.

“There’s no need to sound so scandalized, Ever. I promise not to take advantage of you.”

She says my name so sweetly, like a sigh. The smile she offers is small, but I like it as much as the others. It feels like a secret just for the two of us.

“What do you mean by advantage?” In battle, having an advantage is when you possess the upper hand. We are both on the same level now, so neither of us has an upper hand. Unless you consider our size difference. Then I am the one with a great advantage.

“It means not to expect anything but cuddles,” she says on a yawn.

“What is cuddles?”

“Get in bed, and I’ll show you.”

I like this demanding Kerris, the one telling me to come to her bed. This night is already better than I anticipated. At least she is not trying to make me eat more cold slop.

I remove my boots, careful not to disturb her as I climb into the spacious bed. Instead of scooting away, she slots in right next to me and wraps one arm around my waist. Her head, she tucks into the crook of my neck and her leg…

She drapes it over one of mine, but her soft thigh is dangerously close to something that she does not wish to discuss.

If I do not stop thinking about the way her supple body feels against mine, I am afraid there will be no choice but to discuss it.

“You smell good,” she whispers against my neck, and I can feel her lips curve into another smile. “I enjoy filling my lungs with you.”

Not nearly as much as I enjoy filling my lungs with her sweetness. “I have new soap.” There is no point telling her that it belongs to Maddox since he is never getting it back.

“Well, I like it.” It could be my wishful imagination, but it feels as if she presses herself even closer. “I missed you.”

“You did?” How is that possible when she lives in such a grand place? It is a wonder she even remembers my name.

When she nods, her wild hair tickles my cheeks. “Today was an awful day.”

“Because I was not in it?”

Her laugh is a puff against my neck and an arrow to my heart. “Someone is full of humor tonight.”

I am full of many things. Humor, certainly, but mostly need for this female who wishes only for friendship. “What made your day so awful?”

Her fingers begin to trace the bones of my necklace the way they did at the outpost. Occasionally, the soft tips graze my skin, and I am set ablaze.

“I’m not sure I should tell you,” she whispers.

Nonsense. “My ears are very good at listening.”

“If only all men were like you,” she murmurs under her breath, but I hear every word.

See. Good at listening.

“I was seeing someone briefly,” she says a little louder, “and at one point, I thought the two of us might marry.”

My hands tighten into fists at my sides. Perhaps I do not wish to hear after all. Curse these ears of mine. Why must they listen so well?

Kerris’s hand falls to my chest, her palm landing on my heart. Does she feel how it beats for her?

“But it turns out,” she goes on, “he is a liar and a wretch.”

Thank the gods. If she were getting married, it would take all my self-control not to steal her away for myself.

She draws back to look me in the eye. Every time I see her face my breath flees my chest. “He pushed me into a lake.”

For thirty years my ears have never failed me, but that might have changed because I swear Kerris said some male pushed her into a fucking lake . “What is his name?”

Her brows lift. “Why do you want to know?”

So that I can murder him. “No reason.”

“You’re not a very good liar, Ever.”

“Thank you.” Who knew a tired Kerris would be so full of compliments? It is a good thing we are in her bed and not at the outpost. If Maddox heard even one compliment, he would be on his knees at her feet, begging for more.

Her head returns to the crook of my neck, and her hand that was on my chest drifts lower, to my ribs.

Silence envelops the room as I settle deeper against her pillows. There are so many, it feels as if I am leaning against clouds. On her bedside table, there is a book. What sorts of stories does Kerris like to read?

Carefully, I pick it up.

Unseelie Fae: A Scientific Study.

Kerris is reading about us? Why?

As if she can hear the question in my head, she stiffens. “You weren’t supposed to find that.”

How could I miss it? It was right on her table. “Why do you have this book?” A terribly inaccurate book if this page about contracting warts is any indication of the information within. I do not have warts and neither do any of my kinsmen. Who wrote this nonsense?

She buries her head deeper into my throat. “I was curious.”

I flip to where a dried flower has been pressed between the pages and scan the words there. “About mating ceremonies?” This knowledge should not make my heart skip, but it skips all the same, right around my chest.

“Not specifically. I wanted to know more about you.”

“I am here now, full of knowledge about Unseelie fae. I have been one my entire life, you know. Ask and I will answer.”

Once again, there is silence between us. I would think she fell asleep if not for the way she trails her nail along my chest, back and forth, conjuring gooseflesh. “Will you tell me about mating scars?”

Why would she want to know about that? Surely, she isn’t considering?—

I shake my head at the thought that almost crossed my mind. Her questions have nothing to do with a desire for mating. She is simply trying to learn about our customs like a friend would. “When two Unseelie mate, they use their teeth to mark each other.”

“Doesn’t that hurt?”

“I have heard that the pain only fuels the passion, but I do not know from experience.” I have never marked Leah, and she has respected my wishes to leave my skin unblemished by her own teeth.

“Where do you leave them?”

“Depends on how amorous the mating. Some only have one or two…” I dare to trace a finger where her shoulder meets her neck. Her sharp intake of breath is a strike to my heart. “Others have them all over.” Like our chieftain and his mate.

“Oh…”

I already know that if we were to mate, Kerris’s skin would be scarred from neck to toe. “Do you have more questions?” I rush before I can let that thought take root.

“Hundreds,” she says on a yawn, burrowing deeper into me like a little rabbit. “But they might have to wait until tomorrow.”

Then I look forward to tomorrow, because this means I will see her again.

My life has never been full of luck, but knowing this makes me feel like the most fortunate male who has ever lived.

“I hate that I’m so tired,” she murmurs. “You can leave if you’re bored.”

How can anyone be bored with such a magnificent female wrapped around them? “I would like to stay a little longer, if you do not mind.” After all, she might think of a very important question that requires an answer right away.

“I don’t mind…as long as you don’t mind me closing my eyes for a moment.”

“Close them for as long as you want. I will keep watch over you.”

No harm will come to her as long as I am around.

Cautiously, I slip my fingers into her silky hair. The strands are so long, she could wear them as a gown.

Shit . Now I am imagining her in nothing but this hair and it is a slow, painful death. Like being shot in the gut and left to bleed out.

So many brown specks dot her nose and cheekbones, like tiny grains of sand. Even breaths fall through the perfect bow of her parted lips as dreams steal my sweet Seelie fae.

As I listen to the silence, my gaze drifts over to where a rainbow of silk spills from her wardrobe. Kerris has so many dresses to choose from, much like she has Seelie men. Her options are endless.

Unwelcome emotions twist in my gut.

Kerris Dawn might not be meant for me, but in the quiet of this night, I let myself pretend.