Page 11 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown (Kingdom of Bellhollow #1)

I place my hand on my hip, cocking it to the side. “What’s changing?”

“You’ll see in time.” He takes a step forward.

I scoff, turning around and collecting water in the first bucket, completely ignoring him. It’s definitely not wise for me to have my back to a Fae, but I feel at ease around him.

“Did you play with yourself when you got home?” he asks.

My mouth hangs open as I stand fully, looking at him like he’s lost his mind. “What did you just say?”

“I don’t think I stuttered, but I’ll ask you again.” He takes another step forward, and I don’t move. “Did you play with yourself when you got home the other night?”

I open and close my mouth several times, not believing what he’s saying.

“Well?” he asks. “I would like to know if my mate touched herself because she was thinking of me.”

My face reddens. I don’t know whether it’s from embarrassment or being caught red-handed. “That is none of your business!”

I turn around before he can search my expression, filling the rest of the bucket before placing it on the ground. I stare at the second bucket, empty, but I’m going to have to fill it and carry both of them back. No doubt I’m going to have to stop several times to give my hands a break.

“I think it is when you’re my mate,” he whispers in my ear.

I shriek, attempting to pivot but bumping into his chest, throwing me off balance. Strong arms wrap around my waist, pulling me into their embrace.

Warmth.

That is the first thing I notice coming off him. The second is the slight pleasure I get from feeling him, wanting him to run his hands up and down my body. I open my mouth to beg him, but quickly shut it.

“Mate?” I push against his chest, something I don’t want to do.

I want to stay in his arms. What is wrong with me? Where have these thoughts come from? What is happening to me?

“Yes?” he asks, plucking up the other bucket.

“Wait!” I raise my voice. “What are you doing?”

He cocks his head to the side. “Filling up the bucket. You stay there,” he demands.

And that’s exactly what I do. I stay right there, watching him fill my second bucket with water.

“What does mate mean?” I ask.

“You’ll find out soon,” is his only reply.

Frustration builds inside of me, and I growl. It takes everything in me not to stomp my foot.

“Why can’t I know now?” I question him.

“Because by saying you’ll find out later it means you’ll come back and talk to me.” He sends me a smile.

“You don’t think I’ll go back to town and speak to people?”

He places my now-filled bucket next to the other one and steps in front of me, bending down so our faces are less than an inch apart. “No, I don’t. I think you secretly want to come back and be around me. I’m giving you a reason.”

I blink several times. How does he know?

“Pfft, you wish.” I roll my eyes. “I could easily ask someone in town what a mate is.”

I won’t, but he didn’t need to know that. If I started talking about Fae’s, someone would alert the guards, and I would be detained. I may be whipped and questioned as to why I want to know so much.

“Lie.” He kisses my nose.

I flinch. “Okay, so what if it is? Why do you think I’ll come back? I could just completely forget about all of this and go on with my life.”

“You wouldn’t be able to do it. Your mind has constantly been on me, hasn’t it?”

“Your ego is huge,” I mutter.

“It has. Just like my thoughts have constantly been about you. You feel the tug, the bond we have with each other.”

“No.”

“Yes.” Our noses touches. “You do. Don’t lie, Sweets. I feel it as well.”

I pull away from him, making myself dizzy from trying to look into his eyes for so long, close up. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He’s just really good at guessing, right?

“Everything will soon make sense.” His hand hovers over my cheek. “Come back for answers.”

Leaning to the side, his finger gently touches my cheek, and my shoulders drop. This feels so right, which is confusing. Nothing has ever felt like this before. So why now? Why with a Fae?

We stare into each other’s eyes for several seconds, maybe even minutes, getting completely lost in each other. Each time I look into his eyes, I find something new. The different shades of blue. It’s like looking at mountain ridges from afar.

A throat clears behind him, and my eyes go wide when I see another Fae male. He doesn’t look at me, though, his are eyes trained on Kieran. When did he get here?

“Hig—” the man says.

“Yes, Elias?” Kieran cuts him off and gives a subtle shake of his head.

My eyebrows pinch together as I look between them. What was the other man going to say? Why did Kieran stop him?

“Her thirty minutes are almost up,” he quietly informs Kieran before turning and walking away.

Eyes wide, I gasp and squat to grip the handles of the buckets. Thirty minutes was when I told my mom I would be back. If Elias hadn’t come and stopped our staring contest, I would have been late. What would I tell my mom then?

“Let me carry those closer to the edge of the forest.” Kieran takes them out of my hand before I can say anything.

He starts to effortlessly walk in front of me. I follow behind him, silent as I continue to watch him. Why do I want to always be around him? Why is he always on my mind?

“This is as far as I can go without you being punished.” He gently places the buckets down.

“You mean you being punished?” I tilt my head to the side.

They wouldn’t punish me if they saw a Fae with me. They would think he was doing something to me and would torture him.

“Both of us would,” he replies. “I’ll be keeping my eye on you.”

“Like that isn’t creepy,” I mumble, not able to hold it back.

He full-on belly laughs before bending down. “You love it,” he whispers, his face inches from mine. “You secretly love it. Love that I watch you, look over you, the gentle touches, the nip of the ear. Everything. You love it all, but it’s okay. Soon enough, you won’t deny it.”

My face flushes, and I look away, unable to keep up the intensity between us. How had he pegged me already when he didn’t know me at all? It’s like he can read my mind.

“In time.” He presses a kiss to my forehead. “I’m a patient man.”

I stare at him, stunned as he takes several steps back from me, a smile still plastered on his face. He looks so handsome just standing there, gazing at me.

“Go on,” he urges me. “Your thirty minutes are almost up.”

Looking down at the filled buckets, I take a deep breath and hold in my groan. I don’t want to carry both of these at the same time. It’s an almost impossible task. Does my mother really think I’m this strong?

No one is going to stop and offer to help me. They have better things to do than to carry a bucket for me. But I wish they would.

“I wish I could take them to where you need them, but I don’t want you to harmed for being seen with me,” he gently says. “Now, go on. I’ll watch to make sure you get there safely.”

I scoff, brushing off the warmth I feel from his words. “It’s not dangerous here.”

Lie.

He raises an eyebrow. “Not dangerous?”

I shrug, knowing he knows I lied. While it isn’t very dangerous, things still happen. I’ve heard rumors about them. “Sure, nothing has ever happened to me here. Well, until you threatened me.”

“I did not threaten you,” he says calmly and slowly.

Chuckling, I shake my head. “Whatever you tell yourself to sleep at night. It’s not that dangerous. No one is going to mess with me, but if you want to watch over me until I make it back to my mother, you can. It’s your time wasted, not mine.”

“Not wasted. My time watching over you, watching you, is not wasted.” He takes a step forward. “It is time well spent. Making sure my mate has everything she needs and wants. Though it’s harder to do those when I cannot be seen with you and don’t have my full magic.”

His words shouldn’t affect me so much, but they do. I want to hear him talk about everything he is willing to do and what he would do if things were different here. I want to know his every thought.

But why?

No guy has ever captured my attention like this, until him. He captivated me with his eyes for the longest time, and now he’s captivated my thoughts.

“Sweet talker,” I murmur.

“I’ll be your sweet talker any time you want it. You just tell me and I’ll do it.” He presses another kiss to my forehead, and I melt right then and there.

I want his lips there again. I want them on my lips and other places. My cheeks heat at the thought as I pull away, even though I don’t want to.

“Now, go before I take you back to my tent and have my way with you,” he growls.

I clench my thighs together, imagining him hauling me in his arms and making his way to his tent. What would he do to me there? Would I have undeniable pleasure for the whole night? Would he make me forget my own name and only know his?

“Don’t look at me like that,” he groans. “Go before I keep you and someone sends a search party for you.”

“They won’t send a search party for me,” I scoff, bending down for my buckets. “I’m not that important.”

“But you are. You just don’t know it yet,” he gently says. “Now, go so your mother doesn’t start worrying about you. I’ll keep watch.”

I look at him one more time, taking him in. “Will I see you again?” I can’t help but ask.

“You will.” He nods his agreement.

I pick up my buckets, groaning as the handles bite into my hands, and take a few steps away. I can feel his eyes on me the whole time I walk to my house. Several times I have to stop, giving my hands a couple of seconds of reprieve before picking them back up.

My arms and hands are exhausted by the time I get back to where my mother is cleaning the clothes.

“Come on,” she says when she sees me. “I’ve already emptied it for you.”