Page 22

Dayton

T he steady, calm waves draw me from sleep. The sun’s warmth caresses my face, and beside me, I hear soft breath and the tinkle of shells.

Slowly, I blink my eyes open and see Farron lying on his stomach, hands busy with seashells and twine.

“Looks like I fell asleep.” I groan, stretching my arms high above my head.

Farron sets down what he’s working on and leans over me until we’re nose to nose. “Did I wear the mighty warrior out?”

He flashes a mischievous grin, and I can think of so many ways to knock it off his face. I settle with grabbing the nape of his neck and pushing his lips against mine, kissing him deeply. “What can I say?” I murmur against his mouth. “It takes a lot of work to satisfy an Autumn Prince.”

Farron gives a deep sigh that has my whole body craving his. I grab his shoulders and roll us until he’s below me on the sand.

Four weeks have passed since his family arrived in the Summer Realm, and the time has changed him. Red gleams in his auburn hair, and his skin has the faintest hint of color. He blinks up at me, and I can’t help but notice the flash of sadness in his eyes.

I know what it’s about. I roll off him and sit up. We’d spent the day on Captain Katharine’s Isle, this time taking my small skiff instead of swimming. I haven’t seen a kelpie this time, though, so maybe Farron really did lead it home.

It’s sunset now. How long have I slept? The waves roll, cresting with sparkling light, and the sand beneath my fingers shines like pink diamonds.

I run my hand through it and see Farron must have traced patterns with a stick while I slept. “Roses, Fare?”

“Hmm?” He sits up and looks over at me.

I gesture to the myriad of swirling roses drawn in the sand. “Is this your way of hinting you want me to get you flowers?”

He flushes as pink as the setting sun. “They’re my favorite flower. I’ve always thought they were the most beautiful.”

“Roses grow inside of Castletree,” I tell him. “I’ll get you one next time we go.”

“I’ve seen them,” he says, then his voice wavers. “Will you be there for the Rainbow Eclipse Festival?”

He’s nervous because after his visit last summer, I didn’t see him at all. I grab his chin and make him look up at me. “I told you I’d get you a rose, didn’t I?”

He shakes his head before launching at me and crashing our mouths together. The kiss is heady and desperate, and he murmurs, “I wish I didn’t leave tomorrow.”

“I wish you didn’t either.”

And damn if I don’t mean it. If last summer with him had been incredible, this summer has been mind-blowing.

And not just the sex—which was fucking euphoric.

I’ve never felt as connected with someone as I am with him.

We’d spent our days exploring the Summer Realm, mostly the small islands, markets, and vineyards.

I’d even taken Fare up the hills while I trained with Justus.

Turns out Justus isn’t a crotchety old bastard to everyone.

In fact, to Fare, he’s as pleasant as an old grandfather.

Or maybe Farron has the magic to melt anyone with his sweet smile and soft words.

It still didn’t stop Justus from putting me through the wringer with his training, only I had two people judging me instead of one. And the goats, of course.

Even the boring noble shit we have to do doesn’t seem so bad when Farron’s around.

Both my brothers adore him, even if Decimus likes to rough him up a little in typical older brother fashion.

Mother is smitten. Farron spent an entire day with her in the library as they looked up possible names for my expected new sister.

And my fathers kept giving me strange looks whenever they caught us together, like they know something I don’t.

And maybe they do.

I thought I’d never hear the end of it from Damocles, that he’d be chasing me through the halls with a marriage contract. But instead, he’s been unexpectedly nice to me. He’s barely mentioned anything about it at all.

“Come with me,” Farron breathes against my neck.

“What?” I pull back.

His lip trembles, but something glimmers in his eyes. “Come home to the Autumn Realm with me.”

When I don’t respond, he blinks rapidly, then looks down. “Y-you could say you’re visiting on…on a diplomacy trip.”

My words are achingly slow. “Are you suggesting I live in the Autumn Realm for a while?”

Energy ripples through him, and he runs his fingers through my hair.

“I could show you the Shimmering Shroomery, where the mushrooms grow as tall as trees. There’s also Blackwine Forest. The Shrine of Nymphia is so beautiful at sunset.

And if you consider your library to be big, then wait until you see mine.

We have the largest library in all the realms?—”

“Whatever did I do to make you think I’m interested in libraries?” I poke him in the cheek.

“You were interested in what I gave you beneath the table that one time.” Farron crawls further onto my lap, bringing his lips to my ears. “The Great Scriptorium of Alder has plenty of hidden places.”

My body heats at the memory: his soft mouth, my fingers clenching the stone table, knowing people were browsing only stacks away. I feel my cock grow hard against his hips.

“You’re distracting me,” I growl.

He pulls back a little. “We could frame it as a diplomatic trip to my mother and your brother. A Summer embassy?”

My stomach drops because my brother would fucking love to send me there. No matter how we phrase it, he’ll see it as his plan succeeding.

I can’t go.

Not because I don’t want to spend more time with Fare. Of course I do. I fucking adore him. But going with Farron means angling myself toward something so much more than I am here.

It’s not an embassy trip.

I’d be stepping into my role as consort of the High Prince. Fuck, Damocles would love it. One day, sooner rather than later if Fare’s mother has any say, I’ll be living at Castletree, still in Damocles’s shadow.

That’s when it’ll all fall apart. All the High Princes and Princesses of Castletree will realize I’ll never be as strong as Damocles, never as smart as Farron.

Farron will see me for the fool I truly am.

I’ll never belong at Castletree.

Why can’t it always be like now? Fare and I, and the waves and the sand, and hearing him call out my name as we make love over and over again.

But that’s not the destiny the gods laid for him, a future High Prince.

“Day?” When he says my name like that, tilting his head so brown locks fall across his brow, I feel weak.

Which is the last thing I need to be.

“I’ll talk to Damocles about it,” I say.

And the smile that lights up his face is brighter than the damn sun. “Really?”

“Really.”

We kiss, falling back to the sand. His hands run down my bare chest, hips driving against mine.

“Fuck, Fare,” I moan, nipping at the tender skin below his ear. “If we start this, we’ll have to navigate home in the dark.”

“I don’t care,” he breathes, fingers reaching beneath the top of my waistband.

I brace myself on the sand, and my palm scrapes something sharp. “Ow! What the?—”

Farron’s eyes widen, and he pulls his hand back, inches away from grabbing my cock. I can’t help but let out a frustrated groan.

He gives me a playful smile and grabs the sharp thing that cut me. “I almost forgot. I was making this.”

In his hands are shells and a piece of red sea glass strung onto twine. He flushes, running his thumb over it.

“That red piece is from the treasure we found,” I murmur. “Did you find it in my room?”

“Yes, when you were sleeping, I noticed so many of the shells that washed up, and they were so beautiful. And I put them together, and it’s, uh… It’s for you.”

“For me?”

He bites his bottom lip, eyes downcast. “Yes.”

I clutch his jaw and force him to look up at me. “I love it,” I tell him before kissing him again and turning around.

He lays the string of shells across my chest before tying it at the base of my neck.

“This way”—Farron places a kiss on the top of my shoulder—“even when we’re in the Autumn Realm, you’ll never be far from home.”