Page 35

Sav

I peeled off my shoes and padded barefoot through the hall, spine curling with each step.

The scent of hearth smoke guided me faster.

I needed silence and blankets. I stepped into my room and sighed.

My heart hurt for Bracken’s pain, but some piece of my soul had lightened, knowing I no longer carried the burning resentment that had lived with me so long.

Bracken’s name still lingered in my thoughts. I’d loved him before his mate appeared—and after. But the bond had already wrapped its roots around his heart.

Mates were rare enough in Faerie that no one waited for them.

In our very long lives, one may find their mate when they were centuries old or never.

Bracken had been lucky to find his after only three hundred years.

My mood darkened. Or unlucky. Now, he would spend another seven-hundred years without her.

Father’s tormented face flashed in my mind.

I hadn’t waited for exactly that reason. Hadn’t been looking.

I thought Bracken and I understood each other. Thought we wanted the same things, but who could resist the pull of a mate when it found you?

Letting my dress pool on the floor, I stepped on the pads of my feet, moving to my bed and tugged back the blanket, sliding in and exhaling a long breath. Beech sheets from the autumn wood caressed my skin, smoothing away the memory of the scratchy, harsh material used in the human realm.

I rolled onto my belly, sliding a hand over smooth sheets and closed my eyes.

Jack’s face appeared in my mind and I squeezed my lids tighter, conjuring images of Heath, Bracken, even Kaspar to shove him out.

Another image of the alcove and Hazel’s sparkling dress moving atop velvet pants came unbidden into my head, and my eyes flew open.

I sat up. Embers hissed, casting long shadows. One of them breathed. A body—stretched out near the hearth. Red and orange sparks sizzled, casting the room in a low light as my gaze traveled the expanse of him. The slow rise and fall of his back told me he was asleep.

I grabbed the robe beside my bed, wrapped it over my shoulders and crossed the space, staring down at the man sleeping on my floor.

I frowned. What was he doing in my room?

I’d been sure he was with Hazel, finishing what they started at dinner.

It certainly looked like they’d been enjoying themselves in the ballroom.

“Jack.” I bit the words, and he started, groaning something but his head remained firmly against his arm. “Wake up.”

He twitched. “Sav?” he said groggily.

“Jack. Get up.”

His head lifted, and he turned over, peering up at nothing.

His weak human eyesight couldn’t make me out in the dark.

I sent a tiny spark of barely there magic to the fire and it flared to life, casting strange shadows over the room.

The flame leaped in Jack’s glassy eyes and, for a moment, they looked as though they glowed.

“What are you doing here?”

He sat up, running a hand over his face. His gaze dipped, heat igniting in his eyes.

I pulled the robe tighter around my frame, unusually self-conscious under the white-hot desire sparking in his stare.

His swallow was audible in the silent room.

“I looked for you,” he said, eyes closing slowly before they opened again and some of the heat had banked.

“I ran into an old friend.” I didn’t hold back the bite in my next words. “You seemed perfectly well occupied.”

Jack leaned forward. “Sav. I was an idiot, but I swear nothing happened with Hazel.”

I stared down at him, biting my lip. I was overreacting; I knew it.

If he found her attention appealing, who was I to say otherwise?

My stomach dropped as I thought of Hazel’s hand trailing up Jack’s leg at dinner, but I swallowed it down.

It wasn’t as if I had any claim on him. He may find me attractive, but that didn’t mean there were true feelings behind it.

For a man, lust and love were very different things.

I had to keep reminding myself of that fact.

I dropped to my knees. “We’re all idiots when we’re young.”

He snorted. “This is where you tell me you’re some hundred years old being, wizened by experience and I’m just an ignorant twenty-five-year-old man?”

“Fae barely begin to experience our magic at twenty-five. When you live as long as we do, twenty-five is a blink.

He smiled, a dimple appearing in his cheek, and it did something funny to my belly.

“So, how old are you?”

“You first. Why are you in my room?”

His grin fell, and he looked away.

“I don’t believe in leaving things for the morning. Never go to bed angry. That’s what my mom always said, and you were angry.”

I swallowed. “I wasn’t.”

Jack’s brows dipped low. “You were. Angry enough to let some stranger put his hands all over you. I didn’t like it. But I deserved it.”

My heart rate ticked up. Lust , I reminded myself.

I shook my head. “Look. We can’t be…anything…

to one another. In Faerie, if they even suspect something other than casual sex, we would both be dead.

” I shouldn’t pose it that way, but I wanted him to tell me it was just sex he was after.

Needed him to prove me right so I could write him off as just another male who saw me as an object.

Jack’s mouth flattened into a thin line. “They have the same laws on Earth. But who would actually enforce a rule like that?”

My heart was beating faster. Why hadn’t he taken the bait? Why wasn’t he asking for something casual?

“My uncle. Anyone in my family really.”

Jack leaned toward me, and I caught a whiff of his wintergreen scent. “I heard your conversation in the bath. With the prince.”

I met his gaze, swallowing. “That’s not what this is about. Kaspar is…was…a friend.”

“I get it. Your life is complicated. We all have complications, but I don’t want there to be any confusion between us. I’m not interested in Hazel.” His eyes darkened. “If you and the prince are together, tell me now.”

The heat was back in his gaze, and butterflies erupted in my belly. Lust. It’s just lust.

He leaned in, so close his scent enveloped me, drawing me closer and all my senses flared to life at his nearness. His hand came up, brushing a curl from my face, and warmth bloomed along my cheek. “Because I’d like to know who my competition is.”

There was an involuntary tug in my chest, and my body strained to be closer. His fiery nearness was a bonfire, burning me from the inside. I released a scalding breath, trying and failing to convince myself he was just a damn talented actor.

His finger grazed my jaw, tipping my chin up. My breath hitched. Heat pooled low as he leaned in—close enough to burn me.

A loud knock sounded at the door.

My stomach flipped, and I jumped back, forcing a calming breath. I had almost kissed Jack! I had almost kissed the son of my enemy. A human. But that knock at the door had saved me. Hazel, coming to check on me.

“Stay here.” I hopped to my feet, shaking out the tension in my limbs, and crossed the room. I slid the door open. “Hazel, I—”

I looked up into the unfocused gaze of the male I’d danced with exactly one time. He leaned heavily against the frame. “Not Hazel.” His words slurred together, and he dipped his forehead toward me, nose bumping my cheek.

“Heath,” I said, backing up a step. His breath reeked of wine and desire. “Leave. Now.”

“Come on, baby. Don’t be a tease.”

I took another step backward, intent on closing the door in his face, but he wedged his foot in, stopping me. His gaze darkened, brows slashing low over green eyes that flashed with malice. “I don’t think so. You embarrassed me in front of Regent Goodfellow.”

I shoved the door hard against his foot.

“Bitch,” he seethed, wedging his shoulder against the door.

Heat pressed into my back. “Sav’s not available,” a deep voice rumbled behind me and I spun, finding Jack right behind me, a dangerous glint in his eye. I gaped at him, but his focus was solely on the male attempting to push his way into my room. “Find someone else tonight, friend.”

A thrill raced along my spine as I turned back to Heath. Jack’s dark, possessive words had me reminding myself again that he was Dane Clyde’s son, and not someone who should be turning my knees weak.

Heath stumbled back, glaring over my shoulder at the man towering behind me.

Jack stepped around me, slammed the door in the drunk fae’s face, and leaned back, watching me with a feral sort of hunger I’d never seen in a human.

“Are you sure you’re human?” I asked, my voice coming out higher than I wanted.

Jack pushed off the door, stalking toward me, and I backed up. “I don’t like him.”

I nodded, continuing backward into the room.

“I don’t want him to touch you again.”

I flinched at the words, halting. “You don’t get to decide who touches me.”

He continued forward, but I held my ground. When we were close enough that I smelled the sweet wintergreen of his breath, he stopped. “I know, but I think I’ve made my intentions clear. And Sav, I don’t like sharing.”

Something uncomfortable jolted through me. I turned, and his hand snaked out, gripping my arm as he spun me back to him.

We collided as his arms came around the thin fabric of my robe, warm fingers gripping my biceps and his lips found mine, pressing roughly against my mouth.

Fire burst to life in my belly, licking up my spine and for one agonizing moment, I let the feeling sweep over me, giving in to the kiss before I tamped it down and pressed my hands into his chest, shoving.

He let me go, and I backed up. “You should go,” I said, turning so I didn’t have to see his face.

My insides were blisteringly hot from one kiss and it wasn’t hard to imagine what it would feel like to do more, but I wouldn’t.

Couldn’t. Seeing Bracken tonight, remembering my childhood with a father broken by his mate’s death, I wanted nothing with someone I could never be with.

Our kinds were too different, not to mention the literal death sentence it would be.

I had been foolish for entertaining the idea.

“Sav.”

My true name said so mournfully, cut deep into a place I’d buried. “Go, Jack.”

“You don’t have to be afraid of this.” His fingers brushed my shoulder over fabric, but I didn’t turn. “You can trust me. I won’t hurt you.”

A chill slid down my spine as I tried to block out the words. I had to turn these feelings off. I didn’t want them. “Go,” I whispered. I held my breath. After several long seconds, the door creaked open, then clicked shut, and I exhaled slowly.