Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 151630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 758(@200wpm)___ 607(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 758(@200wpm)___ 607(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
His lips curl up. “Cassie has clothes with her. You’re not hiking in that dress.”
Cassie does not have my breasts, but he’s right about one thing. The ethereal gown I’m wearing isn’t going to hold up against the tunnels and then the forest. I’ll find something that fits me properly when I get to Lee’s village.
“Now hush and let me see you.” He stands back and looks so much like the prince he is. Slightly arrogant. Wholly in control.
The thorn tears through the fabric like a knife through butter, leaving my gown gaping open and my breasts on display. Cool air tickles my flesh and my nipples peak immediately. While the air is slightly chilly against my skin, there’s another place that’s warming up.
My arms drop and the vines allow the dress to pool on the floor before catching me again in their embrace.
The vines wind around my arms, and they’re so soft I know he’s manipulating them. Flowers bloom along my skin, wrapping me in his power. This is Spring worshipping me in his way, and I am surrounded by him. They wind up my arms and over my torso, curling around my breasts, and I wonder what I look like to him.
“Fuck, you are so gorgeous, baby.” Rhys’s eyes take me in, roaming my body like I’m a work of art he needs to study. “I knew you were beautiful, but you are so much more.”
“How do I get you out of those clothes? I can’t exactly have spirits rip them off you.”
A brow rises over his eyes as he approaches, careful to step around the glossy green vines covering the floor. “Rip? I assure you it’s far more delicate than that. See.”
He twists his hands and two thin strands of the greenest ivy climb my legs and wind under the undies I’m wearing. It’s the only thing I have on that’s not Fae approved, but I do like my cotton bikinis. They’re dragged down my legs, and I step out of them. “You are still fully dressed.”
“I’m not as pretty as you.”
A lie. He’s a Greek god. Or rather a Fae one. He could be a marble statue in any number of art museums. I’ve watched women fall over themselves to get a look at him.
And he never noticed. Not once. Oh, I’m certain he thought women were attractive, but this man has never given me the slightest indication he wants anyone but me.
My fears are my own, and I let them go in the face of his love and devotion.
His expression falls and his hand comes up, fingers brushing away a tear. “Shy, if you’re…”
“I was thinking about how much I love you.”
He takes a shaky breath. “And I love you. I’ve loved you from almost the moment I met you. I knew very quickly I was made for you.”
I have to smile. “Someone taught you right.”
“Well, my mother would have put it that way.”
“And I was meant for you,” I reply. It was odd. I meant to say made, but it didn’t feel right on my tongue. Like I was made for something else, that part of me that sees the dead. But the part of me that loves and lives is meant for him. Since walking into Faery, I can feel parts of myself coming to life. Or rather coming online after a long, dormant sleep. “Rhys, something is happening to me.”
He nods. “You are coming into your power and that power is Fae.” He kisses my forehead and both cheeks. “I do not know what would have happened if that bastard hadn’t thrown my parents to the winds and murdered your own. I have to believe that at some point you would have shown your powers and they would have brought you to the Council and we still would have met but without all of the trauma between us.”
He’s right. My family was well known to the Council. When my power started showing any signs beyond what they understood, they would have brought me in to help understand them. When they realized the powers were Fae, I would have been brought to Devinshea Quinn, who would have taught me and introduced me to his son.
We were always meant to be, and there is nothing Myrddin Emrys can do about it.
“And if my powers are dangerous?” It is the only thing I fear now.
“Listen to me, love. There is nothing dangerous about you. The power would only be dangerous if you were. I spent my life being told it was dangerous to be around me.”
“Only if you didn’t want a bunch more kids,” I reply.
He hushes me with a kiss. “I was a child and I couldn’t control it, and no one wanted to be around me. Adults would see me coming and walk the other way. You did not have to endure that, and I am grateful. Your power is coming to you at a time when you can handle it. When we can handle it. If we find out that you can blow out the world with a thought, I’ll sleep easy knowing it won’t ever happen.”