Page 31 of Crowned By the Fae King

Cass snorted at that. "Soulmates can be anything, Quyen," he said with a half-smile. "They're as likely to be complements as anything else. We could be two sides of a coin, or a lock and a key. No one can tell us with certainty where we'll find our balance," he added, warmth coming into his expression. "We get to find out together."

I bit my lip and put my hand on the stone of the palace floor, sliding it a little ways towards him. "Together?"

He pursed his lips, a spark of challenge coming into his expression. Cass traced his fingertips across the stone towards mine and settled them in the gaps between my fingers.

I could feel his touch on the palace, as if his fingers left phosphorescent traces in my soul. His warmth radiated against my hand, our fingers interlaced but not interlocked.

Our dark eyes met. The flecks of gold in his irises held my focus, reflecting the light and turning into sparks in the night.

"Not afraid of being bound to something like me?" he asked, holding my gaze.

My heart held its steady pace, but I could feel my pulse in my throat and chest. "I'm hard to scare off," I said, the words falling like petals onto quiet water.

He leaned forward a half-inch, eyes dropping to my mouth. His fingers slid closer to mine, until I could feel the heat of his hand radiating against mine. "Prove it," Cass said in a rough whisper.

The impulse to lean up and kiss him was almost unbearable. My nostrils flared and skin heated—and only half of that reaction was mine. I let out a sharp breath. "I don't think you actually want me to do what your eyes are asking me for."

Cass breathed a laugh, ears canting forward towards me and expression easy. He looked back up into my eyes with a rueful smile. "I'm quite capable of saying 'no' when someone wants something from me I'm not eager to give. Vaddy might say too capable." His smile went crooked, one ear tilting towards me. "I'm a flirt, but that's generally as far as it goes."

A deep-seated urge to protect myself made me want to pull my hand away, but instinct told me that was the sort of decision that would close the door towards intimacy in a permanent sort of way. My instincts were usually good. I licked my lips and left my hand there, anxiety prickling down my spine.

"But not always," I said softly, searching his face.

"No. Not always." He sat there, watching me, expression easing back into quiet calm, just breathing. The darkness seemed to settle onto me like a warm blanket, silence embracing us.

The Court leaned into me; not in a physical sense, or, at least, not quite. My sense of Cass bloomed into the forefront of my mind with the sensation of a purr, everywhere he touched the palace seeming to radiate heat towards me, pools of awareness that lit my world like fireflies.

"Do you want me to touch you?" I barely whispered the words, my focus on the glow of his presence rather than the sight of him.

He didn't answer for a moment, breathing with careful calm. His dark eyes fell to my mouth again with an expression of sorrow. "It's been a difficult day. It's probably not wise."

Want. I could feel it in the way my mouth wetted and ribs tightened; in the heat playing across my skin and how the light seemed to only pool around us, the rest of the world fading into the darkness of night. "That's not a 'no,'" I murmured, focusing my eyes on his face.

"I'm fae," he whispered back. "I can't lie."

That was answer enough for me. I took a breath, and spread my fingers the last fraction of an inch to press against his.

Sensation flooded into me the instant our skin touched. Heat, and want, and aching control—the coolness of stone seeping through thin pants, the pressure of feathers leaning against the floor, the utter relief of my soulmate touching me after a day like today—

He closed his fingers around mine while I was still struggling to find where I ended and he began. Cass lifted my hand and pressed his warm mouth to my palm with a shock of heat, then closed my fingers around the chaste kiss and tucked my hand against my chest.

My sense of him didn't so much cut off as slide away when he let me go. Cass smiled at me, eyes soft. "Thank you for trusting me," he said, saying the words with care, "and I'm sorry that I didn't come find you. I know I'm a lot to reckon with, and that this can't be easy for you. I'm glad you stayed."

I clutched my hand up against my chest, closing my fingers tighter as if I could keep that kiss from flying away. "And we'll do it together," I said, heart in my throat.

His smile spread into a heart-stopping one, ears low and eyes warm. "Together," he promised.

Rich People Parties

Even knowing that I desperately needed the sleep, I probably wouldn't have actually gotten up off the floor and back into bed of my own volition. For the first time since I'd been trapped in Faery, I had solid ground under my feet—a place to belong, and a reason for being. I didn't know Cass at all, but he was smiling at me like I was a dream come true, the nearness of his touch leaving his every physical sensation filtering into me.

He was so strong, all the power of his body at his easy command. I'd always loved being strong and capable, but Cass was so much more than I could ever be. I liked feeling that—sharing that. His presence gave me something I'd always wanted and could never have on my own.

He was also, unfortunately, a responsible adult, and after only a few more minutes of conversation, Cass put both of us to bed. That was probably for the best. Late-night talks are a fast-track to intimacy, but we already had intimacy in spades. All I needed to have his every emotion thundering through me was to hold his hand. A little bit of distance seemed wise.

Not that I wanted the distance. Even aside from how attractive he was, Cass was the sort of flirtatious and playful I found addictive. I had a distinct desire to plaster myself against his naked body and find out if the in-person experience matched the mind-blowing psychic orgasms.

Still, though. It had been a month and a half for me, and one very long day for him. Cass should get to have some time to get his feet under him.

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