Page 29 of Bonded to The Boo Hag

She was beautiful. She had the same overall physical features as her glamour, though sharper in places. There’d been a softening here and there to make some of her features, such as her cheekbones and chin, more human, but even with those sharper features, she was my wife. Her skin’s overall tone was a rich shade of vermilion with beautiful strokes and daubs of deeper reds like cherry, claret, and ruby. I was fascinated by the sprinkling of light-colored spots of coral that I realized had to be freckles.

“You are so beautiful,” I gasped, one hand cupping her neck, the other tracing those sexy-as-hell freckles across her cheeks.

Palmer’s eyes fluttered closed, her white lashes resting against her stunning skin.

“I know, thank you,” she whispered, a tear trailing down her face.

The awe quickly turned to anger. “He took your fucking choice away,” I seethed, kissing her forehead and bringing her face down to the crook of my neck. “Do you want something to cover? Should I let Sable?” I asked, turning my head to her friend.

“No, no,” she objected. “Part of me thought that was a stupid tradition anyway. If I really care about someone, why can’t they see my real face?”

“He’s right, Mer.” Sable crouched down, reaching for her sunglasses. I made sure to look straight ahead as she tipped the shades down. “You are breathtaking. Do you all look like this?”

“Or are you like zebras?” Tristan blurted, bending down to take a closer look.

Drake yanked his brother to his feet. “Jesus, Tris, Mom raised us better than that.”

Palmer lost it, throwing her head back and laughing, her slightly sharper-than-normal teeth making one or two sensations I’d experienced make more sense. “Yes, we are all striped differently, like zebras.”

“At least I’m not the only one who says stupid shit,” I mumbled, glaring at the council enforcer.

13

Palmer

“So Attwater will be staying in a Disian jail until further notice,” I finished as Gatlin and I reached our bedrooms after another nice dinner together.

“It’s kind of unnerving knowing that I could literally be dragged to Hell at any moment,” Gatlin admitted, pulling me in for a kiss.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, deepening the kiss, and he groaned, pulling away only to swoop in for another kiss. I pushed him away, chuckling. “Go get ready for bed.”

“That’s an invitation, right?” he asked playfully.

“You know it is. Go on then.” I shooed him away.

I had about twenty minutes to prepare myself for bed before Gatlin joined me.

He had been right when he said two days ago in the council chambers that Attwater had taken away my choice. Gatlin had reacted better than I had anticipated to seeing me without my glamour, but it wasn’t in a way anyone would have chosen to reveal their true self to their lover.

So I stripped out of my loose black maxi dress and slipped on a black silk nightie edged in lace that stopped midway on my thighs. I stood in front of the bathroom mirror and removed the ring that contained my glamour as I always did, revealing my true self and doing my nightly skincare. Only this time, I left my ring in the jewelry dish on the counter when I was finished. I removed the rest of my adornments, brushed my teeth, and brushed out my long silver hair.

He knocked before entering the bedroom, and I heard him pad across the room.

I took a deep breath, expelled it, and added a little balm to my lips before exiting and turning off the bathroom light.

“Who is going to run the west…” His question died when he saw me. I walked to meet him by my bed.

“We found a Sasquatch willing to take over his lands temporarily but unwilling to sit on the council. So we will have to put the word out there’s a vacancy on the Nyxian Council,” I answered, stopping a few feet away.

I doubt he heard me; his eyes were devouring my form, and I loved it.

“You are beautiful, Palmer.” He reached out his fingertips and traced the patterns on my skin.

I let him touch me, his fingers ghosting up my arm, then shoulder.

He stepped closer. “These freckles are fucking sexy,” he said, his voice rough with lust. “I didn’t even know that was a kink of mine, but now I want to see where else you have them.”

“Mmm, almost everywhere.” I sighed when he kissed my neck. “I’d like you to figure that out tonight, and I’d like something else.”

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