Page 171 of Court of the Fae Princes

“Would you keep an eye on him if I go to see the others?”

“You have my word,” she promises, and there’s power in her words.

I rise and go to the next room, not even sure who I’ll see. Prince Forrest is lying in a tub, not so different from the one Prince Sulien is in, only he’s awake, and the women are standing over him, still weaving their spell around him. I kneel at his side, and he reaches out. His big fingers brush my cheek, and he pulls them back to reveal tears. When did I start crying?

Without a word, I pull closer to him, holding back a sob. “I’m so sorry.”

His hand slides into my hair. “Don’t be sorry. Just be here with us.”

He kisses the top of my hair, my forehead, my jaw, and finally my lips. It’s a tender kiss. One that’s so strangely familiar. How many times had we kissed in our shared dreams?

Our kiss breaks. I whisper, “I missed you.”

He laughs.

“What?” I ask, frowning.

He shakes his head, still smiling. “You have no idea how much I’ve waited for someone who misses me.”

He has, hasn’t he? I picture that little boy in the woods. The day he got his scar. The fact that no one was there to show him love or affection. The fact that no one comforted him. My Forrest really has waited a lifetime for this.

The happiness in his brilliant green eyes takes my breath away. “Good. Now, never make me miss you again.”

His deep laugh comes again. “You know, I’m trying really hard not to talk about our children.”

I kiss him. “Maybe get everything… fixed first.”

He gives a low growl. “Nothing used for making children is broken, my queen.”

It’s strange how much his words warm my soul, but I pull back from him. “Can I check on the others?”

“Please,” he says, and I can tell he means it.

Rising, I slip next door. Prince Cobar is lying in a tub, but the healers slip out of the room when I enter. I’m not sure if he was less injured than the others, or if I took so long with Prince Sulien and Prince Forrest that they’re simply done with him now, but I don’t care. I’m glad to be alone with him.

His gaze finds mine. “I just have to hang out now, letting the waters do their job.”

For some reason, I feel shy, lingering in the doorway of the room. “Do you want me to come in?”

He smirks. “I want you to join me in this bath, but there’s no telling what the waters would do to you. All we need is for you to grow a dick, and then that would complicate things.”

This man. He’s always going to make me laugh.

“Is that dick-growing water?” I tease, slowly making my way in. “Did you lose something I wasn’t aware of?”

He snorts. “Don’t worry, I have no need of dick-growing waters. I mean, if it gets any bigger, we’re going to have to do some seriously creative things to get it to fit.”

The man might not be far off on that. Still, I laugh. “You make my world so much better. You know that, right?”

“You do too. For me.”

My heart feels heavy, seeing the bruises on his face, chest, arms, and neck. Bruises, and the scars from cuts, probably from those damn undead. They certainly know how to hurt a person. I just can’t believe they hurt some of the people most important to me.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you.” The words come out easily, and I mean them. I can’t imagine a world without Prince Cobar in it. The silly man is going to have to take better care of himself.

He grins in response. “Good thing you’ll never have to know.”

I move closer, letting my hand trail across the edge of the tub. “I don’t know a lot about being mates, but does it make you feel like your world finally has color? Like all you want to do is be with me? Hold me? Love me?”

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