Page 18 of How to Keep a Fae

“Do you like him?” he asks. “Do you love him?”

Something breaks inside me. Jayga is no longer looking at me but staring sightlessly at the door covering as if he wants to thrust it aside and leave.

A part of me will die today if he does.

I think about lying. I think about saying nothing at all. But I have lived too many lies, and they are breaking me in two.

“We cannot form attachments. There is only pain in that pathway.”

Denna was speaking from her own experience—she was talking about herself.

I never paid her warnings any heed, and now it is too late.

My mouth is suddenly dry. I bite hard on my lower lip, hoping the pain might center me. “Yes.”

With hindsight. It was not the right word to use. But it is the truth.

He’s on me, dragging me into his arms, his fingers spearing my hair before his lips crash over mine. A sob escapes my lips. He swallows it up in hungry kisses that sets me aflame.

“I want to fucking end him,” he growls against my throat. And then, without any preamble, his teeth sink into me.

The sharp sting is followed by euphoria. I melt into his arms as a climax rips through me, so strong I feel like I’m subject to a supernatural storm, quaking uncontrollably as he latches deeply onto my vein and sucks my blood from me.

He hoists me into his arms, still drinking, and takes a stumbled, zig-zag path to my nest. My back hits the soft bedding. His mouth is wrenched from my throat. Breathing heavily, his body caging mine with his fists planted to either side of my face.

Another storm rages inside his dark eyes as he stares down at me.

“I love him,” I whisper, hating the pain tightening his face and knowing this needs to be said. “But I love you, too.”

The growl that erupts from his chest might as well belong to a stranger, and it sparks white-hot desire deep inside my womb.

“I’m going to lose my damn mind,” he mutters. He rocks back, pushes my skirts up, and rips my panties away. His hands shake as he unbuckles his belt and shucks his pants down only as far as he must to free himself.

He lines up and thrusts deep, filling me.

We both groan. I’m soaking wet for him. He could do anything, and I would be ready; I love this man so much. But I also love August. And now he knows… Does August know, too?

He must. Oh, I hate this. I wish I loved only one. It wouldbe so much simpler. But my heart belongs to both of them and there is no fixing that.

He fucks me hard and rough. I love every delicious, brutal thrust.

My fingers score his throat and tear into his hair. I arch my neck to the side, encouraging him to bite.

He does. His teeth pierce me, gifting me the familiar euphoria and a climax so sharp and sweet that tears spring from my eyes.

With my legs spread wide to accommodate him, he roars out his release, pinning me to the nest and filling me with his cum.

Our clothing is still half on and a tangled mess, but I do my best to wrap my arms and legs around him, reveling in the closeness of him inside me, like this, how he was always meant to be.

“I love you, Jayga,” I whisper against his throat before kissing his warm skin.

“My sweet queen,” he says. “Never doubt that I love you too.”

Chapter Eight

August

It is freezing in the practice pit, but sweat still drips from my nose. The warrior master, Cecil, has his guards putting us through our drills for what feels like hours: sit-ups, lunges, press-ups, ropes, and kettlebells.

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