Page 62 of A Fate of Wings

“You are. I’d recognize my mate anywhere. You are her.”

I sucked in a ragged breath. His tangy aroma dragged into my lungs and settled the pounding of my heart.

“Who are you?” I whispered.

“The Beast.”

“Fitting.” I snorted. My gaze snagged on his horns.

“Grab them as you used to.”

My palms twitched with the need to do as he said, as though they too remembered him and recalled the sensation of those thick shafts in the embrace of my palm. “I remember nothing.”

“In all honesty?” He lowered my feet to the ground.

I raised my chin, peering up at his massive height.

“Nothing except I woke up here.”

“Shit.” He rubbed his jaw. “You’ve been alone all this time?”

I stopped myself from glancing away as I lied and said, “Yes.”

“Why don’t I believe you?” He scanned the forest. “Are you with another man now?”

“No,” I scoffed at the very idea of having a lover. No one had appealed in the slightest over my years here in Ireland. Perhaps it was to do with the fact I had a young child, but a few fae in town had attempted to lure me into their sheets until they realized I wasn’t interested in them or anyone.

His gaze snapped back to the village, but then he stepped closer to me.

“Okay, let me think.” He threaded his hands through mine. “I can tell you who you are, but that won’t help.”

“No.” I soaked in the warmth of his palms against mine. “My mind is darkness. Whenever I try to remember, my head hurts and gets darker.”

“The Autumn Court isn’t safe until you remember.” He lifted my hands and kissed my knuckles. “I need you at your most bloodthirsty to go back there.”

Tingles danced across the back of my hand, so I focused on the more pressing details instead of the way my body rejoiced with every brief touch from him. “Who am I not safe from? Was it the ‘she’ we were hiding from?”

His lips firmed into a tight line. “I shouldn’t tell you until you remember.”

“How will I remember? I have remembered nothing for years. It’s forever gone.”

“No, I don’t believe that. Saltine said one word will set you free.”

“Who’s Saltine?” I bristled at the mention of another woman. How ridiculous was that?

He tugged me into his chest. “A conniving witch seer who I’d decapitate if I had the chance.”

“Oh.” I softened in his arms. In the strong, warm embrace he seemed so happy to give me. In the hold, I enjoyed it too.

My body remembered him. But could I trust him?

“Where’s your home?”

“Back that way.” I nodded my head at the forest toward the other town.

“Okay, let’s head there and figure out this one word.”

I tensed, every tendon in my body going rigid.

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