Page 56 of How To Please A Princely Fae

“That’s not what you were asking, was it?” He pulls me in close and I let myself lean against him, soaking up both his warmth and his touch.

I nod when the silence grows longer between us.

“I called you that because it’s true. I’m sorry if it upset you or caught you off guard?—”

Pulling back, I press my finger to his lips. “I just wanted to know if you meant it.”

He grins at me, then kisses the pad of my index finger. “I meant it, Willow.”

The centaur, Marie, coughs delicately to get our attention, and we turn to her together, fresh heat rising on my cheeks.

“What can I do for you, Willow? I’m packing up and heading out, trying to get home before this weather turns any worse.” Marie’s hooves clop on the cobbles as she adjusts the apron string around her neck.

“Kale, potatoes, any fresh vegetables you have left,” I tell her.

“Mushrooms,” Kieran adds.

“Mushrooms,” I agree.

I mostly grow my own berries and some produce for myself, but with Kieran living with me, I’ll need a few extra things.

Living with me. My breath catches in my chest as the centaur packs up a wooden crate for me and Kieran leans down, pressing his lips against the skin on my neck.

His love. His mate.

It still seems too good to be true, and I can’t shake the niggling feeling that something is very, very wrong, that he’s going to remember why he didn’t like me in the first place.

It will shatter me when he leaves.

But… at least, maybe, for now, I can just live in this moment.

“I wouldn’t mind trading you for some of your raspberries and other summer produce, you know. My offer stands.”

“I know, and I wish I had a big enough space to grow enough for you. Most of my energy goes towards the medicinal and?—”

“And craft herbs, I know,” the centaur finishes for me, smiling down at me. “I put some edible flowers in there; they’ll make a nice salad. We had extra arugula as well, so that’s in there for you too.”

It takes only a moment longer to pay, and we thank her before continuing on.

“What else do you need?”

I pause at the window of the Elven Wish Boutique, a bespoke atelier that I’m not quite sure how it manages to stay in business in our small town. Perhaps, like Wren, the owner has a lot of merchandise she ships out.

For whatever reason, she made Wild Oak Woods her home, too. I’ve hardly seen her, both of us too busy at our respective stores, but her shiny platinum hair isn’t what’s caught my eye in the window now.

No, it’s the lovely teal silk dress that has me stopped and staring in the persistent sleet. Teal-green silk skims the figure of a mannequin, hugging tight around the waist before falling away at the hips. A slit climbs from the bottom of the skirt to a truly high place at the thigh. Off-the-shoulder diaphanous sleeves billow around the cleverly sculpted arms.

“Do you like that?” Kieran asks. “I would enjoy peeling that off your perfect body.” His fingers grip my hip, and I force out an embarrassed laugh.

“Come on,” I tell him, forcing my feet to walk again. “I want some of Lila’s tea, and her shop is quite a bit further, plus we still need some meat from the butcher. And cheese, if they’re not out.”

Despite the awful weather, the downtown area is still clogged with people and creatures, all doing the same thing we are—stocking up before the storm.

Although, perhaps, we’re all a little late, because it’s clear the storm is very much upon us now.

Wind whips my red curls around my face, the cold air stinging my skin and eyes as we do our best to finish the errands we need to run before the storm hits. By the time we make it to Lila’s Long Leaf Brews, the tip of my nose feels frozen and my breath crystalizes in front of my face.

I adjust the packages in my arms, attempting to reach for the door handle when it opens from within.

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