Page 114 of Bride of the Fae Prince

I breathe a quiet sigh of relief and quicken my pace. Finally, I reach Rahk’s door. Glancing behind me once more to ensure I’m alone, I draw in a deep breath and lift my hand to knock.

“Are you looking for me, Princess Stella?”

The low voice nearly startles me out of my slippers. I whirl to find a tall, densely muscled Rahk leaning against the wall at the end of the corridor, apparently coming toward his room.

“Prince Rahk!” I gasp. “I was coming to find you!”

He frowns, his brow creasing. “You look troubled. What is it?”

I glance around, nerves crawling up my spine, raising gooseflesh on my arms. “Where can we talk?”

His jaw flexes. He motions for me to follow him. “This way.”

I pause, glancing back at his room. “Not . . . in your chambers?”

A slight smirk. “Ash would probably kill me.” He motions for me to follow him back into the hallway I just came from. Biting my lip, I hesitate, then hurry to follow him. Hadn’t he told me I was welcome in his chambers? Perhaps that was before the High King took an interest in him?

“Are you hungry?” he asks suddenly as we walk, pulling something out of his tunic pocket. Without waiting for an answer, he carves a slice out of what looks like fruit and hands it to me.

I take it, blinking down at the pink flesh, the glossy red sheen of the soft skin. A trail of juice runs over my fingers, dripping onto the floor. My gut plunges.

It’s faerie fruit.

“Thank you,” I mumble, my hands shaking as I lift the fruit to my lips. Can I fool him by pretending to eat it? Perhaps I can delay long enough that I can . . . go back to the banquet hall? Whatever the case, I cannot let on that I know what he is doing.“Th-this is so kind of you, Rahk. Ash didn’t give me anything to eat at the banquet.”

He watches me through the tail of his eye as he leads me . . . somewhere. Not toward the banquet hall, and heading in the complete opposite direction from Ash’s quarters.

My pulse thrums. I’m still holding this fruit. Still haven’t taken a bite.

Is he trying to kill me?

Surely, if he intended to outright kill me, he would have done so already. It’s not as though I have any defense against him. What did Ash say about faerie fruit, anyway? That fae gave it to humans to make sport of them.

Rahk just betrayed me.

Not sure what else to do, I let my knees buckle. Rahk spins toward me as I let the piece of fruit fall from my hands, and collapse in a pile of skirts as though I’ve fainted. I hit the ground hard, but not as hard as I could have without all this fabric cushioning me. I roll my eyes shut and lie limp.

My heart pounds as though I’m sprinting for my life.

This probably won’t work. I didn’t really think through this carefully. He’s just going to plunge a dagger through my throat or lift me over his shoulder and carry me straight to the High King.

I’m not expecting my mouth to be suddenly pried open. White hot terror floods me, and I send my elbows flying toward my assailant. They connect with a neck, but the sudden burst of surprised sound isn’t a masculine grunt. It’s a feminine yelp.

My eyes fly open.

It’s not Rahk trying to pin my flailing limbs and pry open my mouth. It’s not his hand that squeezes the slice of fruit so its juices drip down my throat.

It’s Princess Listhra.

I kick, rolling to spit out the juice. A shockingly strong grip yanks me back, smothering my mouth and nose with my skirt, cutting off my airways.Forcingme to swallow.

It’s sweet. Much too sweet. So sweet my mouth puckers as Princess Listhra pulls back, letting me breathe.

Suddenly, I don’t want to struggle anymore. A smile breaks across my face as golden warmth floods every limb, every follicle of hair, every inch of skin. A giggle follows the smile, and I stare up at the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.

She smiles back at me. “I have a lot of questions for you, little human.”

I clap my hands, joy flooding my veins. “Please! Let me answer them!”

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