Page 30 of Luca

His dark eyes flicked over to me as soon as he sensed my approach. “Was there nothing of interest, my heart?”

“There was, actually,” I said, barely suppressing my smile or the blush warming my cheeks. “I got something for you. Well,for me, but…” I waved a hand. “You’ll see what I mean when I show you.”

I brushed off my shirt sleeves to distract myself from devising a script in my head for how I wanted things to play out later. After a moment too long with no reveal or explanation, Cair asked, “Am I to guess?”

“No, you’ll have to wait. Until we’re, um,alone.”

He tilted his head, noticeably intrigued. His eyes dropped to my bag before returning to me. “Alone?”

I nodded, and under that hot, assessing gaze, the same one I imagined staring back at me as I undressed, I began to regret my life choices. Not because I thought the whole thing was a mistake—those feelings would come later—but because now that I’d given them air time, I wouldn’t be able to ignore the sexy scenarios whirring through my head. I’d be boiling inside with a mix of apprehension and horniness until tonight, and that would be a bit inconvenient.

Trying not to get a hard-on in the middle of a busy market was going to prove a challenge, but surprising absolutely no one, it wouldn’t be the first time since meeting my mate that I’d unintentionally edged myself in public.

First time surrounded by a crowd of monsters with super senses, though.

Gotta remember to tick that off the bucket list.

A small smirk tugged at Cair’s lips, and I only hated his knowing smugness the tiniest bit. “I’ll look forward to it.”

Bastard.

“Can we go?” I said, maybe a little too eagerly, but I didn’t care. I wanted to keep the embarrassment to a minimum, and besides, he knew my nature better than he knew his own. He could sense my every feeling and emotion, so there was no point denying my impatience. We were done here anyway, and the sun was beginning to set. It made sense to go find a quiet little inn somewhere that had a vacancy and get my brains fucked out.

I was only surprised Cair hadn’t hoisted us into the air with the same notion.

“As you wish.” He held out his hand for me to take, but instead of guiding me to the village gates as I’d expected—hoped—he stopped at a stall that sold quills and leather-bound notebooks. One we’d already browsed. He even hemmed and hawed over the pieces as if he actually needed them, prolonging my suffering.

Again,bastard.

I rolled my eyes and faced away, scanning the path ahead and taking mental note of how many monsters I’d have to weave through now that my skin was starting to feel a little too warm and sensitive. That was how my gaze caught on the cloaked figure, loitering not far from where we’d just been, red eyes focused right on us.

Onme.

They were tall and lean, their face framed by the edge of a hood, showing how the ghostly gray skin on their face had sunk between the bones. A species I hadn’t yet encountered.

My brow furrowed under the weight of their stare, and I opened my mouth to ask Cair if he knew them, but the creature smiled, showing no fangs or forked tongue, before disappearing into the crowd like a blur of smoke. It was odd, and a small chill rolled down my spine, but after spending the day being greeted and fawned over by the Fae people, it probably wasn’t a total reach to say they were just another curious being hoping for a look at the prince and his half-human mate.

Orthey were one of the creatures Rathe had arranged to watch over us from the shadows…

I shrugged and made a conscious effort to ignore it, focusing on the image of Cair kneeling at my feet as he peeled blue silken panties down my thighs with his teeth.

LUCA

Ishould’ve listened to my gut.

Story of my life, really.

Five cloaked and masked creatures spread out in a semicircle in front of us, cornering us like foxes to chickens. My heart thundered in my throat. They were ghostly in appearance, smoke billowing from their spindly frames like a sinister aura, and the longer I stared, the more intense the chill creeping down my spine got. It was a species I didn’t recognize from my books, not that I was in any condition to recall it, even if I had read about them. I was too busy observing their calculated steps, remembering how to breathe, and cursing myself for being at fault to really focus on the particulars.

Barely a day into our journey and we were being surrounded in the woods between the market and the tavern where we’d planned to spend the night—great start to any road trip. I was no seer, but I should have seen it coming. How silly it was of me to even hope that reaching Rosewood Creek safely and without incident was a possibility. I’d felt queasy about the whole thing since we’d left. If only I’d treated that feeling as a warning, Cair wouldn’t be standing in front of me, his wings unfurled from his back and fangs bared in a threatening snarl, protecting me from advancing predators.

Why didn’t I say anything?

He was one Fae against five beings I didn’t know anything about. Cair was strong, and he had a ward shielding him, but what if they were outsiders? What if they had powers he couldn’t withstand, and I had unwittingly put him in the firing line? He had no weapons, only his fists and his fangs, while they all brandished swords, daggers, or claws. I hated that fear was gluing me to the spot. Instead of the usual flood of defensive instincts overriding the panic, my self-preservation had taken a stance, forcing me to cower.

It chose its moment.

“Stand down,” Cair warned, his voice lowered to a deadly pitch I’d never heard before. It was petrifying, and my body reacted with a shiver. “I am your prince and?—”

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