Page 44 of Immortal Sins
I shuffle to my knees on the bed, holding the sheet to my chest.
He looks at me expectantly. “Open it.”
My fingers shake as I grab the box and hold it to the light. It’s made of real gold. The box itself must be worth a fortune in the mortal world.
“It’s not a ring,” Cole adds quietly. I detect a hint of worry in his hushed tone.
The box clicks open, and all the spit dries from my mouth. A single ear cuff dazzles under the sun beams with copper, silver, and brass accents. The pure, intricate metal threads form an artsy, feminine piece of jewelry.
I pinch the shell of my ear. “You don’t like my round ears?”
He inches closer, his chuckle soft on my cheek. “Iloveyour round ears.”
I can hardly breathe. “It’s beautiful.”
“Youare beautiful.”
I almost scoff at the ridiculousness of being called beautiful by a Fae prince, but somehow, I can’t. This isn’t the time or place to dwell on my insecurities, but it does drill some much needed sense into me.
“Do you have your Academy gear close? Cauldrons, ingredients?” There’s a little—huge—detail I forgot to deal with last night.
He rests his chin on my shoulder. “Why?”
“I need to make a contraceptive potion.” My cheeks heat up, but hell, it’s the truth. Somehow, all the sex we had last night—even the spirit kink—embarrasses me less than talking about contraception. What a poor testimonial for my mainstream mortal upbringing.
Cole’s face wrinkles in the most genuine, adorable way. “You don’t need to take anything. It’s not an issue. Fae can choose to be fertile or not.”
I turn to face him. “Are you for real?”
“It’s not like: oh, tonight, I’ll be fertile, but not tomorrow. It takes weeks for biology to work its magic, but we do have some power over the process. I’m definitely not ready for children.”
“That’s so…practical.” I’m not sure I’m comfortable leaving that responsibility to him and him alone, but I trust his answer. “Do you have any other super powers? Can you regrow a limb if severed? Can you see through stone?” I joke, trying to mask the tinge of humiliation in my voice. Clearly, I don’t know the first thing about Fae biology.
He winks. “Not yet.”
My intolerable heart swoons, and he draws me in for yet another kiss.
I never thought of myself as a romantic person. I scoffed during Hollywood movies and rolled my eyes at the incessant loving whispers my high school peers exchanged during lunch time.
Being in love feels raw and uncertain, and I don’t quite understand why I agreed to marry Cole, or why he asked in the first place. He’s not human.
In the face of dawn, is Fae citizenship an excuse to justify this folly? What if our attraction for one another simply grew into a monster neither of us could control?
I’m scared that Cole will regret marrying me. We talked at length about what I was giving up, but he didn’t once mention what the drawbacks werefor him. Big oversight on my part.
Mary laid out a few dresses for me to choose from, but I select a black and white ensemble of simple pants and a tunic, instead. Golden threads highlight the cuffs and collar with letters in the Fae alphabet. I wouldn’t know where to start with most of the more traditional women’s gowns, anyway.
Faerie clothes aren’t restricted to mystical, magically sewn midnight dresses. The fast fashion garments I’m used to, and the expensive Academy uniforms, don’t hold a candle to the fabrics in this realm. The puff sleeves of the white tunic run past my wrists, and the lace-up pants are easy to adjust and comfortable.
Cole and I can barely keep our hands off each other as we get dressed.
Once we’re semi-decent, he clasps my hand in his and leads me through the maze of corridors. The link between our fingers electrifies me. I wonder if cherry wood would numb the thrill in my bones, or if a cup of salt might tame me back to reason.
I suspect all the salt in the three realms wouldn’t make a lick of difference.
The throne room comes into view, and Cole stiffens. He places a soft kiss on my wrist, in the exact spot where the wedding ritual left its mark, before he ushers me along. I roll my shoulders back and follow him into the space that almost unraveled me yesterday. A place where I felt like nothing but a flea begging for a prince’s crumbs of affection.
It’s surreal, and my blood races.
