Page 101 of Finding Her
“I owe you some answers,” I started, pressing my lips to her forehead with adoration blooming in my chest despite the anxiety that suffocated me.
“Did you know about the factories?” she asked, not wasting a moment longer in the darkness. The pang in my chest from being reminded of what I kept from her was soothed when one of her soft fingers affectionately traced across my jaw.
“Yes. I was afraid to tell you. Females who escaped in the past… they haven’t responded well to learning the truth. They run straight back to what theythinkis their life. The program name is a disgusting lure that preys on their earliest memories. I couldn’t risk that happening to you… and the thought of you taking your own life—” the words caught in my throat.
“Shhh, it’s ok,” Faeryn whispered, grazing my cheek with the back of her hand.
“I was so scared.”
“You thought if I knew about the pods, I’d run away or… kill myself?” she confirmed, continuing to stroke my face.
“It wasn’t just the pod. I knew so much about your life that I couldn’t tell you. I was afraid all it would take was sharing the wrong information, and I’d lose you. But that wasn’t my choice to make for you. I’m sorry. I promise I’ll share anything you want to know.”
“So you know things about me… like how I’m a demigod?” she chuckled, amused by the idea. Did she not realize how special she was? I could feel divine magic radiating off her flesh whenever she was near.
“That’s part of it.”Just not the hard part.
Telling Faeryn what she already knew—she was a deity being preyed upon by the powerful—was one thing. The rest was stuck in my throat. How was I supposed to explain that we had an entire history, an entire relationship, that she couldn’t remember? And a part of that history was the reason she had all-but-literally lost her life. I stared into her trusting eyes, my lips parting to breathe the words, but my tongue unable to form them.
“Did you kill Mr. Donnar trying to protect me?” Her tone was tense again, but her hand never stopped its caressing.
My brows rose in surprise. She knew about his passing? Is that why she’d left?
“Absolutely not. Mykie told me he was dead and assumed the same.” I averted my eyes to the wall. “I’m sorry for how I behaved. I was trying to protect you constantly, and that obsession clouded my judgment. I was so terrified of historyrepeating itself, I stopped considering your emotional safety.” I had thought about thisendlesslysince she left, it made the genuine apology flow out like water from a broken dam. The pressure of my shame had been building for days.
“History repeating itself…will you tell me about the other woman? I saw the room.”
“Other woman?” I blinked several times, my eyes returning to the precious female in my arms. Had she gathered evidence to assume I had anothermate? In my failing to fill in the blanks for her, she had drawn an… unexpected conclusion.
“I saw her clothes in the burnt bedroom. Was she a demigod like me?” Her voice was soft, hurt. She truly thought there had been another.
Realization dawned. “Oh, my Little Fae.” I pulled her closer. “She is you.”
“What?” Faeryn whispered, her body going still. She blinked, her eyes shifting to her left hand. Did she remember the ring? She would have passed the jeweler when she went to the school. It was one of my favorite memories from before she was taken. Proposing with a ring was an adorable human custom, and the amber stone she had picked out was lovely.
“That wasourbedroom. You were stolen from it by the E.A.R.T.H program. We met on Eitrea. You were born of the field there, and we fell in love during one of my expeditions. We married and started a life together in Virylan in that little brick house.”
She said nothing. Her emerald eyes locked onto mine. I needed her to know what she meant to me. I would tell her our story every night to soothe her to sleep. She would know our history as if it were a fairytale—her very own lore.
Seconds felt like hours as she stared at me. I shouldn’t have called myself her husband in the car, it was too much. She wasn’t ready for this, no sane person would be. I was expecting too much.
“We don’t have to consider ourselves married if you… need some time to think about what you want.”
Her lips crashed into mine, desperately rubbing their soft pout over my mouth as her hands gripped the back of my head. Her hips twisted to straddle my lap, teasing me with the way her thighs spread over my own. I melted into her embrace, tension and doubt evaporating from my body as warmth overtook every nerve. She was the furnace in my core, the spark in my palms. Faeryn was the fire that consumed me.
“So… what’s our last name?” She barely parted our lips to breathe the question.
I thought my soul was leaving my body, a groan of relief escaped my throat. “Hale.”
“Faeryn Hale.” Her lips pulled into a grin against my own. “That sounds correct.”
She returned to our kiss, lifting to her knees so that she rose over my height. Her breasts pressed into my throat and I wanted them tosuffocateme. My hands rested just above her knees at first, the linen of her dress draping over my knuckles. As the passion built, my fingers found themselves running up her thighs, grateful for every soft curve that meant she was no longer wasting away in a pod.
My hands found her bare hips. No panties. I moaned into her mouth and dug my fingers into her soft flesh. Surely there had been undergarments available to her after she bathed? Was this choice intentional? I did have abadhabit of ruining those delicate items of clothing when I got excited.
“Wait,” I breathed, pulling my lips just barely from hers. “There’s something else I need to tell you.” I moved my hands to the small of her back.
“You don’t have to tell meeverythingnow.” She began to kiss along my jaw, her naughty tongue grazing my stubble.
