Page 66 of Tempting the Fae Lord
A large bed with four tall wooden posts but no canopy dominates the center of the room. The bedding is rumpled, unmade, with green silk sheets and brown fur covers. The walls are draped with tapestries of northern landscapes. Icy fields, frost-tipped evergreens, snow-covered mountains, and gray skies.
He carries me to the bed and lays me gently on the soft furs. I bask in the scent of him here, his crisp, wintery smell, the earthy fragrance of leather, the animal musk of the fur.
He lays a cool hand on my forehead and closes his eyes. A rush of pleasant tingles washes through me, refreshing like a spring dip in a recently unfrozen lake. His magic wipes away hers. The pounding in my head fades to a dull, distant ache. I sigh in relief.
“Better?” he asks.
“Much. Thank you. Can you do that for my arm?”
“Not quite. At least, not like that.”
“Another way?”
“I shouldn’t offer,” he says, unhelpfully cryptic. “And you shouldn’t accept.”
I gaze up at him. My protector. My friend. The source of much of my frustration… and all of my fantasies.
It’s tempting to pretend I don’t know his meaning.
But I know.
And I crave it.
“Please?”
“The option is not without risk.”
“I don’t care.”
“Perhaps I do.”
“Then explain it to me. Tell me the risks.”
He’s silent for a long time, then sighs. “You’ve had sips of my blood how many times now? Nine or ten times over the years, plus what you collected from the iron bars and the snow around the gate. If you continue to imbibe my blood, it will bind us further. You may come to depend on it.”
My mouth waters. I wouldn’t mind depending on him. Wouldn’t mind more, quite a lot more than that. Should I admit as much? He might rescind the offer if I say so. “Would that be so bad?”
He widens his eyes in surprise. The bed dips as he sits next to me. “I won’t have you further reliant on me. It’s not fair to you. What if you want to leave someday?”
“I will never wish to leave you.” This I know with my whole soul. But he looks as if he doesn’t believe me.
“You can’t be sure. Many of mine leave eventually. You were born in southern climes. Perhaps one day you’ll wish for warmer days.”
“I already want to see where I was born, butwithyou. I wantyouto take me there, to find my other family. So I can meet them.”
“And then what?” He gives me a tired look. “Assuming we can locate them, what next? Bring them back through the gate? Take them from everyone and everything they’ve ever known to this land of ice and snow? It’s not possible.”
I shake my head, but he doesn’t stop.
“Or will you wish to stay with them? Live the rest of your life earthside?
“No. We belong together. You and I.”
“You may think so now, but I won’t take the choice from you.”
My chest aches with every breath. My arm throbs with each beat of my heart. How long will my bones take to heal without this gift? How long will I be useless? Unable to help in the fight against Sonja. I don’t want to be a burden. I want everything he can give, but for now, I can’t ask for all that. He’ll say no.
“Just once more?”
