Page 87 of Tempting the Fae Lord
I’d roll my eyes, but it’s no use. She sees right through me.
Jack and Marissa have decorated the game room beautifully for the holiday. The fresh scent of pine mixes with cinnamon-spiced wine to create a fragrant, festive bouquet. Greenery hangs in arcs along the hearth and windowsills. Sprigs of holly with its cheerful crimson berries dangle from the ceiling.
Our gathering is a bit of a fashion show this evening, with everyone decked out in the new clothes we’d sent for.
Amaris’s cheeks are as pink as her new frilly dress, for as much as she’s a tomboy at heart, she won’t deny her feminine side the right to lace and finery.
“No spitting when you’re in that dress,” says Marissa. “It’s unbecoming.”
Amaris screws her face. “But spitting in a blue dress isn’t? Perfect. I’ll remember that.”
“No, that’s not?—”
“Let it go, Mar,” says Jack. “She wouldn’t be our little sister if she wasn’t spitting over something.”
Gale chuckles from his spot pressed against my side. He looks dashing in his new green doublet and black leather trousers. Marissa’s idea, he said. I must remember to thank her for her genius. The color brings out his eyes. If I couldn’t resist him before—and I couldn’t—I’d have utterly no chance now.
Speaking of Marissa, she’s in blue, which, by Amaris’s logic, she could spit in if she so chose. She won’t, but thinking of it makes me grin. She and Amaris couldn’t be more different.
“What’s got you smiling like a jackal with a stolen bone?” asks Eulie, grinning right back at me.
I know better than to mention spitting again, so I curl my arm tighter around Gale. “I think you know already.”
She’s lovely in her new buttercup-yellow ensemble, her knowing gaze cast warmly on me and Gale. “I might have a clue, yes.”
Her fingers fly over her knitting. She’s making a brown scarf for Jack to match all his new clothes. He looks like a younger version of Chester. The two of them sit across from each other with nearly matching brown leather doublets, both clutching a mug of spiced wine. Steam curls in spirals from the hot liquid.
I can think of no better way to spend the solstice than with this enchanting group of people.
A night of laughter and stories and love. All of us at the threshold of the solar cycle where the old wanes and the new waxes. Seeds and roots stir beneath the frost, eager to explore. Dreams wait for their dreamers to slumber, ready to unfurl their sprawling fantasies.
We linger into the wee morning hours, celebrating the longest night of the year together, our little family, all cozy and lounging under quilts by the fire. Glowing logs crackle in the hearth. Golden light from the flames flickers prettily across Gale’s cheeks.
I’ve never known such contentment. Not even in my younger days, before I knew what sorrows life would have in store for me. All worth it because those long years have led me here, at peace at Gale’s side.
As our little fire burns down its last embers, the others head to bed one by one.
Gale and I stay awake, savoring each other’s company.
After a pleasant silence, Gale turns to me. “Let’s take a walk, shall we? I’d like to feel winter’s chill on my face.”
“As you wish.” I’d agree to anything that makes him happy. Of course it helps that I no longer need to fear him turning blue and freezing to death.
We stroll along the outer walls of the fortress, covering the grounds with no particular path in mind. In no hurry. With no agenda. Ice crunches under our boots.
The clear sky boasts a sparkling collage of faraway stars, diamond-sharp against the velvet dark. Romantic. Or perhaps that’s simply my overall mood lately.
“May I ask a question?”
I chuckle. “Do you think you could hold back if I said no?”
“I’d try.” His cheeky grin tells me he wouldn’t try all that hard.
“You’d fail. We both know it.” I bump our shoulders together. “Ask away.”
“Are there any other vampires in Luminia?”
“I can’t say for sure, but I doubt it. If there are, I don’t know them.”
