Page 13 of Bound and Beguiled

I closed my eyes. “He’ll get tired of chasing me. He never wanted me anyways.”

The beat of silence that followed was so heavy with disbelief and outrage I could have kissed every one of them.

“And if he doesn’t?” Efa persevered.

“I’ll deal with it if it happens.”

“We’lldeal with it,” Kynan growled, the promise echoing from three more throats.

∞∞∞

The bed bounced beneath me as I sat with a thump. My head was spinning at how quickly everything had changed, and my body hummed with residual magic. Sid had promised it would fade soon, but I found the buzz comforting. The wards around the Broken Crown were strong, and having them laid over me made me feel safe, much like the leanly muscled fae posing with disarming grace in the doorway.

Kynan and Efa had taken control of the situation as soon as we finished eating, sweeping me up for another invisible romp through the woods before heading off to inform Sid and Khalon of the threat. Mared and I made a list of everything I’d need to get by for a little while, Emyr chiming in with outlandish suggestions that mostly consisted of lingerie and sex toys.

Sid and Khalon had reacted as well as could be expected to the news. They’d stormed into the back room—accompanied by Mouse—in a miasma of seething tentacles and glowing eyes. The two Shadow Fae had glared when I apologized for bringing trouble with me, and Mouse had punched me in the arm.

Ten minutes of intense conversation later, the Ogre was wrapping my comically tiny apron around his waist, and I was being shown to my new room upstairs with strict instructions to call Katarina and take it easy for the rest of the night.

“Bathroom’s through there,” Emyr said with a grin, nodding towards the door across from where he stood. “It’s got a big garden tub, if you want to have a soak while Mared fetches you some new clothes. I’m happy to wash your back.”

I shook my head at his teasing. “This really isn’t necessary,” I argued yet again. “I can go back to work.”

“Not gonna happen,” he said flatly, a glimpse of the powerful fae warrior showing through before his expression brightened again. He scooped me up, whistling merrily over my laughing complaints.

When we got to the bathroom, he hoisted me higher, and I grabbed his waist as my stomach landed on his shoulder. His hand was a brand where it wrapped around my thigh. My shirt had ridden up, and Emyr’s soft fur rubbed against my bare belly and the exposed skin over my ribs.

I gripped him tighter as the sound of rushing water filled the little room, and pushed up in a desperate bid for space. It backfired. His muscles were firm beneath my fingers, the fur sheathing them silky. I wanted to pull my bra up, feel it rub against my aching breasts.

“I think today calls for bubbles,” Emyr said cheerfully.

I twisted to the side and caught a glimpse of a floating shampoo bottle streaming a generous amount of golden liquid into the filling tub. He could’ve carried me the same way, I realized, but he held me close, his thumb brushing distractingly over my inner thigh.

Nothing had been as I’d believed with Kynan. What if Mouse was right and the flirtations I’d convinced myself were empty...weren’t? No matter what I’d admitted to Kynan, I couldn’tdoanything about it...right?

A vision of Franklin’s disgusted face swam before my eyes. After that first time, he’d stood there with just that expression, naked, my blood and his cum smeared over his limp dick. I’d never “grown to like it” as he’d flung dismissively over his shoulder that day, and his bitterness at being “shackled to a frigid bitch” hadn’t made him a considerate lover.

“Put me down,” I croaked, nausea crawling up my throat. Faster than I could process the movement, I was seated on the closed toilet, Emyr kneeling in front of me with both of my hands in his.

“Did I hurt you? What’s wrong?” Concern rang in his voice.

I understood with dawning wonder that I could ask for anything in that moment, and he’d do it for me without question. A door slammed on the painful memories that had tormented me a moment ago, and I let out a shaky breath. “Just dizzy,” I said. Then, before he could call me on the bullshit answer or I could chicken out, I blurted, “Would you hold me?”

He stilled, as if unsure he’d heard me correctly.

I held out my arms, and the smile that broke over his face was as bright as a spring morning.

Gently, so gently, he pushed my legs open enough to knee walk between them, wrapping me in his arms. When I snuggled closer, he let out a sound almost like a purr and buried his face in my hair, rocking slightly as his fingers cupped the base of my skull.

Ymet forgive me, I’d never been more at peace.

“This is cozy,” Mared cooed.

I opened my eyes in time to catch the longing that flashed across her face before she smiled warmly at me and set a pile of soft looking fabric on the counter.

Emyr gave me a squeeze, then pulled back. “We should let you get to your bath before the water gets cold,” he murmured, pushing to his feet.

“Call out when you’re ready and I’ll grab your old clothes,” Mared added, leaning down to brush her cheek against mine before stepping back and winding her fingers through Emyr’s.

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