Page 26 of Courting the King of Cliffs

“Magically, at least,” I whispered.

“Not physically? Really, Lavender? I can still smell your desire on my skin.” He leaned his head down to sniff himself, and a laugh escaped me.

“Fine, physically too. But we don’t really know each other. And what kind of nickname is Lavender?”

“The color of your eyes when you get fired up. My new favorite,” he said.

I snorted. “Okay, that’s terrible.”

“Well, I used to call you Spring in my mind, because of the way you bounce when you walk.”

“That’s just the lingering wind magic from Storm and the explosion and everything. I can’t really use it, but it’s always there,” I explained.

“I think it’s worse than Lavender, though.”

“Alright, I can live with Lavender.” I closed my eyes and leaned my head against his chest. “Is your pain coming back?”

“Not really.”

So it was, at least a little.

I snaked my magic out to him, and his power embraced me in response. I hadn’t met any fae who could feel magic physically, like we could feel each other’s, and I loved that we shared it.

Both of us relaxed as the magic worked on us, connecting the way it was meant to.

“Has your pain gotten worse since you discovered the bond?” I asked him.

“Progressively, yeah. It’s gotten a lot worse.”

“My sensitivity has too,” I admitted. “I wonder if it’s related to ignoring the bond.”

“Anything is possible. Especially considering how rapidly your magic calms mine. Guess fate had a plan.”

“One we should’ve accepted a while ago.”

He made a noise of agreement.

“How do I know you’re not going to change your mind next week, though?” I asked him, my voice still quiet.

“There’s no way for me to give you proof, but I’d say your power over my pain is pretty damn good insurance. I’d have to be an absolute moron to consider hurting you when you’re the only one who can prevent the pain from taking hold of me again.”

My lips curved upward.

Maybe it was selfish, but I honestly did like that.

He was just as stuck with me as I was with him.

It didn’t sound terribly romantic… but I’d realized a long time ago that romance was only a tiny blip of a relationship. Commitment was what really mattered, and it was hard to get a bigger commitment than needing each other to survive.

“I feel like we should reintroduce ourselves or something,” I said. “It’s been so long.”

“Hi,” he said, turning sideways to face me. “I’m Tremaine. Unfortunately, I’m the king of the earth fae.”

Damn, I loved his voice.

I followed his lead in turning to the side. “Hello. I’m Dissiri, the wind fae’s city-building extraordinaire.”

“We’ve never officially met before, have we?” he asked, a small measure of amusement in his voice.

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