by Karen Lynch
And then his hand was slipping behind my neck. His mouth brushed mine, setting off explosions in my belly as he whispered my name against my lips. I parted them, and he needed no further invitation. His tongue swept inside, and he claimed my mouth with a fierce tenderness. I was dizzy and panting when he pulled back.
I murmured a protest, but he had no intention of stopping. His head dipped again, and he took my mouth in another searing kiss that wiped out all conscious thought. I was drowning in his touch and the sensations flooding me, and all I knew was I wanted more.
I was barely aware of being lifted until I was suddenly straddling his lap. I came up onto my knees and took his face in my hands as I fused my lips to his. He surrendered control of the kiss, choosing instead to slide his warm hands down to cup my backside and hold me against him.
He pulled out of the kiss to move his mouth down the column of my throat. “Mi’calaech,” he said huskily, the word sounding almost like a plea. In that moment, I would have given him anything he asked of me.
The bathroom window slammed, and it was like a spell had been shattered. Lukas went still, and for a minute, the only sound in the room was our ragged breathing. He leaned his head back against the couch with his eyes closed as if he couldn’t look at me.
A different kind of heat suffused me, and I slid off his lap with as much dignity as I could muster. The fact that he didn’t try to stop me said it all. Needing to put space between us, I went to sit in the chair. I looked over at him and found him watching me with a sad expression that made my chest hurt.
“Jesse –”
“I think you should leave,” I said, proud of how steady my voice was despite the emotions raging inside me.
Lukas moved to the edge of the couch but didn’t get up. “I will if you want me to, but not like this.”
I clasped my hands in my lap. “It was only a kiss. These things happen, and you don’t need to explain anything.”
“It was more than just a kiss,” he said gruffly. “And I stopped it because of how much I want it, not because I don’t.”
Something clicked in my mind, like a door I didn’t know existed had opened. I stared at him as memories poured out. He and I were in my bedroom, and he was kneeling before me.
“But I like the way you kiss me. Will you do it again when I am myself?”
“No, mi’calaech. But not because I don’t want to.”
I put a hand over my mouth as that night came back to me. Most of it was out of focus, like a dream you can’t recall exactly. But the kiss I remembered with crystal clarity.
“We kissed the night I had a fever. Why didn’t you tell me?”
He rubbed his jaw. “Because it shouldn’t have happened, and it was better if you didn’t remember it.”
I swallowed back the hurt his answer caused. “Then why did you kiss me again?”
“A moment of weakness,” he admitted.
“Oh.” I wished I had an eloquent response, but there didn’t seem to be one for when someone kissed you by mistake.
“I shouldn’t have kissed you because I knew I wouldn’t want to stop at one.” He released a harsh breath. “You know there can be no future for us. I care about you, Jesse, and I won’t treat you like some passing affair. You deserve more than that.”
He was right, but that didn’t make the words easier to hear. The moment I had started to fall for him, I’d known it would only lead to heartache because human-faerie relationships could not work. Jackson Chase and Princess Nerissa had known that, and rather than be apart, they had risked everything. He’d paid for it with his life.
It would have been better if Lukas and I hadn’t reconciled our differences. At least when I’d been angry with him, I had been able to turn off the other feelings. And I’d had no idea what it felt like to kiss him.
I was trying to think of how to respond when a commotion erupted outside the apartment, followed by Maurice’s raised voice. “You have no authority here or any right to keep me from her.”
“Not again.” I jumped up and ran to the door. Yanking it open, I found my furious godfather looking ready to throw down against Iian and Kerr, who stood with their backs to my door.
Relief filled Maurice’s eyes when he saw me. “Jesse, thank God. I heard you were on the ferry in that storm.”
“I was, but I’m okay.” I pushed between Iian and Kerr, who shifted to let me pass.
Maurice hugged me. “Girl, I think I lost ten years off my life in the last hour. Why aren’t you answering your phone?”
“I lost it on the ferry.” I pulled back to look at him. “Why didn’t you call the land line?”
“Didn’t think to.” He narrowed his eyes at the faeries behind me. “It’s a bit late for visitors, isn’t it?”
“They came by to check on me. They were just leaving.”
“Get some rest, Jesse.” Lukas’s voice gave away nothing of what had happened between us a few minutes ago. “You can resume training in a few days.”
I made myself turn to face him. Gone was the person who had kissed me until I’d almost forgotten my own name. Back was Prince Vaerik in all his cool authority, and the distance between us could be measured in miles, not feet. He smiled, but it was nothing like the one he’d given me right before he’d kissed me. It told me there would be no repeat of tonight.
“Thanks for stopping by,” I said pleasantly, earning strange looks from Iian and Kerr. Could they tell something had happened between Lukas and me? The tips of my ears grew warm. I was so ready for this day to be over.
“Training?” Maurice asked after the faeries had disappeared around the second-floor landing.
“It’s mostly conditioning,” I said tiredly, entering the apartment.
He followed me. “With the Unseelie royal guard?”
“You think I should stop?” Part of me wanted him to say yes, to tell me Mom and Dad would not approve. Anything to give me an excuse not to go back.
“Hell, no.” He looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “I’m not thrilled about them being in your apartment, but you don’t pass up an opportunity like that.” He paused. “As long as they don’t cross any lines.”
I barked a laugh and turned toward the kitchen. “You have nothing to worry about there.” At least, not anymore.
Chapter 16
“FINCH, AISLA, I’M going out for a bit,” I called to the tree house as I walked past the living room.
Finch whistled, and I looked up.
You said you wouldn’t work today, he signed.
“I’m not. I need to get a new phone.”
Running light errands was all I’d be doing for the next few days because I couldn’t hunt or train with a sprained wrist. I wasn’t used to having so much free time on my hands. It figured that Violet would be in California when I finally had time to hang out.
Can you get some more yikkas for Aisla? Finch asked.
“I’ll stop by the Fae market on the way home.” Aisla ate the same fruits and berries he did, but her favorite food was a Fae fruit called a yikka that her captors had fed her.
I grabbed my keys and left, running lightly down the stairs. Reaching the bottom floor, I came up short at the sight of the six faeries, who seemed to take up all the space in the small lobby. The two blond faeries at the front of the group assessed me with cold, unfriendly eyes. Fear gripped me, and I tensed, ready to flee back to the safety of my apartment.
“Jesse,” said a voice as the crown prince of Seelie pushed past his guard to stand before me.
“Prince Rhys. What…are you doing here?” I asked stupidly, even though it was obvious he was there to see me. What other reason could the Seelie prince have for being in my building?
His smile was almost contrite. “I am sorry for coming unannounced. I’ve wanted to call on you since I saw you at Va’sha last month, but I have been out of town. And then this morning, I saw the news story about the terrible ferry accident, and there you were on the television. It was like a sig
n from Aedhna telling me I had to come see you today.”
My mouth opened, but no words came out. How did you respond to something like that?
The main door swung inward, and Gorn entered the building. He saw us and froze, his dark eyes wide.
“What is your business here, dwarf?” one of the blond faeries demanded.
Gorn’s terrified eyes flitted from the faeries to me. My anger flared. This was his home, and he should be allowed to come and go as he pleased without fear.
I went to stand beside Gorn and faced the group. Prince Rhys’s men scared me but not enough to keep me silent. “I’m going to ask that you not harass or intimidate people in my building. Gorn is one of my tenants, but even if he wasn’t, you have no right to question his presence here.”
The faerie who had spoken sneered at me. “We have every right to detain and question anyone who might pose a threat to our prince.”
His statement brought back memories of the night Faolin had forced me to go to Lukas’s for questioning. I’d been too overwhelmed back then to challenge them, but a lot had changed since that night.
I wasn’t familiar with every single aspect of the Fae treaties, but I knew this faerie was full of BS. “You have the authority to intercept anyone who poses a credible threat and to use force if the prince comes under attack. You are not allowed to detain, interrogate, or harm people just for being in his vicinity. You also have no right to enter a private residence and threaten its occupants.”
The five guards glared at me, and it was all I could do not to turn tail and run. But if I couldn’t stand up to them in my own building, I might as well go hide in my room for the rest of my life.
Prince Rhys clapped. “Well said.”
“Thank you.” I looked at Gorn and gave him a reassuring smile. “I’ll see you later.”
The dwarf nodded jerkily and hurried to his door. He cast a furtive glance in our direction before he disappeared inside.
A door on the other side of the lobby opened, and we all turned to face my scowling eighty-year-old neighbor. Mrs. Russo’s unnaturally red hair was in large curlers, and she wore a frayed, mint green housecoat that should have become cleaning rags a decade ago. Perched on her nose were rhinestone cat-eye glasses that she only wore when she was watching TV.
“What is all this racket?” she demanded with the imperiousness of a queen. “I’m trying to enjoy my soap, and I can’t hear a darn thing over all this yabbering.”
The faeries stared at her, not knowing what to make of this odd, little creature who dared to question them. No one aged physically in Faerie, and they’d probably never encountered a crotchety old person, let alone one as colorful as my neighbor.
Mrs. Russo eyed them over the tops of her glasses. “Well?” she barked. “I know you can speak, so out with it.”
My lips twitched, and I pressed them together to hold back a laugh.
“My apologies, dear lady.” The prince stepped forward and bowed to the old woman. “I am Prince Rhys of Seelie, and I humbly beg your pardon for disturbing your daily ablution.”
She leaned away from him as if he’d revealed he was an alien. Prince Rhys glanced around, clearly confused by her reaction.
I couldn’t contain it any longer, and I doubled over laughing. I didn’t care that everyone in the room was staring at me like I’d lost my mind. I let the laughter spill from me, taking with it all the tension of the last twenty-four hours.
“What have you done to Jesse?” Mrs. Russo asked shrilly. She pointed a bony finger at the prince. “Did you use some of that faerie hocus pocus to addle her brain?”
“I…” Prince Rhys said helplessly, and I gave in to another fit of laughter.
It took a supreme effort to regain my composure. I wiped under my eyes and went to Mrs. Russo to assure her I was okay. Facing Prince Rhys, I said, “A soap is a kind of TV show. She wasn’t washing herself.”
“I see,” he replied, but his furrowed brow told me he didn’t.
I looked at my elderly neighbor. “No one glamoured me. I just needed a good laugh.”
She smiled and patted my arm. “If anyone deserves a laugh these days, it’s you.”
“I’m sorry we made you miss your soap.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s recorded from yesterday, so I’m not missing anything.” She tossed an unimpressed look at the prince and his men. “Use your inside voices next time you visit.” Not waiting for a response, she entered her apartment and shut the door with a resounding click.
The faeries stared silently at the door, no doubt trying to figure out what the hell had just happened. Prince Rhys was the first to speak. “Are all your elders like that?”
“No.” I chuckled. “Mrs. Russo is one of a kind.”
“She is quite interesting.” He turned to me. “I’m sorry. My intention in coming here was not to cause trouble for you.”
“Why exactly are you here?”
He smiled sheepishly. “I didn’t give you the best impression of me at Va’sha, and I wanted to show you I’m not that bad. I fear this has not helped my cause.”
“Your cause?” I stuck my hands in my coat pockets to cover the awkwardness settling over me.
He must have seen something in my expression because he rushed to say, “I’m not here looking for anything but friendship.”
I raised my eyebrows. “There are millions of people who would kill to be your friend. Why me?”
“I don’t know.” He frowned, looking as confused as I felt. “Maybe because you’re one of the few humans I’ve met who doesn’t want anything from me. It’s refreshing.”
One of his men scoffed, but prince Rhys ignored it. “Whatever the reason, I want to get to know you better, and I’d be honored if you would consent to dine with me.”
My first instinct was to say no. He was the son of the Seelie queen, and I should be putting as much distance as possible between him and me.
On the other hand, this might be an opportunity to learn more about Queen Anwyn, and maybe gain some insight into why she would want the ke’tain. I was in a unique position. I had access to the one person who knew her better than anyone else. Lukas would not be happy about it, but if it helped him find the ke’tain, how could I not do it?
“I’ll have lunch with you,” I said. “Do you have a favorite restaurant?”
His smile was almost blinding. “Why don’t you pick a place?”
“Your Highness…” one of his men started to object, but Prince Rhys waved him off.
I considered the options, preferring to stay close to home. “My favorite Vietnamese restaurant is not far from here. Have you tried Vietnamese?”
“Yes. They have a soup that is similar to one of my favorite dishes at home.”
I smiled. “Pho. I love it, too.”
“It’s settled then. My men will drive us there.”
“If you don’t mind, I’ll drive myself.” At his questioning look, I said, “I have some errands to run afterward, and it will save me the time of coming home to get my car.”
Prince Rhys looked ready to protest, but his guards’ expressions said they preferred this arrangement. I gave them the name and address of the restaurant and ushered them out of the building before he could say anything.
I wasn’t surprised when they stayed behind me all the way to the restaurant. The prince probably wanted to make sure I didn’t change my mind and take off. I wasn’t comfortable with his interest in me, even if it was platonic, but I couldn’t think of any way to discourage him without offending him. Hopefully, he’d see today that there was nothing particularly interesting about me, and he’d move on to someone else.
We beat the lunch rush, so the restaurant wasn’t busy when we arrived. The hostess fell all over herself when she saw the prince, and she ushered us to a booth at the back of the restaurant. Two of his men accompanied us, and the other three took up stations near the door. At least I wouldn’t have all five of them glaring at me over lunch.
“It’s only a sprain.” I pulled down the sleeve of my sweater to cover it. “I’ll be good as new in a few days.”
Concern filled his eyes. “My personal physician travels with me. If you will permit me, I will have her come to your home and tend to your injury.”
I smiled. “You’re very kind to offer, but really, it’s nothing. I’ve gotten much worse bruises than this on some of my jobs.”
A waiter approached us, looking terrified of the two guards standing beside the booth. He filled our water glasses and took our orders before scurrying away.
“Tell me, how does someone so young become a bounty hunter,” Prince Rhys asked.
I sipped my water. “Most hunters start out when they finish high school. Usually, they have family in the business, and they follow in their footsteps instead of going to college.” I didn’t say that some of them would have preferred college, but like me, they couldn’t afford it.
“And whose footsteps are you following?”
I debated how much to tell him, and then it occurred to me that his men had most likely done a thorough background check on me by now. They would know if I spoke the truth.
“My parents. They’re the best in the business,” I said proudly.
“Is that so?” He leaned in. “Tell me about them.”
His boyish eagerness was impossible to resist. As we ate, I told him how my parents started hunting, and I shared stories about some of their bigger jobs. He listened intently and interrupted me often with questions. I didn’t mind because I loved talking about my parents’ work.
“I would love to meet them,” he said earnestly.
One of his men shifted restlessly. I didn’t need to look at the guard’s face to know he did not like this turn in the conversation.