She tangled her hands in his hair, pulled him forward, and met his lips with hers in a fierce kiss that sent the spark of their connection snapping through him.
“I’d been planning to proposition you from the moment I knew you couldn’t charm me,” she said against his lips, her breath feathering against his cheek. “Actually, since the moment I smelled you.”
“But you don’t know that I don’t plan to use you.” The desire to resume the kiss, feel her body slide against his, over and around him, flooded him, and he fought to focus and think straight. He knew what he wanted, but he didn’t want to trick her or coerce her into sealing their connection.
“At the time, I didn’t.” She frowned. “Actually, I think I did. Deep down I trust you. I can’t explain it—”
He drew back and raised an eyebrow. “It’s because I’m your other half.”
“And I think you’re going to have to prove that.” She raised her chin, her expression defiant and wicked and sexually charged.
“Challenge accepted.”
Chapter Fourteen
Riley met Couper’s gaze. Hints of wild magic danced in his eyes, and her heart pounded in anticipation. The moment she’d challenged him, his expression had turned hungry, as if he’d been waiting all this time for permission… and she knew how he felt. They’d known each other for less than a day, but she couldn’t deny her attraction to him. She’d been fantasizing about him from the moment she’d smelled him, and those fantasies had only gotten stronger when she knew he couldn’t charm her.
Even if they weren’t a soul match, it didn’t matter. She wanted him, craved him and the satisfaction his scent promised. Yes, he might have seduced her, whether consciously or not, but deep down she knew she could trust him. Maybe, as impossible as it was, they were a soul match.
He dipped down and captured her lips again with a ferocity that stole her breath. She met him with her own passion. She wanted to lose herself in this man, forget she was a slave of the Golden Court and forget how the other fae treated her.
Magic snapped over and inside her. She didn’t know if it was an aftereffect of channeling the wild magic to save him or a sign she was his other half. And really, she didn’t care. All that mattered was Couper.
He captured her head with his hand and deepened their kiss, his lips and tongue fueling an inferno within her. His scent wrapped around her, heady and rich, making her shiver with need.
“Are you cold?” he asked, his lips pressed to hers. “You’re soaked.”
“So are you.”
They both were, and the water pooling around them in the simple, multi-toned cream bathroom was murky with blood.
Another shiver swept through her. That was her blood. The wild mage had shot her.
And Couper had saved her.
“Hey.” He slid his hands to her cheeks and locked gazes with her. “Hey.”
“I’m okay.” Her throat tightened. If Couper hadn’t been there, she would have died.
“You’re not.” He drew her tight to his chest, stood, and carried her into the large walk-in shower. He sat on the bench, cradling her in his arms and turned on the taps.
Cold water spewed from the showerhead. He shifted, shielding her from the spray with his body, but she kept shaking. She couldn’t make herself stop.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
He brushed a lock of hair from her cheek. “It’s a double whammy. Rapid healing from an injury as severe as yours can give you the shakes. So can channeling too much wild magic too frequently.”
“Great, how long does this last?” She didn’t want to be shaking. She wanted to savor every sensation of being with Couper — other half or not.
The water grew warm, and Couper adjusted the taps. Heat seeped into her skin, joining the crackle of wild magic and the desire simmering within her. A desire that might have been muted by being shot and almost drowned but had never vanished.
“The shower will help.” He pressed his forehead to hers. His pulse, under her hand and through his wet Henley, pounded, and his breath came fast. He was restraining himself for her. He desired her, his erection pressing against her was proof, but unlike any other fae she’d encountered, he put her needs first.
She shrugged out of her coat, keeping her forehead to his, not wanting to break the connection, needing the connection. The more she thought about it, the more his words felt real. Other half. Something most fae believed they would never have and something she was certain was impossible for her because she was half human. But the longer he held her — just held her — the more she believed him.
Other half. The word, the sense, crackled within her. Like wild magic, but different, stronger, electric, with the possibility of an eternal connection, one she didn’t want to deny and couldn’t even if she wanted to.
“Kiss me,” she said, not surprised at how husky her voice had become.
“Yes.” His breath feathered hot against her cheeks.
“Touch me.” She ran her hands down his chest to the hem of his Henley.
“Yes.”
She drew up his shirt. He released her, and she pulled the soaked fabric over his head, tossed it to the side, and marveled at his strong sculpted muscles. “Take me.”
“Yes.” He captured her lips in a hungry kiss as if her permission had unleashed the ferocity of passion he’d been holding back. The emotion was stronger, wilder, than what she’d imagined. He wasn’t a Golden Court fae raised on civility and propriety and playing dirty games. He was Shadow Court, dark, changed by untamed wild magic, and passionate.
His hands slid down her ribs, drawing a shiver of desire, but he stopped the moment she trembled, his gaze asking if she was okay.
She nipped his bottom lip. “Don’t stop.” Please don’t stop. This was better than the fantasy his scent inspired, more than just smell, but touch and breath and zinging snaps of magic.
He grabbed her hips, urging her up and shifting her to straddle him. She did, and his erection brushed against her core, sending a trembling whisper of release shuddering through her. Yes, this was what she wanted.
The wild magic snapped stronger under her skin, curling within the empty part of her soul as if she was going to cast a relocation spell. Couper’s eyes glowed, a blazing white light that heated her face. He trailed his lips down her neck, the heat traveling with him, as his hands slipped under her shirt. His palms caressed her flesh and more magic snapped through her, making her shudder and rub against him.
Couper groaned, and his grip on her waist tightened. Another tremor of release shuddered through her, and more wild magic blazed around them. The sensation flooded every cell of her being, searing with electric need.
She pulled off her shirt, and Couper swept his lips from her neck to her breasts, kissing along the lacey top of her bra, teasing her and ratcheting up her desire. She couldn’t catch her breath and couldn’t think. There was only Couper, her whirling desire, and the feel of him against her.
He slid his thumbs inside her bra, brushing her nipples and zinging more sensation through her before his mouth clasped over her. He worshiped her breasts, licking and sucking, driving her into a writhing frenzy. She needed him inside her, needed the complete connection the magic in her soul strained for.
She unzipped his jeans and released him. “Commando. Why does that not surprise me?”
“I am shadow fae.” He flashed her a wicked grin, made sizzling by the magic glowing in his eyes.
She wrapped her hand around him and pumped down his length.
“God, Riley,” he groaned, his eyelids closing to half-mast and his head tipping back against the shower wall.
She drew her hand to his tip and pumped back down. Once… twice… faster, her grip tight. His hips bucked, and his breath came fast. A shudder swept through him, and his jaw tightened. With a growl, he grabbed her under her rear, stood, and sat her on the bench. He dropped to his knees before her, pulled off her boots, hooked his fingers in th
e waistband of her jeans, and drew them and her underwear off leaving her naked under the shower’s warm spray. Then he pushed her clothes aside and ran his hands up the inside of her thighs.
“Beautiful,” he murmured, and he dipped in between her legs and kissed her, a gentle brush of his lips against her sensitive flesh that sent a shock of electric magic zinging through her.
Her breath hitched and it was her turn to tip her head back, her eyes half closed, and ride the wave of pleasure. His kiss deepened, his tongue laving and flicking against her clit driving her wild. Her release tightened, building into an explosive promise.
Couper pushed her thighs farther apart and slid two fingers inside her, driving her closer and closer to the climax with lips and hand. She bucked against him, the wild magic spilling out of her soul and snapping around them until she thought she’d burst.
“Yes,” she cried. Close. So close. A second more, and the wave of sensation would crash around her, but she didn’t want it without Couper. For their first time, she wanted him in her, filling her, sharing the connection. The next times — and there would be next times — they could play, explore, learn each others bodies and desires. But this time, she wanted him joined with her, fulfilling the promise of their souls.
She cupped his cheek and tugged his head up to catch his gaze. “I want you inside me.”
He kicked off his boots, pulled off his pants, drew her to her feet, and captured her against the shower wall. The heat from his body and the snap of magic ignited her skin. She was on fire with need. He aligned himself with her, his gaze locked with hers, and slowly, ever so slowly, building up her need, he slid inside her.
The promise of climax shuddered through her, and she clutched his shoulders to keep standing. His breath came fast, and the muscles in his jaw were tight as if he was trying to control himself.
She ground against him, taking him deeper inside her.
“Yes,” she said.
A shudder shook him, and the muscles in his jaw flexed. Magic danced along their flesh, fully realized now, not just shocking sensation but crackling lightning as well. His essence, his soul, fluttered at the edge of her awareness, and she knew his was sliding into hers and hers into his, missing pieces in the puzzle that made each of them fae.
“Yes,” she cried.
He drew out and drove back in as if this final yes was once again permission to release all restraint. He filled her, his thrusts picking up speed rebuilding her climax and surging her beyond what it had been.
She matched his rhythm. Electric magic roaring around them, hitting the walls and ceiling and showering them with sparks. It filled her soul, and he filled her body, surging her climax into a great wave that crashed over her.
She screamed his name. He cried hers, his erection throbbing inside her, his body shaking with his release. The empty part of her soul was filled now with more than just magic. It was filled with Couper’s fae soul as well, just like she could feel hers in him.
There was no denying it. They were a soul match. A complete fae soul destined to have eternal love.
Except he was still shadow fae and she was still a slave to the Golden Court.
Chapter Fifteen
Couper pressed his lips to the back of Riley’s neck. She murmured in her sleep but didn’t wake. And rightly so. Healing from such a serious injury could really knock a person on her ass — and he knew that from firsthand experience while he and Kane were escaping the Golden Court. Of course, no magic, not even his mystic healing, compared to what had passed between he and Riley earlier that night.
He eased from the bed and strode naked to the bay window on the far side of his bedroom. Outside, night with a hint of pre-dawn gray cloaked his pocket realm in the Shadow Court, and the warm breeze turned the trees and foliage into rippling shadows. His realm wasn’t more than a small island surrounded by ten miles of clear water, but it was lush and sunny and his.
And now it was Riley’s as well.
His other half.
Just what he’d hoped and feared. A half-human. Who, thankfully, was difficult to charm. Lord and Lady, he didn’t know how he’d survive if he had to constantly worry about protecting her from the other fae. Sure, he wasn’t particularly social, but there were times when Kane summoned him to court. The Shadow King would expect to see Riley at Couper’s side now, and the other shadow fae could see that as an opportunity to play games.
Unless, of course, he didn’t tell Kane about Riley.
Which was ridiculous. Kane controlled the shadow realm. The joining of other half souls released powerful magic. If he hadn’t just felt Couper and Riley’s souls join, he’d know something was different with Couper the next time they met. Not to mention Kane had said go after the Seal. Not retrieve it. Just go after it.
Riley rolled over, the blankets rustling with the movement, and Couper turned to watch the play of moonlight on her stunning, peacefully asleep, features.
Kane had to have known Riley was Couper’s other half. There was no other reason for forcing the assignment on him. How Kane knew was beyond Couper, but he was grateful for it. He would never have met Riley any other way.
So no, he couldn’t hide her from Kane, but he was going to have to hide her from Rian. Even if Riley hadn’t been Couper’s other half, he’d have to hide her from the Golden King. She’d failed to return the Seal in time for the Transition and Binding Ceremony. Rian would be forced to tell his hated brother he’d lost the Seal, and who knew what would happen to the treaty between the two courts? It didn’t matter that Riley’s freedom had been part of the original deal. She’d failed, and even though she’d managed to send the thief to the Warlord’s dungeon, she, a half-human with no standing in the Golden Court, would join him.
Couper turned back to stare out the window. The wind swept through the palms, making them sway and their shadows leap and swell as if the lies about the Shadow Court were real and the darkness within the realm was filled with corrupting dangers.
Except it wasn’t darkness that changed a fae in the shadow realm. It was magic. Strange and fierce.
“Your eyes are still glowing with wild magic,” Riley said, her voice husky.
“It’s not just wild magic.”
“Our souls?”
“Yeah.” The joining of other half souls was the most powerful kind of wild magic in the universe. “The glow might go away, but we’ve been changed.”
“We’re complete,” she said.
He wanted to look at her, see the glow of their combined souls in her eyes, but he knew if he did, he wouldn’t be able to think of anything but her and rejoining her in his bed. And there were other things — important things — they needed to talk about first. “There’s no going back from that.”
“I don’t want to go back.”
“Even if there are consequences?” His chest tightened. He’d been selfish completing their bond. It didn’t matter that she’d consented. She didn’t know the ramifications. She—
Her hand pressed, warm against his back, between his shoulder blades. “I know I can’t go back. I couldn’t return the Seal. Not even Queen Orlaith can protect me from that.”
“Rian will be furious when he learns I’m your other half.”
“Let him be furious.” She drew away, her hand slipping from his back leaving him cold. “If you want me to go, I will. I don’t know how the Shadow King will react to you becoming a complete soul. I’ll use saving Warren to get him to hide me in the human realm. Maybe we can work out a similar deal like what you have. Cheesy puffs and sodas are pretty easy to get.”
“Don’t tell him that, please.” He turned to her, fighting the urge to grab her and hold her close. All she wore was a sheet, clutched at the front with one hand and exposing a seductive curve of hip. No. Focus. This was a conversation they needed to have and, with all the dangerous forces at play, they didn’t have the luxury of waiting. “Warren is invaluable and cheap as hell.”
“Surely with all his tech
nology, he’s figured that out. One look at any online shopping site and he knows the price of junk food and soda.” She slid an admiring gaze down his body, lingering as he responded to her look, a smile brightening her eyes, blazing through the wild-magic glow. “The shadow fae are not at all what I imagined.”
“Don’t tease, woman.” He grabbed her, losing his self-restraint, yanked her to him, and pressed his erection against her abdomen. “It’s hard enough to think with you standing there in only a sheet.”
She leaned in, rubbing against him. “I’ll say it’s hard.”
“Jeez.” He tightened his embrace around her, his pulse racing with renewed desire.
“You’re right, though. We need to figure this out. I just—” She softened against him, laying her cheek on his shoulder and her palm over his heart. “I just don’t want this night to end. This is right and peaceful and everything I didn’t think I wanted. I don’t want to go back to… before. And I certainly don’t want to go back to the Golden Court.”
“You can’t go back.”
“But I don’t want to be a fugitive, either. I don’t want to have to make a deal with the Shadow King for my protection. And—” She glared at him. “I don’t want you making a deal on my behalf, either.”
“I have a feeling no deal will be required.” Unless, of course, that was Kane’s plan all along. Somehow, he’d learned about Riley being Couper’s other half and arranged for them to meet with the intention of using protecting Riley as a way to get Couper to officially bond himself into the Shadow King’s service.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m not sure about anything. He’s high fae.” Even friendship didn’t mean anything if the compulsion was strong enough.
“Game playing is a part of their nature.”
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