Letting her guard down, looking so beautiful, her bond intertwining with mine, making my heart ache.
And her body in that curve-hugging black outfit with heels to make her just a little bit taller.
Her dark hair loose around her shoulders. Those sparkling blue eyes locked on mine, hungry as hell.
Soon, I intend to satisfy that hunger.
I try to look surprised as she leads me up to her apartment, even though I came back to cast a veil of obscurement here once before.
But it’s different being brought here because she wants me here. It’s different knowing your soul bond wants to bring you into her home.
I shift my weight awkwardly, trying to keep my thoughts straight as she gets out her keys to unlock the door.
The second she gets it open, she pulls me inside, jerking on my lapels as she nudges the door shut with her foot.
In the same second, she’s pulling me down, swiping her lips over mine voraciously, making me smile against her mouth at her pure eagerness.
As my hands slide around her waist to steady her, my mind goes almost blank with panic.
Chaos. Right here in the apartment. Why didn’t I sense it when we were outside? How could it break in with my veil? How did it find her?
And what am I supposed to do at this moment when I can feel it slinking around corners and Eva is in my arms, warm and relaxed and finally ready to be mine?
I sigh because I’ll do what I always do. Be the warrior everyone needs me to be.
I snap, and it’s dark all around us. I hear hissing as something moves, and I call to my inner darkness.
I can make it so dark that someone dies, or I can make it so dark that the primal fear inside them forces them to run.
I’ll start with the latter and end with the former if I have to.
But whoever is here clearly doesn’t want to deal with me, and I see a shape move in the corner, then stand, tall and ominous. As all dark fae, I can see even in the blackest night. The creature locks eyes with me for a second, formless with swirling chaos, and then it lunges in our direction.
I feel my true form activate as I pull Eva against me, spinning her to the wall, trapping her there as I feel my wings unfurl, wrapping protectively around us both.
Hiding us in the purest of darkness.
Then the window opens, then shuts, and I can feel we’re alone again.
I let out a sigh of relief that nothing happened. Though I’m confident I could defeat anything that came for us, I wouldn’t want to do so with Eva nearby, terrified and not understanding what’s going on.
I steady her shoulders, then let the darkness fade as I run to the window, wand out but not charged, trying to see where our would-be attacker went.
But the night is dark and the street is busy with cars, and I can see no sign of him.
I let out a growl of frustration, then lock the window and turn back to face Eva.
She’s standing in the center of the room as shadows fade around her, dark shapes lowering down the walls as the room returns to its normal state of dim light.
Her eyes are wide as she stares at me, and her hand goes over her mouth as she takes a step back, nearly stumbling.
I step forward to reach her, but she only steps back again, as if still trying to stay back far enough to get a good look at me.
For a moment, I’m worried she’s afraid of me, and my heart panics because that’s the last thing I want in the world.
But then she reaches out, points just above me, and I stare up in shock to see I’ve left my wings out and they’re pointed up to the ceiling, which is luckily vaulted, giving me lots of room.
“Oh my God,” she says. “What are you?”
I put my hands on my hips and take a deep breath because this is going to be a very long night.
Eva
What just happened? What just happened?
It’s all my mind can think as I stare at Tanner standing protectively in front of the window… with an odd suit of armor on that twinkles in shades of black.
Leather that hugs his muscles, black metal plates that protect critical areas.
He had a long, ominous black thing in his hand, but he put that away somehow.
Still, none of that is important compared to the wings.
Oh my God, my mind wasn’t making it up before when I imagined it.
Tanner has wings.
Huge, tall, even more impressive than I ever imagined. I feel like I must be losing my mind right now.
Was the wine drugged or something?
No, I’m totally lucid, and Tanner’s face has an expression unlike any I’ve seen on it.
One of calm resignation. Like he’s not hiding anything anymore.
I gasp, looking away from his wings to notice long, luscious black hair flowing over his shoulders and down his back, making him look like a Viking.
It only makes his hard, masculine features more striking, and he’s almost otherworldly beautiful right now.
And he has long, pointed ears that slash up at a dangerous angle.
I blink. Have I fallen in love with an elf?
Still, all I can do is wait for an explanation.
No matter what, I know that those were his wings I felt around me, keeping me safe, shielding me from whatever was in here.
And I know that, no matter what, Tanner would never mean me harm.
I just feel it in my soul, very deeply.
As if in a haze, I take a step toward him, ready to repeat my question from before. “What are you?”
He frowns, and even that expression looks imperious in this form of his. Slowly, his face relaxes, and to my shock, he steps forward, taking a knee and lowering his head in a bow in front of me.
He’s so tall that he’s huge even doing that.
He slowly raises his head to meet mine, and he’s so handsome it’s almost painful to look at him. “I swear to protect you, Eva. On my life. And in answer to your question, my real name is Tynan and I am a fae prince.”
I just stare at him for a moment as he stays there on the ground.
“Get up,” I say gently, reaching down to pat his shoulder. “Hey, why are you doing that?”
He stands, looking a bit confused. He rubs the back of his neck. “I didn’t mean to show you my true form so soon. I wanted to give you a chance to get used to me. To our bond.”
I step forward, closing some of the distance between us. Now that some of the shock is wearing off, behind it, I can feel a fierce surge of something hot and tempting.
I think, in this form, without any disguise, looking at me with so much vulnerable honesty, I like him best of all.
“Fae prince? You’re a fairy?” I ask, reaching up to stroke his hair back, moving over one hand in wonder to graze the tip of his ear.
His eyes close and he lets out a little groan, and I jerk my hand back, worried I’ve hurt him.
But the fire in his eyes says otherwise, and he takes a step forward. “I’d be careful where you touch me, soul bond. Lest I lose control.”
My eyes widen. There’s something darker about him, but it’s like rich, potent wine, tempting me. “You wouldn’t…”
“I wouldn’t ever do something you didn’t want,” he says in a low voice, eyes running over me. “But in this form, I’m even more sensitive to our bond. And for this fae warrior, being close to you and not making love to you is almost torture.”
My breath catches at the thought of this magnificent being wanting me so much. Then again, I want him too.