“Really? What can I possibly give you that will benefit me?”
“A word. Just one little word.”
“A word?” That’s not the answer I was expecting. “Well, I suppose it’s something that’s easy enough to give away.”
“Is it? Because I will not tell you what the word is until the time has come for you to use it.”
I roll my eyes. “Can’t you talk plainly for once? I don’t like all this vagueness. If I don’t know the word, you could entrap me to do anything! So, the thing I have to give you that’s purely for your sake, what is that exactly?”
His lids lower, absurdly long lashes hovering over glittery smears of gold paint under his eyes. “When the game is over, I will tell you. You must trust I won’t ask for something you’re not willing to give.”
“Curiouser and curiouser. So, can I give this mysterious boon to you in any way I want? In my own style? At least grant me that much.”
He pretends to give my request serious consideration, but I can tell he’s already decided. “Yes, of course.”
I must be crazy to agree to such vague terms from a fae. I’m going directly against my own mother’s advice. He could ask for anything. Everything. But, if I’m honest, part of me can’t wait to discover what the cruel prince of Talamh Cúig could possibly want from a human girl.
The fire crackles, sending sparks floating around us as I nod and grab my silver goblet. “Fine. I agree to your terms.” I gulp wine and watch his smile turn wicked, then slam my cup against the table. “Right. Let’s finish this game.”
We play. And, of course, I lose.
The room is suddenly too warm. “Damn, I thought I’d gotten quite good at this game.”
Ever’s eyes gleam as he stretches his spine, rubbing his almost completely healed chest wound at the same time. He must be full of aches and pains after the tournament.
“Obviously not good enough.”
“Stop smiling at me like I’m a fish on a hook.”
He laughs.
Stomach clenching in fear as I remember the bargain I made with Ether in exchange for my mom’s tale, I ask, “Okay so what’s this word I have to say? I’d prefer to get it over with now.”
This will be a bargain within a bargain.
“Nice try. You know my terms. I will tell you in good time, but not now.”
I sigh. “Fine. Be boring and keep it a secret. What’s the other thing you want then? The thing that’s strangely and worryingly just for you?”
His heated stare warms me all the way down to my toes, and something deep inside shifts.
“One kiss.”
“What?” My mouth drops open, and I can barely draw a breath.
“This kiss will not be stolen. It must be given freely. Will you keep your bargain and do this?”
“You seriously want me to kiss you?”
“Yes.” He stands and walks to the couch set on one side of the fire, then sits and stretches over the cushions like a lion basking in the sun. The silky black shirt gapes, exposing way too much golden skin wrapped over powerful muscles. “What will you do, Lara?”
Oh, boy. The Prince of Air entices me the same way a glittering spider’s web does a fly. More than anything, I want to kiss him. But I’m afraid. Afraid of the outcome. Or that I won’t be able to stop.
“Promise you won’t eat me?”
A bright color flashes over his irises. He slips his necklace off, holds the dragonfly out. “To sweeten the deal—take this—it’s yours.”
When I’m two steps closer, I smile, and reach for it.
He whisks his palm to his chest. “For it to be a gift, I must put it on you myself.” He pushes off the chair, about to stand.
I loose a long breath, then draw another for courage. “Sit down,” I say, pushing him backward. “I get to do this my way, remember? You promised. So stay put.” Before I can change my mind, I climb into his lap. When my hands frame his face, his eyes are wide and glowing blue like a sun-lit sea.
My thumbs stroke his ears, tracing over their pointed tips. “Your eyes turn bright blue sometimes. Why is that?”
His breath coming out in irregular puffs, he angles his face away.
“Answer me, Ever. I know you can’t lie.”
Those bright-blue eyes lift. “So now I’m Ever, am I?”
“Don’t try to change the subject. What makes your eyes change color?”
He huffs a sigh. “Strong emotions.”
“Like anger?”
He nods.
“And hate?”
A brief dip of his chin.
“I see.” Slowly, I push his shirt off his shoulders.
His breath hitches, chest pumping harder.
“So are you telling me that’s what you feel right now, anger?”
“No. Not that.” His warm palm cradles my cheek, the pads of his fingers pressing gently as though he’s testing how delicate my flesh is. “It’s not hatred or even dislike. It’s akin to…” His hand leaves my face and drops to rest on his thigh. “I’m not sure, but it turns my bones to ash and is something I don’t wish to name.”
Magical tattoos that normally lie dormant activate and flare over his skin, gold and silver, reminding me of traditional Japanese paintings of clouds. On the left side of his chest, glows the large triangle, point upright with a horizontal line through the middle—the elemental symbol of air and seat of his power.
I stare at him in silence, and then glance at the wings made of twisted gold and silver sticking out between his clenched fist. A scent of sweet grass and the tang of the air before rain makes me dizzy.
A smile plays around his lips, and he looks down at his fist. “Your necklace.”
“Yes. That’s mine.”
As his almond-shaped eyes narrow, my hair lifts and shimmies around my shoulders, a warm breeze caressing my skin, stroking and taunting. I duck my chin and he places the chain over my head, the metal cool against my breasts as the pendant falls into place.
“Of my own free will, I give the garnet-eyed dragonfly to you, Lara of Blackbrook. It is a sign of my protection—and you would be wise not to take it off.” Lips slightly parted, his face tilts toward me. “Now complete our agreement and kiss me.”
“Wow. You make it sound so businesslike.”
A lip quirk and a one-shoulder shrug. “Then kiss me and see if it is so.”
The thick drapes suddenly flutter. Tree branches scratch against the stone balcony outside. A falcon shrieks nearby. Tension charges and heats the air, so every breath scorches my lungs. He grabs my arms, at the same time lowering his eyelids, waiting for me to make my move. It’s now or never.
I lean in. My lips brush his, our panted breaths mingling. My arm snakes behind his neck and around his shoulders as I kiss him properly, opening to his heat, tasting.
A storm rages inside me, rattling and bruising muscles and bones and, oh but, it feels so good.
“Lara,” he whispers, as he extracts the pendant from the neckline of my dress, his knuckles rasping the silver and gold fabric as he fists the dragonfly. “This gown… tonight, you look like a queen.”
I would laugh at that idea if I were prepared to stop kissing him. But I’m not. Not yet.