Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 139662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 698(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 698(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
“I hate feeling like there’s this part of me that maybe I don’t control.” I bite my lip. “I’m scared.”
He’s quiet so long that I think he might’ve fallen asleep, but then I hear him stir, and in the next moment, my sheets rustle as he pulls them back. The bed shifts under his weight. “I’m here,” he whispers, and his hand finds mine under the blankets. “Right here. I promise I’ll wake you before your shadow self can seduce me.” His words are laced with mischief, and I can’t help but smile.
I pinch the back of his hand. “How do you know she wasn’t just after a lock of your hair?”
Chuckling, he rolls to his side to face me. His lips press against my shoulder, warm and sweet. “Next time you straddle me,” he murmurs, “wake up first. I want all of you, not just some dark and twisted secret corner of your mind.”
A shiver runs through me, but I’m not shaking anymore. At least not from fear.
Light hits me like a physical blow, and I roll over in bed, burying my face in the pillow. “Close the curtains,” I groan.
My demand is met with a feminine chuckle. “It’s time to wake up, sleepyhead,” Pretha says. “If you don’t get dressed now, they’ll have to leave without you.”
“Let them leave,” I mumble. “I need sleep.”
The blankets are ripped off me, and I whimper. “Why do you hate me?”
“I don’t hate you. Not even a little. But today is important. Get up.”
I sit up, but only because I smell coffee, then freeze as memories from last night slam into me. Closing my eyes for a beat, I let myself remember how it felt to straddle Finn, to wake him, his hungry growl when he realized it was me . . . even though it wasn’t. Not really. The memory brings nothing more than embarrassment and more questions about this world and my powers.
But then I recall the way he fell asleep holding my hand. How nice it was to have him close. And his words before he fell asleep? I want all of you.
I make a beeline for the coffeepot steaming on the corner table. I’m going to need it if I want to process any of what happened last night. After Finn fell asleep beside me, the night seemed to stretch on forever as my thoughts ran in circles. By the time I drifted off, the sun was beginning to rise. “Tell me again what we’re doing today?” I ask, pouring myself a cup.
Pretha studies the contents of the wardrobe thoughtfully. “Today and tonight, we celebrate Lunastal,” she says, smiling over her shoulder at me.
“Tell me what that entails.” Finn’s explanation left a lot to be desired.
“It’s a celebration of the beginning of the harvest. In these parts of the territory, it’s considered bad luck not to celebrate, and it’s believed that the god Lugh will cast a blight on the crops of those who fail to pay him homage.”
I swallow my first sip of coffee and give myself a moment to let it warm my chest. “Is this celebrated all over Faerie?”
She nods, pulling out a dark red dress the color of crisp autumn leaves. “Yes, but more ardently in the rural areas, where they rely so much on crops for their livelihood.”
“And where is Finn?” I didn’t hear him this morning, didn’t feel him leave the bed.
“He woke early to pay a visit to an old friend,” Pretha says.
I wonder if he’s meeting with Juliana again. Letting her touch him at every opportunity. Making her laugh. Jealousy makes my coffee settle uneasily in my stomach.
Pretha chuckles. “You are so transparent it’s laughable.”
“What?”
“You’re jealous.”
“Am not. Just curious where he might be.”
She doesn’t bother to hide her grin. “Well, you should know that this old friend is coming up on his thousandth year and rarely leaves his cottage by the river, so I don’t think you need to worry about his friend doing anything that would make Finn stop pining for you.”
“He doesn’t pine for me.”
She snorts. “Whatever you say.”
But he doesn’t, does he? There’s physical attraction on both sides for sure, and last night he made it clear that he’s open to acting on that attraction. But that’s where this ends. Anything beyond that would be too complicated. “I take it this celebration begins in the morning,” I say, if only to change the subject. “That’s why you’re dragging me out of bed so early?”
She chuckles and tosses the dress on the bed. “It’s all day. We’ll begin with the traditional trek up Mount Rowan, which will take most of the morning.”
I frown at the dress. “Hiking all morning, and I’m supposed to wear that?”
She smooths the bodice and smirks at me. “You’re here as Finn’s betrothed. Regardless of what happens to the Throne of Shadows, this makes you their future queen in their eyes. They’ll expect to see you dressed accordingly.”