Page 83 of A Lick of Flame

“I’m sorry, Maya.”

She shakes her head and sniffs. “Don’t be.” She sniffs again. “It’s a good thing. At least she is safe; you too.” She cups my cheeks for a moment. “Now you can get back to…to saving the realm and everyone in it.” She looks at me with total adoration, a smile playing on her lips, even though her eyes are still glinting with tears. “I know you’ll do it, too.”

“I have no idea where to even begin. How do I go about finding the others?”

“I wish I had the answers.” She shrugs. “Although, I touched a dragon egg…Raila’s egg…your dragon’s egg, and it brought you back. What powers do the others possess? And how could you use that knowledge to bring them back?”

“By goddess, but you’re right. I never thought of it that way.” I kiss her. “You’re not just a pretty face, Maya.”

She smiles and blushes, snuggling into my chest. “We should brainstorm it together.”

“We should get some sleep. We have a long journey ahead of us. I need to take you home.”

She sighs. Her lip trembles, but she bites down on it before smiling. I can see that it’s a little forced. “You can tell me tomorrow. I only know of three kinds of fae – the beastfae, the bloodfae, and the emptyfae. That’s it. I would love to hear about the rest.”

“I promise that I will tell you more of it tomorrow.”

There is something else I need to discuss with Maya. Something I planned on waiting until morning to talk about, but I am suddenly conflicted. I don’t want to ruin this moment, but…

“You’ve gone all tense.” Maya pulls back again, looking me in the eye. “What’s wrong?”

We hardly know each other, and yet she knows me so damned well.

“I hadn’t planned on finishing inside you.”

Her face screws up in thought. She even cocks her head to the side, lifting her eyes.

“I’m talking about my seed, Maya. I hadn’t planned on putting my seed inside you where it could take root.”

She gasps, sitting up. Maya covers her mouth, looking at me with big eyes. “I hadn’t thought of that. It didn’t so much as cross my mind. What are we going to do?” She touches her belly, and I am hit with such longing it floors me. Longing to keep her. Longing to keep putting my seed inside her until she swells with my child. I shake it off. It is not our path.

Sometime in my future, perhaps, and then more than likely with a fae female from an upstanding household. I don’t want to think about it right now.

“I should not have finished inside you, but all will be well, I swear it.” I take her hand.

“It will? How? I have not been drinking the cassiara tea. There was no need.”

I frame her face in my hands. “Cassiara root is abundant in these woods, as are yarrow leaves.”

“I’ve never heard of yarrow.” She looks skeptical.

“Yarrow will keep life from quickening in your belly. It is particularly powerful when blended with cassiara root. You will need to drink a strong brew twice a day for the next week.”

“How do you know all of this?”

“My mother, may she rest in peace, used to drill it into me daily. I think she thought that I was like most nobles, spreading my seed far and wide.”

“You weren’t, though.” Her voice is timid.

I shake my head. “I have not had many lovers, Maya. I have never finished inside a woman before.”

“So this was a night of firsts, then.”

“Yes, it was.” I kiss her softly, cupping her chin. “We need to get some rest.”

“You said you were taking the first watch.”

“I’m staying right here with you,” I tell her.

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