Page 22 of Forgiving a Fae Warrior

Sylvie pursed her lips and looked away. “Honestly, how did you not figure it out? All this time—”

The beginning of a laugh caught in his throat. “I’ve loved you for years too, Sylvie.” Saying it now was so easy, so right.

Her head snapped back in his direction.

A sheepish smile touched his lips at her wide-eyed look. “Possibly longer than you’ve loved me. But I was afraid of losing you. If I confessed and you didn’t feel the same, it might have ruined things between us, and I couldn’t risk that. I’d have rather have had you as just my friend forever than lose you completely. And once I did lose you, when there was a chance I might never see you again, or you wouldn’t want to see me after what I’d done, I realized how much of a fool I’d been. I should have told you years ago; consequences be damned. I…” His throat closed up as he regarded her, the softening of her features, the slight wobble to her lips. “I robbed us of the years we might have had, and now it’s too late. I’m a traitor to not one but two courts. An outcast. I have nothing to offer you, and I can’t let you throw away your life for me.”

She deserved better. It might kill him to send her away, but she couldn’t stay with him, not as he was. She had a life in the Forest. Friends, family, a respected position. It was her home and where she belonged, to say nothing of her magic and how the renewed vibrance of the Court would help it flourish, enhancing her powers and extending her life beyond what she might have in the Shadowlands. Here, her magic would slowly drain away until it was a husk of itself like the dying land. She would exist—for a time, but existence cut off from the Seelie Courts was unpleasant and so much shorter than it might otherwise be.

“You still don’t get it.” She wiped at her eyes. “That loss you felt? I feel it too. Everyday. I’d rather be banished with you than suffer a life of emptiness.”

No. No!His inner voice screamed through his mind.He shook his head. That was the opposite of what he wanted.

She seemed to catch the wild look in his eyes and leaned toward him with her palms on the ground, so near to him that her arms brushed his legs and her scent swarmed him.

“When have I ever not gone after something I wanted?” she asked.

Never.She’d always put her full heart into everything. The top of their training class. The first to get promoted. It frustrated him to no end at first, until one day, it didn’t. The competitiveness he felt toward her shifted into something like admiration. Why be her rival when they could be allies? Why struggle against one another when they could combine forces and put everyone else to shame? And so, a tentative alliance had formed, then a friendship, and then… He wasn’t quite sure the moment it happened, but soon, he couldn’t imagine life without her at his side.

Her head tilted to the side, her braid falling forward, the end of it teasing him through his clothes. “You really think I’ll back down now when I know you want me too?” Her voice was hoarse and breathy. An enhancing verdant glow spilled from her eyes, showing all the emotion coursing through her.

But she wasn’t the only one who glowed with strong emotion in that moment, his aqua light met hers in the narrow space between them, and something in Galen snapped.

He lurched onto his knees, lingering pain be damned, and cupped her face in his hands. Sylvie gasped as he drew her close, until their noses touched and barely any space remained between their lips as they shared the same breath.

“No,” he said at last, the roughness of his voice surprising him. “I don’t think you will. And when have I not cleaved to what you wanted?”

“Right now,” she whispered.

“Don’t you know I’d give you anything?” And then his lips were on hers again, as fierce and hungry as before.

But where before she’d pulled away, this time, Sylvie groaned against him, leaning into the kiss and meeting him with such passion it made his head swim. She rose on her knees to meet him. Their chests pressed tightly together as her arms round around his neck, and her fingers slipped through his hair to pull him closer. Tentatively, Galen teased her lips with his tongue, only to be met with strength and enthusiasm that nearly knocked him senseless. He didn’t think then, couldn’t, as he took all that she had to give and met her as an equal match. It’s messy, feverish, overeager—too many desires pent up for too long spilling out in one single kiss.

Chapter 12

Atsomepoint,theyended up on the floor, Sylvie underneath him, her strong thighs wrapping around Galen’s hips and tugging him closer until he was helpless but to buck against her warmth, eager to be closer, to feel her skin against his, and claim a priceless treasure he thought long gone. Sylvie’s leg slid down his. Her booted foot grazed the wicked wound on his calf.

Galen hissed in pain, jerking his head up from hers. Leigh’s magic had closed his wounds, but they were still inflamed and tender, waiting for time to heal what magic had not finished.

“Your wound,” Sylvie gasped. She all but scurried away from him, sliding back along the ground. “I’m so sorry. I should have been more careful.”

“It’s okay,” he gritted out, aching from both the injury and the loss of her. Galen reached for Sylvie. “Please. Don’t pull away. Don’t stop,” he all but begged. “Not now.”

“But you’re…” Her gaze drifted to his leg, then settled slightly higher. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of the evidence of his arousal straining against his pants. Her pink tongue slipped out to coast over her lips.

“We could try again without those boots.” His gaze raked her in return, her heavy breaths, her flushed cheeks, and the tangled mess he’d already made of her hair. “Or the rest of it,” he added before he could lose his nerve.

Galen didn’t wait for her reply before reaching for his shirt and hauling it over his head. He unlaced his boots with a fury before kicking them off and standing once more to work at his pants. The entire time, he was acutely aware of Sylvie’s eyes glued to him and the deepening of the flush on her cheeks as he worked loose his belt, then the laces, and finally pushed the fabric free, taking his underthings with it. The glow of her eyes flared as his manhood sprung free, flush and ready.

He swallowed the tightness in his throat as he waited for her to speak, to move, to do anything but stare at him in hungry silence like a predator waiting to pounce. He’d gladly be her prey. Galen rolled his shoulders back, refusing to hide himself from her in even the smallest way. The time for modesty, for hiding his desires, was long gone. Let her drink her fill and take her time. The way she looked at him alone was worth it, stirring desire deep in his abdomen that had his cock twitching in eagerness, a bead of precum already leaking from the tip.

She licked her lips again before snapping into a flurry of movement, pulling at the ties and bindings on her armor and shucking it faster than he could have believed possible. Each piece gone was a reward, from her bare feet wiggling on the stone floor to the toned muscle of her bare arms.

Galen’s abdomen clenched when she finally pulled off the top portion of her underthings, revealing the pert, dusky nipples on her perfect, small breasts. Sylvie bit her lip and hastened to remove her bottoms. She hadn’t quite looked at him the entire time—too focused on her task or from some other emotion, he couldn’t say.

He groaned as the last of her clothing slipped free, revealing the thatch of fine blond hair between her legs. Galen palmed his length without thinking. His cock jerked against his hand, yearning for her touch, wondering how she would finally feel wrapped around him.

A deep flush stole across Sylvie’s cheeks as she kicked away the last of her clothes and glanced up at him under her eyelashes. Hastily, she tugged her braid over one shoulder, letting it conceal much of one breast before covering her most intimate part with one hand. Her throat bobbed as she watched him in silence, not quite meeting him full-on.

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