Page 86 of Cursed Shadows 2

“What’s it like for them? The humans? Can they take more than one husband?”

Offence curls his upper lip. “Human wives, litalves, halflings, even hybrids—they are not afforded the same rights as our females. If one was to be a wife of a dark fae male, absolute fidelity is expected.” Something stirs in his eyes, darkening them. “The crime of infidelity is… fatal.”

I narrow my eyes on his hard stare. “But their husbands?”

“Always faithful. Hence marriage is not often sought out among our kind—the males at least,” he adds with a crack in his hard mask, a small smirk. “We live long lives, a thousand years for some, and with one female? Many might think that tedious.”

I suck my teeth once, a sharp and annoyed gesture. “But if you love the female?”

Why I entertain my jealousies is a mystery to me. A future with Daxeel isn’t in my fate. Yet I torment myself all the same.

He finishes off the bottle. Mine is only halfway done. “Love is eternal—so yes, marriage would occur.”

For a beat, I just nod and look over at the tower roofs again. Eamon and Fern are nowhere in sight now, so I suspect they are rolling around the roof together, hidden by the short walls lining it.

Bringing the bottle to my lips, I chug back the rest of the wine.

Daxeel watches my every swallow wave down my throat.

I need to down it all before I scrape up the nerve. And when the bottle is empty and I place it beside Daxeel’s, it’s a fight to bring myself to look at him.

All I can manage is a flickering look from beneath my lashes as I whisper the words that flush my cheeks, “And would you marry? Say, marry a halfling?”

If his eyes are windows into the deepest, darkest blues of the ocean, then I am throwing over a line and fishing.

“Why wouldn’t I?” He watches me closely. “I have no bother about little hybrid offspring.”

My look is a frown tugging down my mouth. “I don’t fancy birthing children.”

I know I have to. It’s my purpose, but I loathe the idea of pregnancy, the birth, of younglings running around—a responsibility outside of myself. I don’t want any of it.

That smirk returns, a ghost over his lips, and he studies me closely. “It’s more than that,” he says, firm. “You don’t want to share the love.”

I bite the inside of my cheek.

Still watching me, reading me,learningme, he adds, “You were raised the youngest, but not as a warrior like your sister. You were the darling—you still are.”

The growing smile gives me away.

He moves for me, slowly. “You want to be the only one.” I’m guided onto my back as he leans over me. “The darling.”

He mocks me, but all I can answer with is a small laugh.

I don’t argue it. I’m not ashamed.

Especially since Daxeel’s smile spreads into a lazy grin as he brings his lips to mine.

“Could you live without this,darling?” he breathes the words over my mouth. “Live in a land where the light is the path, the fruit, the flowers and the trees, the grass and the stone—could you find your sun in the dark?”

He doesn’t propose, he doesn’t speak of marriage, but my heart flips all the same. Flutters ignite in my writhing belly. The sensation is enough to curl my toes.

“Yes,” I whisper my answer and his kiss comes hard andhungry.

I live in a fantasy with him, because he still doesn’t offer me anything real. No marriage, no protection, no escape.

Soon, he will leave—and I will weep every night for him.

But not tonight.

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