Page 196 of Taken By the Fae

I kiss the corner of his mouth and kick off my heels. “That’s good.” I pat his chest. “Because you just signed up for a lifetime of this.”

He smiles as he catches my hand and draws me closer, his breath warm against my cheek. “A lifetime will never be enough. I’ll never have enough time with you.”

“I know,” I murmur. “Let’s just start with right now.” My fingers trail across his cheek, running along the stubble shadowing his jaw.

“Right now,” he agrees.

* * *

We spend the next three days locked away in the penthouse. We barely leave the bedroom, unless we’re eating or showering, and even then, we spend most of that time attached to each other. Our friends don’t contact us. Everyone knows we’re here, but they’re giving us time to enjoy being together.

Finally leaving the suite, we stop by the bookstore—mybookstore—where we sit inside and plan an official launch. Excitement floods through me. I’m opening my bookstore.

“There’s something else,” I say after we’ve finished the business discussion.

“I’m listening.”

“All of your stuff is at the hotel and most of my stuff is still at the dorm. We’re already living together, but we still have our separate spaces.”

“Tell me what you want, Rory.”

“I want a place that’s just ours. Not yours or mine. I want us to live away from the hotel and the apartment. Hell, I want us to get a house outside of the city with a porch and bay window with a reading nook and a pond in the backyard.” I take a second to catch my breath. “Is that too much?”

He chuckles, brushing the hair away from my face and tucking it behind my ear. “That sounds perfect.”

“Perfect,” I echo with a sigh. “It can’t be, not until we’re safe from the Experiment. If they used Carter, what’s to say they won’t try to come after us to showcase theirsuccess stories?”

He frowns. “We’ll find a way to keep them out of our lives. I promise.”

We head to The Iron Lounge for lunch after Allison texts me, asking us to meet her there, and when we pull into the parking lot, I’m surprised to find it empty. We walk inside and find our friends—save for Oliver—eating and chatting at the bar.

“Where is everyone?” I ask as Tristan and I join them.

Nikolai takes a drink of his beer. “We closed the pub for the afternoon.”

“Why?”

Allison licks her fingers and tosses a napkin onto the empty plate in front of her before she spins around to face us. “Because we need to talk to you about something.”

“I guess the honeymoon’s over,” Tristan comments, and my pulse ticks faster.

“It doesn’t have to be,” Skylar says, sliding off her stool. “You have taken care of your people for as long as I can remember, Tristan. It’s time you letustake care ofyou.”

“What are you talking about?” I ask, the tension of this conversation already making my temple fill with uncomfortable pressure.

Nikolai moves to stand next to Skylar and hands me a large manila envelope. “Just hear us out, please.”

My brows tug together as I open it and pull out the contents—passports and driver's licenses. “Nikolai…”

“Almost a week ago, the two of you started your life together. It’s time youreallygot to start that life.”

I flip open one passport and see my face, but it isn’t my name. I open the other and see Tristan’s photo, but again a different name. “Very confused here,” I say, glancing up from the passports to look at our friends.

Tristan puts his hand on my shoulder. “They want us to start over.”

My eyes widen. “Start over,how?” There’s an edge to my voice.

Allison answers, “We’d give you new identities and put a block on your memories of the fae world and all that entails. It’ll give you a real chance at a happyhumanlife together.”

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