Page 47 of Taken By the Fae

“It’s okay.” He sets the needle aside and faces me. “You can sleep now. This will take some time to work through your system.” He helps me back into my shirt and pulls the blankets around me.

“You keep saving me,” I mumble.

He chuckles, but it holds no amusement.

“It’s annoying.” I take a couple of deep breaths. “I don’t want to need saving.”

“Get some rest,” he murmurs.

Closing my eyes, I curl onto my side to get comfortable. Sleep drags me under before I can feel weird about being in Tristan’s bed.

ChapterThirteen

When I open my eyes, it’s still dark outside. It takes more effort than usual for me to slide into a sitting position. My entire body aches as if I ran a marathon with no preparation, but the unbearable pain in my chest is gone. Everything else I can handle.

I scan the dark room as I swing my legs over the side of the bed and stand. After flicking on a lamp, I wander the perimeter of the room, never having had the chance outside of my dream to see what it looks like. I shouldn’t care, but I’m curious. Squinting, I wobble over to the bookshelves lining one wall. I run my finger along the spines and glance out the windows that cover the far wall, looking out over the city from a magnificent height. Everything is neat and simple. There’s nothing that expresses Tristan’s personality out in the open. A pang of sadness grows in my stomach. I wonder if he’s this closed-off with Max and Skylar. I hope not. Everyone needs people to share things with.

Once I’ve finished exploring, I grab the blanket off the bed. Wrapping it around myself, I slip out of the room. The black silk trails behind me like a train as I pad down the hallway in search of Tristan. I stop at the only other door in the hallway and poke my head inside to find him sitting behind a desk.

He glances up the moment I open the door and watches me walk into the room. “You should be sleeping,” he says in a hushed tone.

“I woke up.” I approach his desk. He changed out of his formal attire into a black T-shirt and slacks. I rub at my temples, wanting to close my eyes against the light beside him.

Tristan rises and walks around the desk, making me turn so I continue to face him. “Are you in pain?” The concern is so clear on his face, I’m shocked. It looks as though he cares.He does, a voice at the back of my mind sings.

I shrug. “A little. Nothing compared to earlier, though.”

He lifts his hand, and I step toward him. He cups the side of my face, and my skin tingles with a familiar warmth as the aching in my body melts away under his touch. My eyes travel over his face—his soft, focused eyes, his strong jaw and the stubble that shadows it, his lips… My gaze gets stuck there too long. I watch the corner of his mouth quirk, and I realize he’s no longer touching my cheek.

“How’s that?” His voice makes me shift my eyes upward.

Clearing my throat, I say, “Better, thanks.”

He nods, and the weirdest part is, I can feel the relief shimmer through him. It’s like being wrapped in a warm towel after swimming in cold water. He’s glad I’m okay. I don’t know how I know that, but—

…there could be side effects…

My hand flies to my mouth as my wide eyes meet Tristan’s vibrant, shock-filled gaze. He’s realized what just happened.

“Holy shit,” I breathe, my hand falling to my side.

He licks his lips. “I suppose this evens the playing field a bit,” he muses, his brows shifting closer together.

“I canfeelyou.”

He nods. “A gift from your fae ancestors, I’d guess. I wasn’t sure what my blood would do, but it seems to have stirred a bit of magic in you.”

“Magic? Hold the hell up. Am I fae now?” He looks as if he’s trying not to laugh, and I smack his arm. “I don’t know!”

“You are not fae, Aurora.”

I can still feel the light amusement coming from him, like a sunrise peeking through blinds. My eyes flicker across his face as his emotions become more subdued.

His eyes narrow a fraction. “I think that’s enough for now.”

I arch a brow. “Says the guy that’s been able to read my emotions since day one. Sucks to be on the other side, doesn’t it?” At least he can block his from my view. I’m not so lucky.

Tristan chuckles. “If you’d like to know what I’m feeling, I have no problem sharing that with you.”

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