Page 49 of Taken By the Fae

I hold his gaze, standing so close I can count his eyelashes. The pressure in my chest eases, and my throat isn’t so tight I can’t breathe. My grip on the blanket loosens as I exhale again, and my pulse returns to a normal pace.

His eyes flick back and forth across my face. “Okay?”

I swallow the lump in my throat. “Yeah,” I say, placing my hand over where his still rests on my shoulder. “Um, thanks.”

His lips curl into the most genuine smile I’ve seen from him when he lets his hand fall back to his side. “How are you feeling now? Are you up for a late dinner?” He glances at his watch. “Or early breakfast, I suppose, considering it’s almost five.”

“That depends. You said a minute ago I’m not fae, so human energy or emotions or whatever isn’t my kind of breakfast.”

“Noted. Though you seem to enjoy being able to sense mine.” His gaze holds a flicker of humor. “We can have whatever you’d like. I only feed enough to keep me alive—once a week is plenty. That’s to say, I eat human food.”

I catch my lower lip between my teeth. “You never talk about it.”

“About what?”

“Being fae. Sure, you’ve told me a bit about your world.” Allison has told me most things… “But nothing really specific toyou.”

His forehead creases, and I get a faint sense of shock and maybe even a little confusion from him. “I wasn’t aware you wanted to hear about it.”

There’s a subtle shift in my pulse as something flutters in my chest. “I’m saying youcantalk about it. It won’t freak me out.” Yep. I definitely need to stop talking.

“No? We’re past that?” His eyes lighten as pleasant surprise flares through our new bond in the form of a tingle along the back of my neck. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Okay, then.”

He tilts his head, keeping those deep ocean blue eyes on me. “You’re quite the human.”

There goes my pulse again. “Did youjustmeet me?”

He chuckles. “It feels like I’ve known you much longer.”

That brings an unexpected smile to my lips. “Yeah, I guess you’re not so terrible yourself.”

“All right, smart mouth. Let’s see what we can find in the kitchen.”

I drape the blanket over a chair and follow him out of the office.

* * *

It’s been almost a week since one of the unseelie fae tried to kill me and Tristan saved my life, showing me a different side to the fae knight I’ve fought every day since to stop thinking about. I have no idea what to do, so I’ve decided to avoid it—and byit, I mean Tristan. As much as possible.

As the days pass, fewer of his emotions come through the bond. The ones that do are a mixture of worry, anger, and uncertainty, as if maybe he’s trying to figure something out. It’s rare he feels anything light or warm. Considering the constant pressure he’s under, it’s understandable. Despite that, I find myself wishing things were different for him.

As of yesterday, I can’t sense his emotions at all. Part of me is relieved, but hell, it was interesting knowing I had a leg up on at least one of his abilities for a handful of days.

Oh well. I’ll take being human over being able to read emotions any day. In the absence of his emotions, I still think about him way too much.

At the hotel, I almost hug Skylar when she tells me Tristan is out of the office all day. I don’t because I value my life, but the heavy sense of relief that pours over me is borderline embarrassing.

“Tristan wanted me to talk to you about the charity gala Westbrook Inc. hosts every year,” she says. “He’d like you on the event committee.”

Excitement bubbles through me. An event like this would look amazing on my resume.“Wow. I mean, this is awesome. I’d love to join.”

“Great.” She feigns enthusiasm. “You’ll be working mostly with me. Max is also on the committee, along with several other employees.”

I nod, trying to ignore the unease in my stomach. Since Max apologized for how he treated me when I was taken, I’m not as nervous to be in the same building as him, but it’s far easier to forgive than forget. “When do we start?”

“Now. It’s also going to take more than one day a week. Can you make that work?”

---