Page 60 of Taken By the Fae

“If only you were in a hotel full of beds,” he says with a wry grin.

“You are insufferable.”

“Thank you,” he replies arrogantly, his gaze dropping to my lips.

I’m leaning in before I can stop myself. His breath tickles my flushed cheeks, and his pupils dilate. The corner of his mouth kicks up, and everything in me tenses. I reel back a step, unable to drag in a breath. My head spins as I turn away from him and walk to the door, yanking it open.

“When you’re ready to admit what you want,” he calls after me in that deep voice I feel all over, “you know where I am.”

I pause for half a second at the door, and then I hurry out of the room, grabbing my things before leaving the building.

* * *

I stay in bed for over an hour after I wake up. It’s Saturday; I have no assignments due right away—no responsibilities I need to rush out of bed for. I pull my computer onto my lap and answer a few school emails, then scroll aimlessly online. When I’ve wasted as much time in bed as I can stand, I throw the sheets off and shuffle into the bathroom.

After a shower, I towel dry my hair and wrap another around my body, my fingers and toes pruned and my skin radiating heat. I’m humming as I open the bathroom door to grab some clothes from my dresser, and I stop dead when I find Tristan and Allison standing in our room.

I stand there, staring at them both, and grip the towel tighter around me. Looking between them, I ask, “Do I even want to know?”

Tristan looks as if he’s about to pounce on me. The dark, intense focus in his eyes makes my heart pound and the heat between my thighs pulse.

When you’re ready to admit what you want…

“Hey, Ro. Sorry I wasn't here when Evan stopped by the other day.” Her voice is low, almost timid. We’ve basically been on opposite schedules since it happened, so this is the first I’m seeing her.

I force my eyes to shift over to Allison, noting the unease in her posture and the anxious glint in her eyes, then shrug. “It’s fine. He did nothing besides scare the shit out of me, and that wasn’t really his fault, anyway. Just the result of some major distrust in the unseelie fae, thanks to our good friend, Danielle.” My tone is dry, but saying her name sends an uncomfortable shiver through me.

She sighs and keeps her eyes on me, as if she’s too scared to look at Tristan. “Look, I know no one trusts him, butIdo.”

Tristan chuckles, but his jaw is hard.

“Like you’ve never wanted something you shouldn’t?” Allison snaps. “Something your people don’t agree with?” Her cheeks flush and her eyes widen, knowing she said something she shouldn’t have.

Tristan glances my way, and I shake my head. He turns back to Allison and says in a low voice, “Perhaps you should take a walk. My patience is running thin, and you do not want to be on the other side of that.”

Without another word, Allison grabs her bag off the end of her bed and hurries out of our room, leaving me standing before Tristan in nothing but a towel.

ChapterSixteen

Tristan is sitting on the end of my bed when I return from frantically tugging on a pair of joggers and a hoodie in the bathroom. I comb my fingers through my damp hair, and he watches me without a word. I’m not sure why he’s still here and I can’t seem to form the words to ask, but he isn’t leaving.

I walk around the small room in quick, unmeasured strides, tidying things here and there.

“You’re pacing,” Tristan observes in a calm voice.

I ignore him, busying myself in case that might keep me from having to talk to the fae knight still sitting on my bed, especially after the way we left things last night. I suppose I should be grateful he didn’t go after Allison when she snapped at him, clearly defying his rank—and fae law.

Tristan catches my wrist as I pass him and holds it in a gentle grip, stopping me from whizzing around. “Aurora, come sit for a minute. You’re going to make yourself nauseous if you continue spinning out.”

I peer down at his fingers wrapped around my wrist, where my pulse is humming with the energy of being so close to him. “She’s not going to stop seeing him, no matter what you say. She could get hurt, and there’s not a damn thing I can do.”

Tristan lets go of my wrist and slips his fingers through mine, lighting my skin up; I half expect to see neon veins running the length of my arm when I glance down to where our skin touches. “This isn’t your fight, and she is not your responsibility.”

I deflate, sinking onto the bed next to him. “She’s my best friend. The fae courts are at war, and I have no idea what’s going to happen. It seems like she’s not concerned about the consequences of her relationship, and we’re not talking about a slap on the wrist here.” I shake my head. “I don’t… Why would she risk being cast out, orworse,for one person?”

“You’d be surprised what some people would do for one person.”

My pulse ticks faster, and I pull my hand free from his. “Are you going to turn her over to the court?”

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