Page 40 of The Longing

“But you’re not alone now. The queen gave you a gift without knowing what she gifted,” I respond, my teeth chattering.

It feels like a vacuum opening up, and although there is still a wing over me, instead of a Wyrm, there is Fenrother, water running down his face, his head cocked on one side as he studies me.

But not like a science experiment. Like he wants to know who I am. Who this creature is which has been dropped into his life, upsetting everything he knows.

“A gift?” he queries. “What is a gift?”

My heart squeezes against my ribcage, as if it wants to leave my body. It hurts with the power of a thousand suns.

“You don’t know?”

Fenrother shakes his head.

“It’s something given from one to another. Mostly because they like the person, even love them. But sometimes it’s because they think the gift will cause a problem.”

“What sort of problem?”

“An inconvenience.”

“You are not an inconvenience, Alice.” Fenrother runs a large, scaly knuckle down the side of my face.

“I’m not? I’m pretty sure you think I am.”

“I didn’t know what you were, but I do now.”

“You do?”

“You are a gift. One which shines bright in the darkness.”

ALICE

I’m not sure I’m ever going to get warm as I shiver under the bedclothes. Fenrother might have followed me into the castle, but he didn’t hang around, doing one of his impressive disappearing acts as we reach the long gallery.

I just want to get warm, but even with a fire burning merrily in the hearth and a bed heaped with blankets, it’s not working for me. I’m shaking so hard I think I might rattle my teeth loose. What a stupid idea it was to go out in the rain, even if it has reminded Fenrother we are in this whole thing together.

For a beast who has no idea what together is, I hope the pneumonia I’m about to catch will be worth it in the end. Or I’ll get killed by a vengeful Faerie queen, whichever comes first.

A warm, hard body slides into the bed next to mine. Perhaps I should think about it first, but all I want is warmth, and without thinking about it, I flip over and wrap around Fenrother like ivy.

I expect him to tense, possibly even push me away. After all, I must be like an ice block and he’s a sort of reptile. If reptiles are warm-blooded and irritating. But Fenrother doesn’t tense, and he doesn’t push me away.

“You are cold, little mate,” he rumbles.

“You got it in one,” I respond because it’s all I can get past my chattering teeth.

Yes, in a move which surprises no one, Fenrother is quite clearly entirely naked. My body does not care in the slightest. It wants heat, it needs heat, and if that means cuddling up to a nude Wyrm, then so be it. It’s not like either of us have much to hide anymore.

Although, in his current form, Fenrother’s cock will not be hidden. It will be very much front and centre. The shiver I have this time is not to do with being chilled to the bone. It’s a very different reason entirely.

“You have a scent like the stars,” he says, his chin on the top of my head and one arm wrapped around me.

“Stars have a scent?”

“Everything has a scent.”

“Everything?”

“Everything. But yours is the best.”

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