Page 226 of Primal Bonds

And as for Fane fitting into hers? Yeah, right. She could just picture him living in a den in Baltimore. And what would Adric say? He might be more tolerant than Leron, but if his sister—and second—came back mated with a part-fae, it would cause trouble.

“Jani?” He set a finger under her chin and tipped up her face. What he saw there made him furrow his brow.

Then his face changed. His eyes crinkled and his lips curved. For once, she didn’t see a trace of wryness or irony in his expression.

Just wonder and heat.

He said her name again, low and rough. “Jani.”

Mate. That was the cougar.

Her heart lurched. “No,” she rasped and turned away.

Fane grabbed her upper arm. She stilled, and he wrapped his arms around her from behind. “When this is over, we're going to talk.”

“No.”

“Yes,” he returned, soft but firm. Warm lips traced the side of her neck. “Do you think I’ll let you go just like that? No fucking way.”

And here she’d thought he was laid-back. But it made her smile, deep inside, to know he wanted her so much. Even if it would never work.

She pushed at his arms and got her nape nipped in retaliation.

“I want your promise.” A growled demand.

She blew out a breath and gave in. Because really, what was she afraid of? Give the man a few days, and he’d see for himself how impossible this thing between them was.

“Fine.” She let her head rest against his shoulder. “I promise.”

“Good.” He kissed the spot he’d nipped. “And now, we’d better go before the king sends someone looking for us.” He urged her toward the door with a hand on her back.

She halted. Corban had lifted his head to watch them. She slipped out of Fane’s grip.

“Wait for me outside,” she told him. “I’ll be right there.”

“Leave him.” Fane’s gaze followed hers. “We don’t need any more trouble.”

“I can’t.”

“Then I’m staying right here.”

She recognized that tone. He wasn’t going to budge. Still, she tried one more time. “I don’t want you to see this.”

“Jani,” he said, very patiently. “I've seen a hundred turns of the sun. Where do you get the idea you have to protect me?”

She dragged a hand over her stubbled head. “Stay then,” she gritted, and crossed to her cousin.

Corban pushed himself up to stand on trembling legs, chest working like a bellows. Tiny sparks of light spread over his black fur, dim but visible, and then he changed to man. Somehow, he’d found the strength to shift.

He crouched on the floor of the cage, lungs heaving. He’d always seemed larger than life: a dominant, compelling man like his father. Now he was emaciated, his brown skin covered with sores, deep lines of pain scored on his face.

She felt an unexpected wave of sorrow. If only she could call Adric—let him handle this. But her smartphone didn’t work inside the castle, and besides, he was three thousand miles away in Maryland.

She set her jaw. “Tell me what happened to Luc. Why is he with that fae bitch?”

Corban lifted his head, and she braced herself for a sneering comment about how she’d managed to get herself captured not once, but twice.

When he said, “I’m ready,” it took her a few beats to understand.

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