Page 28 of Touched

The look on her face, coupled with the uneasy tension that suddenly fills the room, tells me I’ve struck a nerve with her this time. The air seems to thicken around me as I move to step away from her, and the tight grip she has on my shoulder. Her eyes lock on me, glowing purple with intensity.

Her lips tighten as she grits out through her teeth, “Thatis theexactreason you shouldn’t be around him. Don’t you know that humans are dangerous?”

Why the hells does everyone keep telling me this?

I know I should just bite my tongue and walk away, but nope, not me. No matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to keep my mouth shut. A sudden need to defend his honor, in this exact moment, overcomes me. Something deep down inside tells me this is important.

He is important.

My soul is telling me he is the man I am meant to spend the rest of my life with. He is my Kindred.

My Kindred…

The rest of my life…

How am I so certain?

I don’t know.

But I am. I know he is my mate.

I feel it.

Pushing those thoughts to the back of my mind, I turn, wanting to walk away. Ma doesn’t release me.

I quip, “Well, you’re wrong. Because, heisn’tone hundred percent human, Ma. He’s magickal. Like us. He is.” She goes completely silent as a look of unease colors her face. Her grip on my forearm slackens. I take it as my cue to leave the room. Saying no more, I turn. Her hand falls away. Flicking my hand to open the door to my room, I quickly cross the distance. Once inside, I wiggle my fingers again, causing another gust of wind to close the door behind me. Glancing over, I see the book I was reading earlier still lying on the toad-stool-shaped table next to my bed.

Sylphs: Protectors of Virgins.

I pick it up, pressing the worn pages against my chest as certain amorous thoughts come rushing back to me. My face flushes as erotic images fill my head.

I may be a virgin, but even a fairy has needs… It’s very unlike Fae to be my age and still be completely untouched.

Callum has Sylph blood. He can protect me, all right…

But maybe he should really be protected…fromme.

Lying back on my bed, I feel the heat building in my core as thoughts of him come rushing to the forefront of my mind. I easily picture Callum as the main character in my romance novels and replace the females with a vision of myself. My breathing gets ragged as my pulse quickens. Callum’s mesmerizing eyes, the exact color of the sky on a summer day, devour me. They’re breathtaking. The thought of his thick, muscled arms wrapping around me sends waves of unexpected, yet enticing pleasure throughout my body. An overwhelming urge to give him every part of me almost consumes me. Everything in me wants to give everything to him.

Shaking my head to try to regain some sense of control, I sigh and breathe deeply, laying the book beside me on the bed. I’ll read more of that later.

Right now, my body is literally burning with need. Need I don’t have firsthand knowledge of. Yet, somehow understand clearly enough. I have to find a way out of here. A way to get back to him. Otherwise, I’m going to drive myself insane… thinking about him. Wanting him. Needing him.

What the hells is happening to me?

I know it’s wrong.

But is it?

I’m so drawn to him… maybe there’s something about it being wrong that I like?

I crave it. I crave him.

Why, though?

It goes against everything in the entirety of our Fae kingdom. This has been drilled into me since birth.

We are never to be seen by humans. And heaven forbid we make any sort of contact with them.

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