Page 59 of Touched

“He thought… well, what he thought is irrelevant, but his rage was so intense, so severe at my suitor, that he caused a hurricane.”

“I did. In February… I lost control at the fact that someone hurt your mother,” Da adds, blushing slightly. “It’s one of the reasons I try so hard to always maintain control now. Thankfully, it hit an area that wasn’t very populated, so there was no loss of life. But… it taught me a valuable lesson.” He stares at me again.

“Da, we Zinged,” I blurt out, unable to handle keeping the information to myself any longer. Cyrus’s eyes nearly bug out of his head, while Ma lets out a small cry as her hands fly to her throat.

His hands still and everything is suddenly deathly quiet. “You Zinged,” he slowly says, repeating my words back to me as his eyes, the same golden color as mine, stare back intently, looking for the validity of my words. “YouZinged. Hells bells, Aeris. How did you Zing when you were right here, in Laricwhere you belong?”he bellows, wind whipping around the room again as his anger rages back.

My eyes widen as I implore him to listen, though my chin angles, strength and determination fill me. My back straightens as I say, “I had to see him again, Da. I don’t know if I can explain it correctly, but I’ll try. Last night, I could tell he was in danger, so I left Laric and flew to him. Even not knowing where he was exactly, I was led to him just in time to save him from the Rougarou.”

Ma quietly whimpers as Da opens and closes his mouth without saying another word.

He’s speechless. Da is actually speechless.

Cyrus sits, taking in the entire scene, his jaw agape.

And I wait to see what’s going to happen now.

Islam the book closed with a humorless laugh.

Fuck!

“Unbelievable,” I mutter under my breath.

“What’s unbelievable?”

I jump at the gravelly, nerve-grating laugh that accompanies Trevor’s query. Setting the book on the side table near my chair, I reply, “A Sylph’s duty of protecting a Fae has nothing to do with sex!”

“Good thing, lad. You already failed to protect that version of virginity.”

My jaw clenches, teeth grinding as Trevor’s laughter fills the room, bouncing off the cabin walls. I shoot him a glare, but he remains blissfully ignorant. Still, as much as I hate to admit it, he's not wrong. My eyes drift shut, a slow smile unfurling across my lips.

What an exquisite “failure” it was!

“Oww!” I yowl, glaring down at the rotund, solid, little nuisance who just stomped on my foot.

Is he actually made of stone? Son of a bitch.

He probably broke my damn foot.

“How far did you get in the book?” Trevor asks, apparently not for the first time.

Sitting forward in the chair, I rub the top of my foot as I glare at Trevor. My eyes dart to the leather-bound book. “Not far. A few chapters. Like five,” I reluctantly admit. I started out strong, pursuing line after line as my eyes scanned the history of the Sylphs, their purpose, and duty to the Fae when I found a passage that threw me off: The passage titledProtecting Emotional Purity and Magickal Essence. Apparently, Sylphs protect the ‘virginity’ of a fairy’s emotional state and their magickal essence to ensure their power remains strong and pure as they do whatever they do in the world.

As I reread the words on the worn page, I realized I’m not just her Kindred, her lover. My desires for little fairy stir as more images of our time together flood into my mind. I tamp them down.

Enough. Now is not the time.

I’m also her protector, her sentinel.

She is going to love that!

I’m failing there, too, since she’s the one who’s fucking saved me!

Twice!

A dark scowl crosses my features at this realization. I glance down just in time to see Trevor lifting his foot. Bending down, I point my forefinger in his face. “Stomp on my foot again, little dude, and you’ll be a fucking gray splatter on that fucking wall.”

I’m not sure that’s even possible, but if he injures me again, I’m going to damn sure try it!

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