Page 20 of Fairy's Forbidden Touch
He turned to look at me, and the expression on his face made my heart stutter—open, vulnerable, filled with something that looked dangerously like adoration.
“In all my research,” he said softly, “nothing prepared me for the reality of being with you.”
I reached out to trace the patterns on his chest, watching as they brightened under my touch. “The magic thing is pretty impressive,” I admitted. “Definitely beats regular human sex in terms of special effects.”
He smiled, catching my hand and bringing it to his lips. “It is not merely the magic. It is you. Specifically you.”
The weight of those words hung between us, full of implications neither of us seemed ready to voice. Instead, I moved closer, resting my head on his chest where I could feel the steady rhythm of his heart.
“How long can we stay here?” I asked.
“Time moves differently in this realm,” he explained, his fingers absently playing with my hair. “What feels like days here might be only a day in your world. We have time.”
“Good,” I murmured, already imagining the possibilities. “Because I definitely want to try that again. Maybe with me on top next time.”
The patterns beneath his skin brightened at the suggestion. “I would be amenable to that arrangement.”
I laughed at his formal phrasing, pressing a kiss to his chest. “You’re adorable when you talk like a prince even while discussing who tops.”
He made a sound of mock offense. “I am not ‘adorable.’ I am regal and imposing.”
“Regally adorable,” I insisted, propping myself up to look at him properly. “Imposingly cute.”
His response was to flip me onto my back with surprising strength, pinning my wrists above my head. “Perhaps I need to remind you of my authority,” he said, his voice dropping to that commanding tone that never failed to send heat through me.
“Yes, Your Highness,” I replied with deliberate insolence.
His eyes darkened predictably. “You enjoy provoking me.”
“It has excellent results,” I pointed out.
The patterns beneath his skin brightened again as he leaned down to capture my lips in a kiss that promised the night was far from over. As his cool body pressed against mine, I had the fleeting thought that of all my questionable life choices, this was turning out to be the best one by far.
Chapter 5: Breaking the Rules
Six weeks after first touching Thalen—six weeks of increasingly intimate “exploration” and one mind-blowing weekend in the fae realm—I was finally moving out of Maya’s couch and into my own apartment. It was tiny, barely more than a studio with a separate bedroom, but it was mine, paid for with my Moonlight Brews salary and surprisingly generous tips.
“You know,” Maya observed as she helped me carry the last box up the narrow stairs, “when you showed up at my door two months ago with your life in shambles, I didn’t expect this outcome.”
“What, me getting my own place? I told you I would.”
She gave me a knowing look. “I meant you dating fairy royalty and actually getting your act together. It’s like the opposite of your usual pattern.”
I couldn’t argue with that. My previous relationships had a tendency to drag me down rather than lift me up. Thalen, despite the inherent complications of dating someone from another realm who happened to be a crown prince, had somehow become a stabilizing force in my life.
“He’s different,” was all I said.
Maya’s expression softened. “I can see that. You’re different with him too. Less…” she waved her hand vaguely, “chaotic.”
Before I could respond, there was a knock at the door—a precise, measured knock that I immediately recognized.
“Speaking of your fairy prince,” Maya said with a grin.
I opened the door to find Thalen standing there, looking slightly out of place in the dingy hallway of my new building. He was dressed more casually than usual—by his standards, anyway—in tailored trousers and a simple silk shirt, his hair in a loose braid over one shoulder.
“Greetings,” he said formally, then seemed to catch himself, offering a more casual, “Hi.”
I couldn’t help smiling at his attempt at human informality. “Hey. Come in. It’s not much, but it’s mine.”
