Page 27 of Bargains with Benefits
I let out a breath. He wasn’t being cruel. He didn’t know. Every half-fae had a different hold on their magic. I wasn’t even sure how many he’d met. I studied his reaction as I spoke the words—the words that meant I had little value, especially to those of old fae families. “I don’t have magic.”
His brow furrowed slightly, but he was quick to smooth itout. “My apologies, Luna. I never would have asked if I’d known.”
I dipped my chin. “It’s fine. We should turn around.”
His wind surrounded me before I finished the sentence. It blew through my hair, and I could feel it circling my body beneath my jacket, slipping against the exposed skin of my back. I shivered, giving him a look.
He flushed as he pulled it back. “I must apologize again,” he started. Then, with another heavy dose of hesitation, he said, “I could get us across, if you’d like.”
His wind seemed so different from him. Reasonably, though, I knew it was him, and the fact that it was so eager to be near me was a little intoxicating.
I ignored his question and replied, “I think your wind likes me.”
He sighed, rubbing his hand across his forehead. “You have no idea,” I thought I heard him mumble under his breath. He turned, taking my segue as refusal, and walked back along the beach where we’d been.
“I thought you were going to get us across,” I called. This was such a bad idea, but he’d looked so hesitant in his offer, and I liked the way his wind made me feel. He didn’t seem like he got a lot of opportunities to use it for fun. Ferrying us over the sea was practical, but it was also unnecessary, and I felt a deep desire to encourage any unnecessary usage of his magic.
He paused his steps, turning to evaluate my sincerity.
“That sounds frivolous enough for me to approve,” I said, pulling out my brightest smile. Now that I’d decided to do it, I couldn’t wait to feel his wind lifting me and gliding me around the rock face jutting into the sea. It would require me to be airborne for more than a few moments. I knew he was old fae, and I knew his wind was strong from how it whipped around me when freed, but was he capable of this?
He tilted his head like he wasn’t sure he’d heard me rightand returned to my side where the beach ended. “You think gliding around the cliff on the wind is wasteful?”
“That’s not what I said, Vincent. I said it was frivolous. Fun. Something you should lean into while you can. From how your wind slips free, I don’t imagine it gets many chances to...play.”
His lip tilted into a half smile. It was adorable, and I needed to think about anything other than how charming he looked. His wind-tousled hair was next on the list of things for me not to focus on. “Where do you want me?” I asked.
“I should go around the corner first to see where I’m taking you.” His brow furrowed like he was now unsure of the offer.
I wanted to giggle as we approached the jagged edge of the cliff face where the beach abruptly ended. His features flipped between determination and indecision with each step. Finally, Vincent gave me another crooked smile and did the last thing I expected. He took a running jump, his long brown coat billowing behind him as he fell onto a gust of wind that sailed him around the edge toward Cliff House beach.
My smile vanished when I realized I was alone. I hadn’t considered it when he’d offered to go first. My gaze was drawn to the precise location a few feet into the water where Darius had pulled me from the waves.
I needed to get out of here.
With nothing left to distract me, my body shook with nerves as memories of that night poured in. Water swept me away from Mom. The current pulled me under and pushed me down to the bottom of the sea. Darius’s strong arms, solid and warm, lifted me from the eye of the storm to safety. I’d been ashamed of how I clung to him, even as a child. When I thought about it now, all I could imagine was what a fool he must have thought me—half water fae, about to drown.
“Ready?” Vincent’s voice was soft on the wind, his words slipping straight to my ear like a lover whispering at my shoulder. I shivered. The image of him standing so close brokethrough the haze of memories. I’d never felt wind magic do this. It was like he was right beside me. I nodded reflexively as I collected myself. Too late, I realized he probably couldn’t see that.
I pushed more energy into my voice than I felt. “Ready!” I called.
“Run and jump. I’ll catch you.” His low voice was at my ear again, sending a confusing sensation down my spine. I needed to relax.
Run and jump?I should have known it would require something. It suddenly occurred to me precisely how much trust I was putting in Vincent Andiveron and his magic. My gaze raked the water. The cove was calm. This wasn’t the unexpected change of tides from memory. At worst, I’d get a little wet, but a part of me wanted to believe that Vincent wouldn’t let me fall.
At the thought, his wind was there, swirling and seducing. Tempting me to jump. Briefly, I wondered how long it’d be before I learned a hard lesson about the nature of fae. For now, I ignored the deluge of uncertainty.
I ran and jumped.
13
Vincent
Did she truly agree to this?I paced Cliff House Inn’s private beach. My wind wrapped around her before I heard her response. Was she hesitating? I paused. Maybe I should call it off. I shook my head and continued pacing. My wind was too eager to prove it could do this. I wouldn’t call it off unless she explicitly asked. Never mind that I wasn’t sure I’d ever done anything like this with my wind. For whatever reason, that wasn’t my worry. I was confident I was capable.
Then I heard it. Her words weren’t a whisper on the wind but a shock to my senses.
“Ready!”
