Page 7 of The Dark Fae Princess
Intrigued why he doesn’t want me to see that one, I step closer to examine the one he wants me to see.
I’m staggered by its beauty. “Wow,” I exclaim, my hand over my heart. “That is spectacular.”
He looks away, embarrassed, but I can see the pleased smile touching his lips.
I lean down to look even closer. It is of the massive stone archway that leads into the palace grounds from the path to the village. Set against a purple sky, which here signifies dusk, with the ravens flying overhead and sparks of lightning flashing in the sky.
“I absolutely love it.”
“It’s yours,” he says hurriedly. “If…you…want it,” he adds quietly.
I turn to look at him, astonished by his sudden nervousness. That’s my thing. Not his. He is a confident, Alpha male that runs his army like clockwork and protects me with a fierceness that I adore. In quiet, obviously. I prefer for everyone to think I can kick their asses into the middle of the Light Fae lands.
“You’d give this to me?” I ask, standing upright and turning to face him.
He nods.
“Then, I accept. I will hang it over my bed.”
His eyes go slightly wide at the mention of my bed and I clear my throat, wishing the earth to swallow me up.
To divert, I bend down and pull the cloth off the canvas he placed on the floor. “What’s this of?” I ask too loudly.
“No!” he yells and takes a giant step forward to grab the cloth from me. He quickly chucks it back over the painting, but not before I catch a glimpse of it.
It’s of me.
“Oh,” I whisper.
“It’s not…”
“Let me see,” I murmur and drag the cloth back to expose a beautiful picture of me, a raven perched on my arm, a serene smile on my face.
I blink and look back up at him. “Why didn’t you want me to see this?” I ask, keeping my voice low.
“It’s…it’s for me,” he states, almost coldly and picks it up to move it across the room, placing it gently on the bed and replacing the cloth.
“But it’s of me,” I say, edging a bit closer to him.
“I know that,” he snaps, turning to me. “You were never meant to see it.”
“Why?” I press, licking my lips.
His eyes zoom in on my mouth and it goes dry as my palms start to sweat.
I take a small step back towards the open door, but as he takes a step forward, I stop.
“Because we can never be,” he says so quietly, I barely hear him.
My heart starts to pound. He wants to be with me? I had no idea, and now I’m so uncomfortable in his presence I want to Puffport out, but I’m frozen on the spot. He is now looking at me with an adoring gaze that I can’t tear my eyes away from.
“Uhm,” I mutter.
He takes another, very cautious, step towards me, holding his hands out. He gently grasps my wrists as he reaches me.
“You were never meant to know,” he murmurs.
“I don’t know what to say,” I whisper.
