Page 44 of Dark Fae's Desires
I shrug. “Know that you can.”
“Thanks. Same to you.” She gives me a piercing look with those remarkable purple eyes that are so very familiar, yet different at the same time.
“Perhaps,” I say dismissively.
She leans forward and places her hand on my arm. I look at it, delicate and flawless; who knew she could use those to kill so mercilessly? I saw what she did to Anders. He deserved every second of pain she caused him.
“You’ve been through a lot; if you ever need someone to talk to… we bounce off each other nicely. I think I can help you,” she says earnestly.
Bounce.
Hm, now all I can think about is her bouncing around on top of me.
“You want to bounce off me?”
Her eyes go wide and then she giggles. It’s a glorious sound.
Her hand tightens on my arm, and I narrow my eyes.
“I enjoy your company,” she says. “I wonder if you will stick around for a bit?”
“Is that what you want?”
“Yes. I have a proposition for you.”
Unfortunately, she takes her hand off my arm and folds her arms across her chest defensively.
“I’m listening.”
She presses her lips together but then blows out a breath. “I’m going to be Queen here one day soon. I need someone I can rely on; someone I trust to steer me right when I’m undecided. I need someone who isn’t afraid to tell it to me straight without fear of hurting my feelings, and I need someone whose main interest isn’t protecting me.” She finishes with a huff, looking at me as if expecting me to say something.
I don’t, forcing her to continue.
“I want you to be my chief advisor. My right hand. I completely understand if staying here indefinitely is not on your list of things to do. You probably want to go back to the Dragon Realms, or Earth, maybe, to reclaim the life that was taken from you, and I…”
“I accept,” I interrupt her ramblings. What better way to get closer to her to see if I’m correct in my assumption about her than to be her advisor?
“Oh,” she says, slightly surprised. “Oh, wonderful. Thank you.”
“Thankyou. I have no desire to return to the Dragon Realms, and Earth will have changed too much for me to be comfortable there.” I reveal this small insecurity to her, and her eyes flood with understanding. Not pity. I knew she would be above that. Her hand returns to my arm. I like it there far more than I should. She is so innocent, so young. I’m a jaded old Dragon with far too many years under my beltbeforeI was imprisoned.
“I get that,” she murmurs. “I know the Fae and the Dragons don’t see eye to eye, but you will be safe here, I promise you that.”
I choke back the laugh that threatens. She is too sweet.
“I know that,” I murmur instead, not wanting to tell her that I could decimate half of her army in less than a second.I was fueled by rage and a desire for revenge when I came looking for Drake and found Aelfric instead, all of those centuries ago. He caught me in a vulnerable moment, but that willneverhappen again.
She beams at me, and I focus on her eyes. She falls under the small spell that I weave over her, the only time I will ever use my magick against her. But it is to get her to admit something to me, something that she would never admit otherwise.
“What is your deepest desire, Princess?”
She blinks and looks back over her shoulder at the foreboding, black-stoned palace behind her. “To be the best Queen this Kingdom has ever seen,” she whispers, looking back at me. She edges closer; our bodies are nearly touching, and I can’t resist pushing it just a little bit further. She hasn’t revealed all to me yet. That is something she would readily admit. No, I want to go deeper.
“What else do you desire, Savannah,” I murmur, my eyes focused on hers.
“To be loved, needed in a way where my lovers would die without me.”
“You have that, from what I’ve seen.”
