Page 47 of The Fae Menagerie
"No, but you already knew that."
He rolled his shoulders and sat with his back pressed to the chair. "You're right. I knew that. You've been a perfect gentlefae, and I forgot."
I grinned at his use of the species-specific word I'd taught him when he first arrived. "I appreciate your acknowledgement."
"What if I don't want you to be the perfect gentlefae anymore?"
Nope. I couldn't answer that question on a mostly empty stomach. I took a giant bite of sandwich and chased it down with water before I attempted.
Parker spoke right as I set my empty water glass on the table. "You promised to take care of me, which means you can't physically harm me."
"True."
"If I'm going to experiment with," he waved his hand between me and him a few times, "this, I want it to be with you. Besides, what else are we going to do in the afternoons? I'm already bored with paper folding." He handed me a dilapidated square of paper that had seen better days, folded into nothing I recognized.
Instead of joy, overwhelming fear gripped my tongue, rendering me mute. I tried to take another sip from my empty glass. Finally, I cleared my throat. "You're bored, so you want to mess around?"
His eyes widened, and I glanced over my shoulder. Overwhelming desire to take care of Parker made my skin tingle, but no visible threats occupied the room with us.
"Yes," he said. "If you want to put it that way, yes."
"I understand and approve." That was how I'd spent most of my first millennium, conquering boredom by sowing my wild oats.
"Starting tonight?" The delightful blush across Parker's cheeks returned.
"Starting slow. We have all the time in the world," I reminded him.
I planned to go glacially slow, which meant taking twice as long to brush my teeth and get ready for bed. It also meant wearing my spare garment to bed, since the newer one was already covered with stains from my cleaning stint.
Parker was already in bed, once again wearing his shirt and a new pair of boxer briefs.
"Another gift from Mother?" I asked.
He nodded. "The garment bag held an assortment. These are the least revealing."
"I like them." I more than liked how I could see the outline of his cut cock through them, but my conscience didn't force me to reword the statement, which was just as well.
I lost all ability to think when Parker said, "You're not wearing that to bed, are you?"
I glanced down at the scratchy fabric and back at the soft silk surrounding Parker's waist. "I was, yes."
"I don't want this to change anything between us," Parker said. "I will take it slow, I promise. Just, please, take that thing off."
I couldn't refuse his simple request. I slipped the garment back over my head and wings. Once I was free, I hung it on its wooden peg in my closet. Then, I returned to stand at my side ofthe bed. I avoided Parker's gaze the entire way, though I could feel it.
How had this human turned me into a blushing novice? I couldn't even remember the days I'd blushed over a sexual encounter, yet here I was at the mere thought of it.
I met Parker's intense gaze and my cheeks burned even more. "What are you thinking about?"
"You."
He studied me from my pointed ears to the tips of my wings. I'd received plenty of appreciative looks in my time, but none made me feel this precious and special. None of them made me feel anything at all.
These new emotions were strange and terrifying.
Chapter
Seventeen
