Chapter 7
GWEN
I can’t help but feel shy as Merak guides me toward the bed.
Exhaustion weighs me down, and I can scarcely keep my eyes open.
After the hot bath and the lavish meal, I feel as though I could sleep for a full year.
But I’m very aware of the huge fae male’s proximity as he draws the covers back and beckons me to get settled beneath them.
Does he truly plan to hold me throughout the night?
I suppose I’m about to find out.
He carefully tucks the covers around me, then he walks to the other side of the room. My breath catches when I realize what he’s about to do. He’s preparing to get undressed.
Oh, my gods.
I shouldn’t watch. I should turn on my side and face the window that overlooks the glimmering, ussha-blessed mountains. But I can’t seem to tear my eyes from his powerful, lithe body.
He removes his leather shirt first, revealing an expanse of muscles that ripple with his every movement. When he turns to drape the shirt over a chair, I’m provided with a look at his impressive back and broad shoulders.
Goodness.
I watch as he bends down briefly to remove his boots and socks. He rises to his feet and turns to give me a heated look that causes my core to clench.
When he reaches for the front clasp of his pants, I truly forget how to breathe.
I should look away.
But I don’t.
He pauses for a moment and his eyes flicker around the room.
What is waiting for?
Surely he can’t sleep in leather pants. I can’t imagine that would be very comfortable.
As he returns his gaze to me, I sense the longing buried deep in his soul. A yearning that almost feels heartbreaking. He wants me. But he worries he will frighten me if he strips his pants off while I’m watching, revealing his naked body, before he joins me under the covers.
Oh, gods.
It’s not shyness that’s making him pause, but his concern for me.
How do I know this?
How am I sensing his emotions so easily?
Not just his emotions, but his thoughts. Not word for word, but I’m getting the gist of what he’s thinking right now. I can’t help but wonder if it’s not the remnants of his winter magic from using his healing powers on me, but something else that’s allowing me to sense his thoughts.
I draw in a shaky breath and make a show of closing my eyes.
“You can take your pants off now,” I whisper, my face growing hot.
I hear the rustle of clothing, and moments later, he joins me in bed. After he’s under the covers, I finally open my eyes. He scoots closer to me and immediately takes me in his arms.
I don’t push him away.
Instead, I lean my cheek against his chest, relishing the coolness of his skin.
I tend to become too hot at night and frequently wake up sweating, tangled in the sheets and buried under too many blankets, and I muse that perhaps that won’t happen tonight.
I’ll remain at just the right temperature with Merak holding me close.
His heart thumps steadily beneath my ear, and the sound starts lulling me to sleep. I blink heavily as he strokes my hair.
“Go to sleep, my dearest,” he murmurs. “You are safe with me.”
A sigh escapes me and I find myself nestling deeper into his arms. Gods help me, but I do feel safe with him. If he intended to hurt me, wouldn’t he have done so already?
Still, a flicker of unease lingers. I try to ignore the fear that this gentleness might be part of some twisted fae game, that he’s only earning my trust now so he can take pleasure in shattering it later, watching me crumble beneath the betrayal.
As I try to discern his true nature and figure out his plans for me, what it will really mean to be treated as his companion in the Winter Court army, I finally drift to sleep.
My eyes flutter open, and I immediately tense. But once I realize where I am, and whose legs are tangled with mine, I just as quickly relax.
Merak.
I’m with Lord Merak Blackthorne.
I’m in the fae town of Ellonnar near the most beautiful mountains in existence.
My gaze darts to the ice clouds that hover above those mountains. The nearest window provides a spectacular view of the landscape, and for a moment, I think that I could happily spend the rest of my life in a town such as this.
But no. I couldn’t.
Ellonnar is a fae settlement, and I’m human.
Four more nights, I remind myself. I’ll get to enjoy four more nights in this town before Merak drags me back to his army’s war camp. Well, flies me back is more accurate. But still. I won’t be going of my own volition.
My free will has been stripped from me.
I’m considered a slave.
Merak’s slave.
Will I ever know freedom again? Given that the fae typically live for thousands of years, I doubt I’ll outlive him.
And even if I did, his people probably wouldn’t allow me to just frolic off into the realm after he meets his end.
I’m a slave bought from an auction platform, yes, but before that I was a tribute-cursed slave bound to serve in the Winter Court’s war camp.
I try to push such dark thoughts away and enjoy the beautiful view. I admire the way the sunlight reflects off the ice clouds, the colorful birds that dart among the trees, and the persistent glimmer of ussha that makes the entire mountain range look like something from a fairytale.
Merak shifts in his sleep and emits a contented sigh before pulling me closer to his hard, muscular body. I’m facing away from him, and my backside presses against something that suddenly becomes larger… and firmer.
A gasp catches in my throat.
He’s becoming aroused.
His large shaft is pressing directly against my bottom.
My pulse races and heat spreads through my body, a relentless ache throbbing deep in my core.
I have the urge to squeeze my legs together for relief, but I can’t quite do it with Merak’s thigh wedged between mine.
Unless I grind myself against his leg, I won’t find any relief at all.
I flush at the thought and resolve that I will control my urges.
I force myself to take slow, deep breaths and try to think of anything other than Merak’s huge cock pressing against me.
But it’s all I can think about, and I swear it keeps growing harder.
Exactly what is he dreaming about?
The heat throbbing in my core intensifies, and to my mortification, a tiny whimper escapes me. I freeze and listen for the rhythmic breathing that would indicate Merak is still sleeping, but I don’t hear it.
Oh, gods.
He’s not dreaming. He’s awake.
And he probably just heard me whimper.
Will he take it as an invitation?
I try to remain perfectly still, but it’s difficult when the aching between my thighs keeps deepening and all I can think about is pressing myself back against his hardness. I’m still wearing the robe, so it’s not as though my naked skin would touch his.
Why do I feel so breathless?
How can I be so tempted by a male I only met yesterday, let alone a highborn fae lord who paid money for me and now considers himself my master?
I’ve never even kissed a man before, yet I ache to do that and so much more with Merak.
Then a horrid thought strikes me.
What if these feelings aren’t truly mine at all?
What if he’s glamouring me? How can I be certain he hasn’t enchanted me somehow, making me desire him against my will? My stomach flips at the possibility. But even knowing it could be true does nothing to quell the feverish heat sweeping through me.
Suddenly, Merak’s emotions reach me, stronger than ever before.
Lustful desire, soul-deep longing, and… restraint.
That’s the only way I can explain it. He wants my body—he’s aching to claim me right now—but he wants so much more than a quick romp beneath the blankets. He isn’t only thinking of his pleasure, but he’s also thinking of mine.
If I’m being honest, it’s the soul-deep longing that scares me the most. He doesn’t merely want to keep me as his companion. He wants everything… my heart, my soul, and all my secrets. He wants to know all there is to know about me.
But he doesn’t want to frighten me, so he’s holding back.
Well, perhaps he isn’t glamouring me after all. If I can sense his emotions and catch fragments of his thoughts, his genuine desires, then surely I would also sense deceit. But as I lean into his emotions and thoughts, allowing my mind to brush against his, I detect no trace of manipulation.
His restraint makes me soften toward him.
Slowly, I shift in his arms until I’m facing him.
Merak’s dark eyes are already open, and he’s watching me carefully in the morning light. His gaze burns with lust, hot enough to make my breath catch, but he makes no move to touch me beyond the arm draped around my waist.
“Good morning, my dearest,” he murmurs, his voice rough with sleep, but also… desire.
More warmth pulses through me, and it’s all I can do to keep from squeezing my thighs around his leg. My face heats at the idea of losing control like that, especially while he’s watching me so intently. His entire focus is on me, and gods, how it makes my head spin.
“Good morning,” I finally whisper back.
For several long moments, neither of us speaks. We simply stare at one another while tension thickens the air between us, heavy and sparkling with what feels like… magic. Yet I still don’t think he’s glamouring me.
Before I can stop myself, my attention drifts to his mouth. His eyes drop to mine in return.
Gods.
He wants to kiss me. I can sense it.
Longing stirs within me. If I were braver, I would tilt my face up to his and perhaps even initiate the kiss. But I’m too afraid of what might happen if we cross such a line.
He tenses and his fingers briefly dig into my hip, as though he’s resisting the urge to pull me closer.
His emotions swirl through me once more, and the savagery of his desire causes me to gasp softly.
As fiercely as he wants me, I honestly don’t know how he’s restraining himself from pouncing on me.