Chapter 3 #2
Connal nodded. “Tell me your name.”
“Luke. And you are?”
“Connal of the Bairrfhionn.”
Luke’s eyes sparkled. Connal had been mistaken to describe them as the flowering vines in the water. No, not even the glory of the vines that grew in the Lady’s Lake were as perfect as the green of Luke’s eyes.
“Well, aren’t you fancy?”
“None other than you have described me in such a way. I will allow it, though.”
“Oh, you’ll allow it, will you?”
Connal nodded. Although some warriors may see fancy as some sort of slight, Connal could see his human meant no insult.
Wait. His human?
Connal’s breath caught. He reached out to touch Luke’s arm. A spark of magic flared between them. His human. His mate. Goddess be praised.
Something behind Connal caught Luke’s eye. Luke’s smile dimmed, if only slightly, before he stepped to the side so that Connal’s broad form shielded him.
Connal resisted his instinct to check the threat. It would only draw unnecessary attention. “We should leave this place,” Connal said.
Luke looked up and met his gaze. His brows furrowed so sweetly in confusion. “I don’t—”
“Come with me,” Connal commanded.
He held Luke’s arm and moved to his side. Nothing would get to his human—his mate—unless it came through him first.
His Luke moved quickly, freeing himself from Connal’s hold.
Connal scowled again.
“I need to get to my ride,” Luke said.
“You do not need a ride in this port. You have me now.”
Luke frowned. “I don’t think you—”
“The Consort assured me this port of air was safe, but now, I think he must have been mistaken.”
“I don’t know what…okay, I’ve got to go.”
Connal grunted. If only he’d not sworn an oath to refrain from causing a scene in the port of air, he could easily prevent Luke from departing. “To your ride. Yes, I will go with you.”
Luke narrowed his gaze, but then his smile returned. “You’re trying way too hard. You should just ask for my number.”
“Hmm. Yes. I will have your number so that I may contact you through your communication device,” Connal said. “I like this plan very much. You are wise, my Luke.”
Luke’s smile brightened as he adjusted the strap to his backpack. Was the bag too heavy? Human strength—or lack thereof—confused Connal greatly. He could carry such a minuscule weight without bother should Luke require his assistance.
Perhaps he should demonstrate his strength to his mate? Yes, a show of his abilities would certainly win his Luke’s favor.
Unfortunately, Connal didn’t have time to perform his feat of strength.
His mate slipped free once more and began moving through the crowd.
Connal hurried to keep up, his long strides quickly covering the distance between them.
A few humans bounced off of him as he moved, and after a particularly loud curse from a man wearing one of the confounded ties the King’s attaché wore, Luke glanced back at Connal.
“Watch where you’re walking asshole,” Luke snapped at the man. “Come on Connal the Bare.”
Connal smirked at the weakling human before moving to Luke’s side. “Connal of the Bairrfhionn.”
“Bear-fee-on.” His name rolled so perfectly off Luke’s tongue, even if the pronunciation wasn’t ideal. Luke smiled up at him, breaking all thoughts of his mate’s imperfections. “It’s much prettier when you say it.”
It would be perfect when Luke screamed it in the throes of passion, which was all that mattered. “You’ll learn,” Connal said.
“You’re very sure of yourself, aren’t you?”
Why wouldn’t he be? As if there were anyone in the human realm who could compete against Connal for Luke’s affections. “I am.”
Luke grinned. “And an ego as well. You know, I think I like you Connal of the Bear-fee-on.”
Oh, Luke more than liked him. Connal returned Luke’s beautiful smile with one of his own. He couldn’t wait to share the news of his good fortunes with his brothers.
“And this is my exit.” Luke pulled his satchel from his back and tugged a small card and a pen from the front pocket. He wrote on the card before handing it to Connal. “I’ll be in town for a couple days. You should give me a call.”
“I—”
“See you later, Connal.” Luke slipped through the crowd of humans and out a sliding door, leaving the port of air.
Connal wanted to bellow his frustration into the crowd waiting to retrieve their confounding wheeled baggage.
He couldn’t let his mate leave his side.
Perhaps he should take drastic action and simply take his mate through a portal to the fae realm—and directly to Connal’s chambers.
Once he’d claimed Luke as his own, this unanswered longing would surely lessen.
“Brother, what is amiss?”
The fact that Asterius managed to get to Connal’s side without Connal noticing showed the true extent of his distraction.
“I have found my mate.” Connal turned to his brother, only the strength of the Goddess keeping his panic at bay. “Yet he has exited the port of air. I cannot conceive a way to prevent the travesty without breaking the King’s command.”
Asterius looked appropriately stunned by the news. “There are eyes everywhere in this Goddess-forsaken place. Surely the King would make an exception for a mate.”
Connal’s palms itched to get closer to Luke, but he controlled his urges. The Consort’s words flooded his brain, reining him in even further.
Luke had no idea the magical world existed all around him. If he did, he’d have recognized Connal immediately as other. Connal stared out at the curb, watching as the bright yellow conveyances picked up the humans waiting. Luke had almost reached the front of the line.
“I can’t be parted from him, Asterius.”
Unfortunately, their primary mission demanded their attention. Zer appeared with a grim expression on his face. “We must go. There has been another flare.”