Chapter 15 #3
The flutter of hundreds of wings sounded in the air.
Birds of all sizes and colors settled on the surrounding trees.
Fee and Poe were somewhere on Rowan’s land, but they wouldn’t come around if Mom was here.
Even after everything, Poe remained wary of Mom and protective of Fee.
The raven had an excellent nose for magic.
He’d keep the phoenix away until everyone was gone.
Seymour was somewhere around, too, though he’d taken a liking to dorm life and preferred spending his time with Declan and the others.
I visited him occasionally, and sometimes he’d find me.
As long as he was happy, I left him to his own devices.
He was still grieving Caelan, and though he’d come to me of his own volition, I knew he missed the other Lord.
Seymour liked Rowan and was often affectionate to him, but he wasn’t ready to completely let go of Caelan. I understood and let him grieve on his own schedule.
Foxes and coyotes of the natural kind sat at the feet of the fae. Snakes slithered through the grass and curled up on exposed stones. Insects and other creepy crawlies waited around the edge of the semi-circle we made.
My heart lurched with nerves. What was Dad doing?
Above us, the sky churned, stirring up a sharp wind.
The temperatures dropped by at least twenty degrees.
I took a step closer to Rowan. He let go of my hand and wrapped his arm around my waist. His face was blank, but his eyes burned with curiosity even as they swept across the fields monitoring for threats seen and unseen.
Mom stood next to Dad and didn’t look alarmed, but she’d had thousands of years to perfect her poker face. Rowan and I, on the other hand, were flying blind.
Magic thrummed through the air, thick and heavy.
Power flowed in the wind, soaking my veins and bones.
This was ancient magic, that of the universe long before any of us gained flesh.
The fae bond tugged me forcibly. It wanted the male by my side.
Rowan’s hand clamped against my waist was warm and possessive, sending a strong flood of desire through my bones.
His nostrils flared and he glanced down at me, surprise lighting his gaze. “Evie?” His whisper was quizzical yet amused. “Are you alright?”
My fingers itched to tear his clothes off, take him to the ground and make him mine.
Rowan’s eyes began to glow.
Dad spoke again. “You are here to witness the official crowning of my daughter.”
Hmm. I thought we’d already done that. My foot tapped impatiently, and I had to sing a song in my head to keep from molesting Rowan.
“I can smell how much you want me,” Rowan murmured, his voice so low only I could hear him.
“It’s the bond,” I whispered back. “There’s so much magic in the air I’m having trouble controlling it.”
Rowan stared at me. “Then don’t.”
I let out a soft laugh. “Funny.”
Ignoring everyone else around us, Rowan turned me to face him and lowered his forehead to mine. “Don’t.”
Dad cleared his throat.
“Though my daughter has already been crowned, she has never stood before the most important of her people, nor has she brought forth a king.”
Rowan blinked. His attention jerked to my father.
“Are you sure?” I whispered. “I can leave. Right now. I can hurry back to the cottage and calm this thing down. I’m so sorry.”
“My daughter has chosen Rowan Beithir to stand as your king.” Cernunnos swept a hand out toward us. “He is loyal and stronghearted and will serve both us and my daughter well.”
Rowan cursed under his breath. “Evie. Did you mean for this to happen? I can get us out of this. I can—”
I put a hand over my chest. The magic was unbearable now. My eyes cast an azure glow over his face. “If you want out now, say the word,” I gasped. “I don’t think I can hold this in for much longer. This bond is not the same as a shifter bond. It’s—”
Rowan let out a soft laugh, cupped my face in his hands, and gave me a searing kiss. He teased my lips open and claimed my mouth. With one hand tangled in my hair, the other yanked me against him.
Applause rang out in the clearing.
Magic exploded between us, a song of pure, primal power, encompassing us in a silver and pink haze. That bond reached toward Rowan, flooding his body with ancient magic.
He gasped, his eyes wide with surprise. The bond between us allowed me to feel Rowan, know him down to his bones, his wants and dreams, his hopes and failures.
He was everything I ever wanted. Beautiful and perfect and flawed and so utterly in love with me it almost brought me to my knees.
I closed my eyes against the flood of sensation, tears streaming down my face.
I heard my mother gasp. Moira’s cool touch against my arm before she drifted away.
Right now, it was only Rowan and me. No one else existed in this time and space.
“Evie,” Rowan whispered, his hand tightening in my hair. “Gods above. You are so fucking beautiful. Inside and out.” Tears slipped from his eyes. “I’ve never felt anything like this.”
I laid my head against his chest and wrapped my arms around him, so overcome I couldn’t speak.
Gasps rang out. I lifted my head to see a matching crown of silver swirling above Rowan’s head.
This was borderline ridiculous, a voice said in the back of my mind. A fae spectacle spearheaded by my father. And Rowan was here with his arms around me, and he smelled and looked so delicious, so why were we still participating?
The fae bond settled into our hearts, right next to the budding shifter bond, a spot of silver and pink, almost touching the other.
And with it came a roaring hunger to taste every inch of Rowan’s skin. “Will this wear off?” I whispered as my fingers crept up his chest.
Rowan snorted. “Gods, I hope not.” He tilted my neck back and pressed a hot kiss to my throat.
At that moment, feeling his hardness press insistently against my thigh, I had had enough of this constant theater.
“Get out,” I said.
A feminine snort of laughter before Moira called, “Speak up!”
Rowan dotted kisses along my collarbone.
“LEAVE.” My voice boomed throughout the keep. Thunder rolled above us. Lightning cracked and sizzled, smashing to the ground. The scent of ozone rose around us. I flicked a careless hand out. Screams sounded all around us before silence clanged like a bell.
Dad or Mom, someone had sent them all away. Or me. Who the hell knew? We both had enough magic flooding our bodies to take down the entire state.
Rowan chuckled against my throat.
“Reset your wards,” I whispered.
I felt the wards settle around us. With a whispered command, a thick layer of roots and vines rose from the ground, tangling around each other in tight knots. I sent them high enough to prevent prying eyes, giving us enough room to navigate, and left the area above us wide open.
Rowan tugged my shirt up and over my head and tossed it to the ground. I called up a soft bed of grass and leaves behind Rowan and gently pushed him down.
His wicked chuckle made me shiver. Rowan settled against our makeshift bed and watched as I removed my clothing. His eyes glowed a strange silver and gold, mixed with a trace of familiar watermelon tourmaline.
“It’s been long enough, don’t you think?” I murmured, shimmying out of my pants.
Rowan unbuckled his belt in response.
“No. Let me.”
A smile curved his lips. His hands fell away. Vines slid from the ground, wrapping around his buckle. Rowan sucked in a breath before releasing it with a soft laugh. The vines made quick work of his buckle, but I took over, sending the vines to wrap around his wrists.
“Evie.”
I didn’t want to talk. Other, more pressing things took precedence. “No more waiting, Rowan. We’re already bound forever. You are my friend, my lover, my king. Such a relationship requires consummation.”
His eyes burned with emotion and desire. “I want to touch you.”
“Me first.”
I made quick work of his clothing until Rowan was bare beneath me. I’d never get enough of him, never tire of the way he looked at me.
“You look at me like you want to devour me.”
In response, I straddled him, his tip at my entrance.
“Evie.”
“No more waiting,” I said and sank onto Rowan, claiming him as mine for all eternity.
He sucked in a sharp breath. A low moan escaped my throat as he filled and stretched me. Muscles corded in his arms when he tried to reach for me, but the vines held tight. Release tingled at my spine, and I hadn’t even moved.
A golden light bloomed in our chests. I smiled down at my mate and began to move.