Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
Apounding sounds from somewhere in the distance, pulling me from the grips of sleep.
As my foggy brain slowly wakes up, I’m aware of a warm weight resting across my stomach and the tickle of breath at my ear.
I crack open an eye and see Bastian lying next to me.
His arm across my stomach, legs tangled up in mine.
Memories from last night flood my mind. My nightmare, him comforting me, asking him to stay.
Oh, good gods. What was I even thinking?
I didn’t think he’d actually stay the rest of the night…
How did we end up tangled like this? We were both on our respective sides of the bed when I drifted off, but at some point, we must have both moved closer to the middle. Who reached for who first? Heat rises up my cheeks in embarrassment, hoping it wasn’t me.
As much as I don’t want to admit it, waking up wrapped in his arms like this feels…
incredible. The warmth and weight of his body against mine.
It’s comfortable and I almost feel…safe?
I would never admit it out loud to anyone, least of all him.
But this feeling is something I never expected wrapped in the arms of a Fae male I barely know.
The pounding begins again in earnest. I realize now it’s someone knocking on the front door of the cottage.
Bastian stirs next to me, pulling my body closer to his, drawing in a deep breath.
I squeeze my eyes shut and pretend to be asleep.
Not the most mature move, but I’d much rather not have to acknowledge the position we find ourselves in.
“Sebastian? Are you in there?” a muffled male voice calls from outside.
Sebastian, hmm?
I hear Bastian groan beside me and feel the pillow dip as he turns his head to look at me.
I can feel his body stiffen before he curses softly under his breath and slowly removes the arm that was banded across my stomach and gets up from the bed.
I hear his soft footsteps and the snick of the bedroom door as he closes it behind him.
“Your—” I hear the squeak as the front door swings open, cutting the visitor off.
“What the hell are you doing here? I thought I said I wasn’t to be disturbed.” I can hear the contempt dripping from his words. He’s clearly not pleased by the morning visitor, whoever it is. Or he’s not a morning person. Which is entirely possible considering his gruffness yesterday morning.
“My apologies, you— Sebastian. I wouldn’t have bothered you if it wasn’t urgent.” There’s a long pause before anyone speaks again.
“Well? Spit it out then, Robin,” Bastian huffs, clearly agitated based only on the tone of his voice. I can picture him pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Your mother has requested your presence this morning,” the stranger—Robin I assume—says.
“Shit,” Bastian curses. “Tell her I’ll be there in an hour. I need to make myself presentable.”
A beat of silence. “If I may, sir.”
“What, Robin?”
“I would highly recommend you wash the… human smell from your body before you show up. You know it will only further set her off.”
It’s quiet for another few moments before Bastian speaks.
“Duly noted.” I can hear the tension in Bastian’s voice and can tell, without seeing him, that his jaw is clenched.
That muscle is probably twitching like crazy.
“Goodbye, Robin.” Bastian slams the door, making the windows rattle in their frames.
I hear his footsteps coming back towards the bedroom, so I roll back over onto my side, facing away from the door, keeping my eyes closed.
When I hear the bedroom door click open, I roll onto my back and give a good show of stretching my arms over my head, faking a yawn.
“Good morning, little eavesdropper. Sleep well?” Bastian greets me with a smirk.
I blink at him wide eyed, realizing I’m busted for listening in. “How did you know?”
“I told you last night, Fae have excellent hearing. I could hear from your breathing pattern that you were awake.”
So that’s what he meant? They have some sort of super hearing?
Well, if I’m busted, I guess there’s no need to beat around the bush then.
“So,” I say, drawing out the word, “you have to go see your mother?”
That muscle in his jaw twitches, just like I imagined it did with Robin, and I have to fight back a smile at the thought.
“I do. I know we were supposed to head out this morning, so we’ll have to adjust our plans.
We can leave this afternoon when I return and see how far we get.
If we push hard, we might still be able to keep to the two-day journey.
Can I trust you to stay here in the meantime? I shouldn’t be long.”
“Why do I have to stay here?” I twist the ring around my finger.
The thought of being left alone for an undetermined amount of time in this male’s cottage in a strange realm doesn’t sit well with me.
I’ve already been here a day longer than I would’ve liked.
Well, anytime spent here is more than I would like.
He lets out an exasperated sigh. “My mother is… not the kindest of Fae. In fact, she may play a rather large role in the perception that the humans–even several of the Fae–have towards the Unseelie. She’s vicious, ruthless, and will take what she wants.
” He hesitates a moment, his eyes slowly trailing over me causing goosebumps to break out over my skin, before continuing.
“She also abhors humans. And after your nightmare last night, I’d rather think it best to keep you away from my mother. ”
“Oh,” I reply. It’s all I can say as his words sink in and I recall suddenly that this male is an Unseelie Fae.
This keeps happening to me. He has these small moments where he behaves in ways that are in complete contradiction to what I think I know of them that I…
forget. It’s even easier out here in this secluded cottage away from others.
He’s supposed to be cruel and just how he described his mother.
But he’s not. Or at least he hasn’t shown me that side of his yet.
He continues to show me kindness, especially after last night.
All of which muddles my brain, making it more difficult for me to figure him out.
To determine which side of him is real. Are either of them his true personality or are they both a facade?
“Why haven’t you behaved like how you’ve described your mother?
” I ask, unable to stop the question from pushing past my lips.
He raises an eyebrow at me. “I mean you’ve definitely acted like an asshole, but you’ve never been cruel. ”
He shifts on his feet and looks at the ground, clearly uncomfortable with my question.
“I was raised by one cruel parent and one passive parent. My mother is your Unseelie of legends. And my father? Well, he was kind, but he let my mother take the lead on everything.” He hesitates, as if he’s weighing his next words. “Including my upbringing.”
I study him for a moment, trying to get a read of what that ‘upbringing’ would have entailed with a mother like his. But the more I think about it, the more I very much don’t want to picture it as I’m sure it’s not anything like the one I had.
He leans up against the wall, using it to give him strength to carry on.
“But still, both of my parents have done nothing but speak negatively about the Seelie. Growing up around that, after having a brief interaction with them as a child, I didn’t understand their hatred.
I think that the two courts should be able to live in peaceful harmony.
” He pauses, waiting to see if I would weigh in with my thoughts on his opinion.
I don’t, instead offering him an encouraging nod to continue.
“We’re opposites of each other, that’s true, but I believe that’s just the natural balance of things.
There’s no darkness without light, no light without darkness.
” His words pick up speed as he gets carried away with expressing something that I’m almost certain he’s rarely expressed, if he has at all.
“The sun doesn’t exist without the moon.
We’re two sides of the same coin. And in some cases, the humans are becoming pawns in the twisted games of the courts.
” At this point, he looks up from the floor and meets my gaze.
“You didn’t ask to fall through the realms, so why should you be punished for that?
Why should you be held responsible for what was purely an accident of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. ”
“You’ve clearly thought a lot about this.”
He looks away, letting out a rough laugh. “Well, I’ve had a lot of time and opportunities over the years.” He rubs a hand across his chin.
“I’m sure working around the courts gives you more to think about as well. Seeing the Queen and King in action.”
He meets my gaze, expression shuttering. “You have no idea.” He holds my gaze a moment longer before he looks away, shaking his head. “I should get ready and head out.” He retrieves some clothes from the dresser before heading into the bathing room and closing the door behind him.
I can hear a soft hiss as he turns on the water for the shower. My cheeks heat as I think of what is happening on the other side of the door.
Nope, no, certainly not. Olivia, you are not about to sit here and listen to this male bathe.
I jump from the bed and slip my leggings on under Bastian’s oversized shirt.
I head into the kitchen and rummage through the cabinets looking for something and nothing all at once.
I needed to get out of the bedroom and away from thinking of his muscular body completely bare under the warm stream of water from the shower.
My mind starts to wander to thinking about the shower itself. How it works. The spray of the water. The way it would trickle down over his hard lines and ridges. The way his hands would trailing over his body to lather the soapy water–
No, no, no, this isn’t working.
I slam the cabinet shut and pull at my hair, squeezing my eyes shut but that doesn’t do any better because now all I can see behind my eyelids is what I imagine that body looks like.
Why, why, why am I like this? He’s a Fae.
An Unseelie Fae. He may be kind to humans, but no.
You can’t fantasize about him. You’re not allowed.
This is wrong. So very wrong. And you’ll be gone in two days anyway.
Once you’re home you can fantasize about him all you want but not while you’re stuck with him.
I let out an aggravated growl as I hear the water shut off from the bathing room.
I don’t want him to find me standing around the kitchen looking absolutely insane, so I head back into the bedroom and collapse back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling, contemplating how in the world I’ve found myself in this situation of fantasizing about this man.
Male, not man. Is this all because we woke up tangled together?
Yes, it must be that. The heat and proximity of his body must have ignited a dormant desire.
That’s all it is. It has been a while since I’ve had a hook up of my own.
That must be what it is. This craving I have to be back in the warmth of his arms. It’s because he’s the only male I’ve been this close to that’s not Tom.
When Bastian emerges from the bathing room, he’s dressed in a finely tailored pair of trousers and a tunic, both black—big surprise there—with an iridescent silver thread trimming the garments.
His dark hair is slicked back out of his face, still damp and curling behind his pointed ears.
He looks more polished and put together than he has the last couple of days.
The only thought bouncing around my head now is that this male cleans up very, very well.
And it’s not helping with the way my thoughts are running rampant.
When he catches my perusal, his solemn face switches into the signature smirk he continues to throw my way, amusement twinkling in his eyes. “Like what you see?”
I choke on an inhale. Oh, good. So, we’re going with the teasing route of skirting around the position we woke up in.
Great. “I— well— you look… different all done up like this is all. I never would’ve imagined you could have a polished version.
I thought rough and rugged was all you were capable of. ”
“I see.” He nods slowly, but I catch the small grin playing on his lips.
“Well, I hate to leave you like this…” He trails off.
His eyes rake over me as I pull the bedcovers over myself.
He shakes off whatever thoughts his mind wandered off to.
“But I really should be off. Mustn’t keep mother waiting.
” His grin slips away behind a mask of indifference.
“Right, yes, definitely shouldn’t keep her waiting on you. I assume she’s not type to take kindly to that?”
“You’ve got that right,” he says with a huff. He walks over to where I’m sitting on the edge of the bed and tucks his finger under chin, lifting my face to meet his gaze and holding it there. “You’ll wait here until I return, right Liv?”
“As much as I would prefer to not, yes I’ll wait here,” I say with a sigh. His eyes narrow as he searches my own, looking for the lie in my words.
Satisfied with my response, he offers a curt nod.
“I appreciate you not fighting me on this, Liv. I won’t be long.
” He begins to lean his face in towards me and my eyes go wide.
What is he doing? He stops short, catching himself and I swear his eyes also widen a fraction before he shakes his head like shaking off the thoughts that almost led him to doing…
what? He abruptly drops my chin and moves stiffly across the room to leave.
“Um, right. I’ll, uh, see you later. Goodbye, Liv.
” Even his words come out disjointed and choppy.
“Goodbye, Bastian. See you later,” I reply. He nods again in response and then quickly flees from the room and out the front door of the cottage.
What the actual fuck was that? I’m entirely confused. Was he about to… kiss me? Because that’s almost what it felt like. But why? Maybe he doesn’t even know. The way his crystal blue eyes widened almost comically, he seemed startled by whatever it was that came over him.
Unfortunately, the only thought that follows me through the rest of the morning is how I wish that he had.