Chapter 8
Aweek had passed since Forrest and I had travelled down a road in our relationship that we couldn’t backtrack on.
What had started off as a healer–patient relationship had weeks later evolved into something much more significant for both of us.
Everything with Forrest felt seamless and easy—like it was meant to be.
We could sit with each other and enjoy comfortable silence while reading.
He assisted me more with my work, and he even started to play the role of a dutiful house husband, cleaning up and making meals.
We explored one another’s mind during the day, and at night, we explored each other’s body.
At times it didn’t feel real to me, that we could progress to where we were so quickly, yet it felt like we had been together for ages.
While this was all fantastic, his memory still had not returned.
I had exhausted every option trying to help him.
I had given him time, rest, and healing aids.
Nothing seemed to be helping. This frustrated me greatly, but Forrest remained positive despite it all.
As far as he was concerned, it could take its sweet time coming back to him.
He was quite happy where he was, and if I was being honest with myself, I was too.
Part of me felt guilty, though, for feeling this content with a man when a few weeks ago I had broken up with Wyatt because he wanted us to be something more than we were.
Being with Forrest felt a lot different from being with Wyatt.
Forrest made me feel good. He made me feel like I was a good person who was doing good things for other people—not a sneaky criminal who was constantly breaking the law.
Wyatt had never had the chance to make me feel like that for the simple reason that I couldn’t be honest with him about myself and my work.
I didn’t have to lie to Forrest about who I was or what I did.
I could be myself around him, and I hadn’t realized until now just how much that mattered to me and how it affected my feelings regarding both men.
There was also the whole thing about Forrest being fae that added complexity to the situation.
The fae were seen as higher-thought beings.
I didn’t know much about them aside from the basics shared in my grandmother’s books, but I felt it safe to assume they treated everyone in the fae realms like equals.
I couldn’t imagine there being the same issues as women had here.
Healers were probably allowed to do their job, and they didn’t have to hide the fact that they had magical powers.
They could probably love who they wanted to love, without prejudice.
They could probably decide what they wanted to do with their own bodies, without a religious group inserting its beliefs in situations where they didn’t belong.
I also assumed poverty wasn’t an issue where Forrest came from.
In my mind, the fae realm was perfect. It was a utopia.
If I was being honest with myself, I knew that this had some influence on my feelings for Forrest, and it allowed me to explore the thought of being something more with him.
I knew at some point in his future, Forrest would have to go back to the realm he had come from.
Whether he found his way back on his own or someone came to get him, he would eventually return.
A significant part of me was holding on to the hope that he would take me with him and I could leave this forsaken place behind.
It was funny what the prospect of true freedom had on decision-making.
Maybe I could find happiness as someone’s wife if my own autonomy were never threatened.
Maybe then it wouldn’t be such an awful thing to accept.
“Aurelia, do you think you could come in here and help me for a moment?” Forrest yelled from the washroom.
I walked in and took in the sight of the large fae man cramped into my regular-sized bathtub. Forrest was breathtakingly beautiful, no matter his state of dress—or undress. It honestly was quite unfair how good-looking he was.
“Yes, sir. How may I be of service?” I said as I curtsied for dramatic effect.
He laughed. “I need help with my back. I can’t seem to reach it properly.”
I walked over to the tub and grabbed the wet cloth from Forrest’s hand.
I poured some of my honey-and-vanilla bathing oil onto the cloth and gently lathered it on his back.
There was no part of this man that wasn’t covered in muscles.
It made me wonder what he did for a living back in the fae realm.
Was he a warrior, a prince, a knight, or something more common, like a blacksmith?
Did all the men in the fae realm look like this, or was Forrest an exceptionally beautiful creature among them?
“Seeing as you don’t remember anything about yourself or your past, I’m going to assume that back where you come from, you’re a handsome knight who spends all his time doing handsome-knightly things and constantly has to turn down the advances of all the beautiful fae folk who throw themselves at him,” I said as I massaged his shoulders.
“I imagine it was almost impossible for you to get anything done. How did you get by with all that love and adoration, Forrest?”
Forrest turned around and looked at me, amused.
“A knight sounds wonderful, but if I had to choose, I’d say that I was a captain of one of the largest ships on the high seas, sailing around the realm with a devastatingly beautiful, busty woman at my side—who also happened to be a fantastic healer. ” He wiggled his eyebrows at me.
My hands tightened on his shoulders. “Who is she? I just want to have a few words with her.”
Forrest laughed heartily. “Oh, you’d hate her.
She’s ridiculously gorgeous. She has this beautiful, long, silky black hair.
The most intriguing grey-lavender eyes you’ve ever seen.
The freckles along the bridge of her nose and cheeks are downright adorable.
She has an ample backside that you just want to bury your face in.
If that wasn’t enough, you’d be done when you realized how thoughtful and empathetic she was. ”
By this point, he was sitting on his knees in the tub, holding my hands, staring up at me with a look full of adoration.
“She sounds terrible,” I said as I threw the cloth back at him. “Your back is all done. Need anything else done while I’m here?”
A mischievous smirk spread across his face. “Actually, yes. I just thought of this fun role-playing game we could play, where you’re a sea captain, and I’m a stowaway you’ve caught, and we need to negotiate payment, but I have no coin.”
I laughed. “Forrest, as much as I love sleeping with you, I do have some things I need to take care of today.”
His bottom lip stuck out in an exaggerated pout.
“I have to go into the village and meet with Violet. I haven’t heard from her, and I want to ensure everything is all right with Fiona.”
He stood up in the tub, exposing himself and his half-erect cock. A throbbing sensation between my legs began almost immediately upon looking at it. This man was the ultimate test sent to me by the Mothers Above to prove how pathetic and weak I was, and how little self-control I possessed.
He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around himself. “I’d like to come with you, if that’s all right. It’d be nice to see Violet again. Plus, I still haven’t visited the village. I think enough people have seen me at your home by now to recognize me as your boyfriend.”
My entire body froze as soon as the B-word left his mouth. “My boyfriend?”
He stepped out of the tub and walked up to me. “Well, what else would you call me?”
I stared at him blankly. “I don’t know. Maybe just the random guy with no memory who lives in my home and occasionally sleeps with me.”
He gave me his best offended face. “Who occasionally sleeps with you? I would say it’s quite frequently.”
I smiled at him, worried about how he would react to my next words. “Labelling what we are is not important. If anyone asks you about it, you can say that you’re my special friend from the South.”
He appeared completely unaffected by my words. “I like ‘special friend.’ It has a certain mystique to it,” he said with a flourish of his hand.
“Perfect.” I leaned in for a kiss. “Now get your beautiful, muscular ass in that bedroom so we can get this whole issue of your ship fare settled before we have to leave.”
His cock twitched beneath his towel, and a gigantic smile spread across his face as he saluted me. “Aye, Captain!”