Chapter 3 #2
Heart rate ticking up, I replied as calmly as I could, “Abel, you’ve never been my betrothed. You need to stop with these delusional beliefs.”
Abel’s lips pulled back, making him look more wolf than fae. “I am. You just won’t accept—”
“No, you’re not,” I nearly shouted.
The stranger’s attention drifted back to me, and perhaps it was the chaos of the morning or the worry that I would never find the Stone due to Abel’s behavior, but I did the first thing I could think of to deter my irrational and potentially dangerous neighbor.
Especially since this stranger looked like someone nobody would want to mess with.
“In fact, Abel, this male is my betrothed. Isn’t that right?” I asked the stranger.
Before I could decipher the stranger’s widening eyes or contemplate the wisdom of my decision, I pressed both of my palms to his cheeks and slammed my lips to his.
The stranger stiffened.
Abel gasped.
I closed my eyes, mortified at what I was doing, but committed to seeing this through since I was desperate enough to do anything to get Abel off my back.
So I kissed the male, moving my lips under his, then slanting my mouth to get a better angle. The stranger smelled of pine, cedar, and the sea, and he tasted of mint and fresh air. Goddess, he tasted good. No, not good . . . intoxicating. His scent wrapped around me. Just as fast, his aura spiked.
Even though I should have been pulling back, I deepened our kiss.
But amazingly, the stranger did too.
A low growl filled his throat, humming right through me and causing goosebumps to rise along my flesh. His arms curled me tighter in his embrace, holding me in an entirely new way as his mouth moved with mine.
Stars Above.
The stranger’s tongue darted out, running along my lower lip, and something flashed on his wrist, but I didn’t pay it any attention. I opened my mouth beneath his. His tongue caressed my own, and then, all I felt was him.
A hard chest. Caressing hands. An aching need. Tongues and taste and absolute want.
A low moan left me.
Time stopped.
The streets of the capital vanished.
My belly flooded with desire, and I tangled my fingers in his hair, then kissed him even more.
“Fuck,” he whispered low and hard. “You’re—”
Another flare of magic came from his wrist, but he stopped talking and wrapped me even tighter in his embrace, and then he devoured me.
Our kiss turned frantic. Raw. Another moan left me. I wanted him. Needed him. Goddess Above, more, more, more. I wanted more.
I wanted to straddle him, ride him, climb him like a tree. Lust hit me so suddenly that I could barely breathe.
A snarl tore through the streets.
A rush of air hit me, and my arse fell to the cobblestones. Coldness suddenly greeted me.
My eyes flashed open, but the stranger was gone.
Fury emanated from Abel, and my barely coherent mind struggled to comprehend what appeared in front of me.
A knife.
Abel had the stranger pressed against the back of the house, his arm lodged under his throat, with a knife threatening to slice the stranger’s neck open.
My jaw dropped.
“Abel!” I pushed to a stand and struggled to uncloud my thoughts. “Abel!” I screamed again, but my psychotic neighbor didn’t release him. I scanned the area, but there weren’t any fae around, or if there had been, they’d scattered.
I whipped back to face him, but Abel hadn’t relented. If anything, he pushed the knife even more into the stranger.
I blinked stupidly and assessed the situation as quickly as I could.
Strong shoulders filled out the stranger’s tunic.
Black leggings clung to his muscular thighs, and his hands—that were still held up in surrender—were so large that I questioned the wisdom of Abel’s decision.
Those hands looked as though they could crush stone, yet the stranger appeared reluctant to act.
Maybe I’d been wrong. Perhaps he was a gentle soul despite his size, and the huge sword he carried was just for show. He might not know how to fight or get out of this situation.
A situation I’d put him in.
My eyes flashed wide. I would have to save him. Perhaps my fire element. No, he could get burned in the process. Or maybe, I could use my telekinetic magic and wrestle the knife from Abel’s hand. No, the stranger’s throat could get sliced accidentally in the process.
Oh Gods, maybe I would have to use my hidden magic, because if it was the only option . . . No, I just need to call the kingsfae.
Trying to maintain a level head, I assessed the situation more. Abel hadn’t advanced with his knife. He was simply holding the stranger, and the stranger wasn’t fighting or provoking my crazy neighbor further.
Right. I need to call the kingsfae. If I did, Abel would be arrested, and perhaps this innocent stranger would be spared, and nobody would need to learn my secret.
I whipped around, searching for help, but there was no one nearby. Whoever owned this house didn’t appear to be home, and this far into the outskirts of the capital was quieter. Trees were everywhere, and even the houses were farther apart.
I was on my own.
Shite. Whirling back around, I said in as calm a voice as I could muster, “Abel, put the knife down. Don’t hurt him. He’s done nothing wrong.”
“He kissed you,” Abel hissed.
I gulped and took a hesitant step closer to them.
Abel pressed the knife more into the male’s throat. The blade sank into his skin, threatening to tear it open.
“Abel! Abel, no. Stop.” I held my hands up and took another step cautiously forward.
Abel seethed, his lips curling back.
The stranger still didn’t move. He didn’t even blink.
“Abel, this is ridiculous, even for you.” Despite my words, I was careful to keep my voice low and gentle.
“You are not my betrothed. You never have been, and I’m not bound to you in any way.
Who I choose to marry is not of your concern, and I’ve chosen to marry this male, even if it was unbeknownst to you.
Now, please, release him. He’s done nothing wrong. Please, Abel.”
But Abel’s hand tightened so much around the knife that his knuckles turned white.
“How long have you been with her?” His focus stayed on the stranger, as though my words had fallen on deaf ears, and the earlier flare of jealousy that had wrapped around his aura when we’d spoken of Lexer increased a hundred-fold.
The stranger’s attention slid my way for the merest second. When our gazes locked, something flashed across his expression, the first break in his composure. A look of heat, fire, and want burned so quickly, but it was fleeting and gone so fast that I wondered if I’d imagined it.
“Nearly a month,” he replied calmly, then eyed Abel again. “And as she said, I’m her betrothed. She’s mine. It’s best that you remember that.”
A shiver struck me at his possessive tone. Mine. Every fae male knew what that declaration meant, but then I remembered that this male was merely playing along, doing me a solid favor considering how psychotic my neighbor was acting.
“Abel?” I said softly, trying again. “Let him go. Please.”
Abel’s nostrils flared, and he glanced my way. “You are meant for me, Prim. Sooner or later, you’ll accept that and—”
A blur of movement and a surprised shout of pain came from him. Then, Abel was on the ground, face-first, both hands held behind him by the stranger.
I blinked.
Blinked again.
What just happened?
“How—” I couldn’t manage to ask more.
The stranger shoved his knee into Abel’s spine, and the huge sword at his back gleamed in the sunlight.
My neighbor struggled and thrashed beneath him, but it did no good. Whatever the stranger had done had pinned Abel completely. And on top of that, he’d also dislodged Abel’s knife and had flicked it down the alleyway to clatter harmlessly to the ground.
“You just . . .” My gaze met his, and I realized that he likely did know how to use that sword strapped to his back. “But how? How did you do that so fast?”
The stranger’s tone was no different than it’d been a moment ago.
Calm and smooth. As though females nearly ramming him with their enchanted carpet, or forcing a realm-shattering kiss upon him, or having an unhinged neighborly dispute brought to his feet were no different to him than having a cup of morning tea.
It also wasn’t lost on me that he ignored my question completely and merely said, “Do us a favor and call the kingsfae.”