CHAPTER 27 #4
“I know,” I murmured, running a hand over his arm, feeling the firm muscle beneath. “You were trying to help me, but the influence, the choking . . .”
“I shouldn’t have done it. Or at least, not like that.” He let out a slow breath. “I can be a bit of a prick sometimes.”
A quiet snort slipped from me, laughter rolling in its wake. Reagan’s eyes widened slightly, then glimmered, amused, a grin unfurling across his sensual lips.
“You’re stating the obvious,” I murmured, inching closer.
He seized the opportunity, drawing me against him, one arm encircling my waist, the other cradling the side of my neck.
“This face was all I could think about,” he murmured, his eyes tracking the flick of my tongue wetting my lips. “How fortunate for me that you stumbled into Mountheim.”
I blinked, my brows high as my fingers halted over the buttons of his shirt. “Do you mean that, even with all the headaches of looking after a human?”
“You mean the headaches I had after every single time you put yourself in danger?” His lips curled a little more. “Yes, Jan. Even then. I’d go after you every time, anywhere, to the depths of Pavilion if I needed to. But I’d find you. I’ll always find you.”
The blunt words warmed me in more ways than one. I lifted my chin. “You’d do that for anyone in this estate.”
He tsked, shaking his head lazily. “I am not in love with just anyone.”
My brows arched all the way up as I watched his whole body relax, the smile spreading wider.
“You’re surprised.”
The world stilled around us, and I searched his face. “Shouldn’t I be surprised? Should I have guessed that?”
“You should, but I don’t want you to have to guess. I want you to know that I chose you,” he said solemnly.
I swore I felt the brush of his power caress my skin, as if it were a sentient thing that left his body and sought some answering and playful part of me. My lips curved.
“Let’s say that . . . I’m in love with you, too,” I started, and Reagan gave me a smug smile. “What would we do with it?”
“Well, hypothetically, if you were in love with me, I’d tell you that I will do everything I can to keep you, if that is what you want.
” His tone was sure. “I’d tell you that I’ve studied every way to address the Court tonight and done everything I could for this situation.
” His hand remained on the side of my neck, thumb stroking the underside of my chin.
“And when I’m successful, Zara willing, I’ll come for you later tonight, and I’ll make you mine. ”
I blinked a few times. “What do you mean, mine?” My voice shook despite my best efforts to steady it.
His grin was wholly ruthless. My toes curled. “My lady.”
For a moment, I couldn’t speak, couldn’t even breathe. My head spun, my skin heating as fast as it takes for kindling to catch fire.
“You’re insane,” I breathed, shaking my head.
“But everything else you said, the entire fixing tonight, was that what you’re focused on in the last days?
” I asked, itching to know how he planned to do it, but refraining from asking.
Reagan nodded. “I know you can’t tell me, so I’m just going to say that Mountheim is fortunate to have you.
And I’m sure you’ll succeed. I believe in you. ”
This was the first sliver of hope that tonight had offered, and I clung to it. Clung to it like a single breath of air to loosen the iron grip around my ribs. The rest of his words . . . I wasn’t ready to process them just yet.
I thought he’d be relieved, that it would put some ease in those ice-blue eyes. Instead, some conflict flickered across his face, his brows pinching tight.
“There’s still a lot to do,” he murmured, his voice rough with something I couldn’t name.
“Things I need to tell you. Things we need time to sort through. But I want to move forward. With you. I haven’t felt this hopeful about the future in a long time, Jane, like the estate will finally be free of the blight, the soil, the attacks, the faltering wards. And you. A future with you.”
A bead of sweat slid down my spine, my legs restless under me. Future. With him. His head dipped, his forehead brushing mine, and I let myself close my eyes, just for a moment.
“I’ll fix it,” he murmured, his voice dropping lower, softer. “Malory will take care of things. But there’s something else I need to show you. Wait for me here. I’ll be back soon.”
“All right.”
Reluctantly, my hands slid from his collar. I stood rooted to the spot as he disappeared into the staircase.
He had a plan. He wasn’t just desperate or resigned to whatever outcome tonight would bring. Reagan had prepared for his conversation with the court mage, and he would wield that sharp mind of his to fix this. For his estate, for his people.
I wanted to beam. I wanted to find Gwinifer and Finn and tell them how optimistic he was. How confident. But a voice—a feeling—whispered in the back of my mind, warning me against it. Telling me my hope was a treacherous, deceitful thing, waiting to strike me straight through the heart.