sighed and slid closer to me. He leaned down snaking his arm from my shoulders to around my waist. The moment his lips connected with mine I forgot how to breathe again. Not that it mattered. Even if I had remembered there is no way I would have broken the kiss for something as trivial as oxygen. Zander kissed me like he never had before. It was akin to a raging wildfire. Raw and uncontained and without an ounce of self-control. I kissed him back just as fiercely, greedily accepting and reciprocating what he offered. He pulled back, not me.
“We’re supposed to just be sleeping together,” he whispered against my lips. As he did so, his lips temptingly brushed against them.
I couldn’t help it. I reached up, entwining my arms around his neck and crushed his lips back to mine. He just as greedily indulged me until my hands began feeling for the smooth planes of his warm, solid abs beneath the dressing shirt he wore. He stopped them in mid grab, gently placing a kiss atop my forehead. He brought his other arm around my waist, effectively encasing me in his embrace.
“Sleep Skyler,” he whispered into my ear.
When I went to protest he gave me a smile that was equal parts facetious and regrettable.
“Sleep,” he told me again. “If you don’t stop trying to disrobe me, I’m going to sleep on the floor. I only have so much self-control.”
I let out a little huff that sounded slightly childish, but I obliged. I didn’t want him to have to sleep on the floor and for all of his noble sensibilities I knew that he would make good on the threat.
To help me better control my hormones I turned on my side so I faced away from him. Zander turned on his side too, pulling me into his chest in a spooning position. I was all too aware of his presence behind me. Forcing my mind and my hormones to mellow out was no easy feat. I wrapped myself in the security of his warm arms and comforting scent. I forced my eyes shut and my breathing to even out. Instead of counting sheep, I let a thousand and one fantasies play out before my closed lids. They carried me into the land of dreaming.
Chapter 15
I did not dream of the deliciously pleasant thoughts I went to sleep thinking of. Instead I dreamt of the boy who looked like Zander but not and the girl who looked like me but not. Unlike me, she was Seelie and a Princess of Faerie. Her magic was one of empathy. She wasn’t telepathic but she could sense the moods of those around her. Their innermost, unspoken emotions came to her via muted impressions. She thought of it as a generally useless skill and one she would cast away if she were able to. She hated living life feeling emotions that were not her own. She felt like a trespasser on people’s darkest moods. She trained herself to tune out the impressions of feelings that came to her. Her magic always left an unsettling taste in her mouth and so she never used it.
As soon as her magic fully manifested on her seventeenth birthday, she confined herself in forced isolation. She never left her family’s estate and she only left her quarters within it when necessary. The less people she interacted with the better. Her magic couldn’t be used if there was no one around to receive empathic impressions from. Her mother and father usually indulged her eccentricity and allowed her solitude. But one day they insisted she join them for dinner, though they refused to provide a reason why that evening was different than any other evening she ate alone in her quarters.
It was not long before she discovered why. The King of Faerie joined them for dinner and though her parents loved her, like most fae, they were not above scheming or posturing to increase their status and position of power in society. They knew their daughter’s beauty was unparalleled and expected the Fae King to become besotted with her. They were correct in their assumption. The Fae King became enamored the moment her saw
“We’re supposed to just be sleeping together,” he whispered against my lips. As he did so, his lips temptingly brushed against them.
I couldn’t help it. I reached up, entwining my arms around his neck and crushed his lips back to mine. He just as greedily indulged me until my hands began feeling for the smooth planes of his warm, solid abs beneath the dressing shirt he wore. He stopped them in mid grab, gently placing a kiss atop my forehead. He brought his other arm around my waist, effectively encasing me in his embrace.
“Sleep Skyler,” he whispered into my ear.
When I went to protest he gave me a smile that was equal parts facetious and regrettable.
“Sleep,” he told me again. “If you don’t stop trying to disrobe me, I’m going to sleep on the floor. I only have so much self-control.”
I let out a little huff that sounded slightly childish, but I obliged. I didn’t want him to have to sleep on the floor and for all of his noble sensibilities I knew that he would make good on the threat.
To help me better control my hormones I turned on my side so I faced away from him. Zander turned on his side too, pulling me into his chest in a spooning position. I was all too aware of his presence behind me. Forcing my mind and my hormones to mellow out was no easy feat. I wrapped myself in the security of his warm arms and comforting scent. I forced my eyes shut and my breathing to even out. Instead of counting sheep, I let a thousand and one fantasies play out before my closed lids. They carried me into the land of dreaming.
Chapter 15
I did not dream of the deliciously pleasant thoughts I went to sleep thinking of. Instead I dreamt of the boy who looked like Zander but not and the girl who looked like me but not. Unlike me, she was Seelie and a Princess of Faerie. Her magic was one of empathy. She wasn’t telepathic but she could sense the moods of those around her. Their innermost, unspoken emotions came to her via muted impressions. She thought of it as a generally useless skill and one she would cast away if she were able to. She hated living life feeling emotions that were not her own. She felt like a trespasser on people’s darkest moods. She trained herself to tune out the impressions of feelings that came to her. Her magic always left an unsettling taste in her mouth and so she never used it.
As soon as her magic fully manifested on her seventeenth birthday, she confined herself in forced isolation. She never left her family’s estate and she only left her quarters within it when necessary. The less people she interacted with the better. Her magic couldn’t be used if there was no one around to receive empathic impressions from. Her mother and father usually indulged her eccentricity and allowed her solitude. But one day they insisted she join them for dinner, though they refused to provide a reason why that evening was different than any other evening she ate alone in her quarters.
It was not long before she discovered why. The King of Faerie joined them for dinner and though her parents loved her, like most fae, they were not above scheming or posturing to increase their status and position of power in society. They knew their daughter’s beauty was unparalleled and expected the Fae King to become besotted with her. They were correct in their assumption. The Fae King became enamored the moment her saw
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