I swept her hair over her shoulder to palm the back of her neck and forced her to meet my gaze once more.
“SayAhaminee,” I told her. “You don’t need your wand, just the spell.” It was a more advanced phrase than the one her textbook would have taught her initially, one I only knew because of my unique upbringing.
Becoming King of the Midnight Fae required a certain amount of defense instruction early on in my life. While I learned some things at the Academy, I mostly attended as a formality or a rite of passage.
Aflora studied me for a long moment as if debating whether or not to put her faith in me. I allowed her the time to consider her alternatives. She either believed me or she didn’t.
“There’s only one way to know the truth,” I whispered, catching the distrust in her gaze. I couldn’t blame her for being wary. While I might have gone out of my way to help her these last two months, it wasn’t all out of the goodness of my heart. I wanted her to survive for a multitude of reasons, one of which existed in my pants.
Hence our frequent dream sessions.
Which worsened my cravings for her rather than satisfying them, as tasting her only made me want to experience reality with her that much more.
“Ahaminee,” Aflora said, incredulity written into her tone and features. But there was enough power tied to it for theincantation to work. I felt the spell shimmering over the air, reaching out for her creation and beckoning her to join us.
When nothing immediately happened, Aflora’s gaze narrowed in suspicion. “It’s not a trick,” I promised her. “Just be patient.”
Her jaw clenched, but she gave me a stiff nod, choosing to believe me for a little bit longer.
I released her neck to stroke my hand up and down her back, lending her my strength in the process and caressing the energy vibrating around her aura.
It was a dangerous game to allow my power to mingle with hers. An intimacy I shouldn’t grant her. One that would infuriate the entire Council if they ever found out. Yet it came so naturally to me that I couldn’t stop it, my connection to dark magic thriving when in her presence because of our mating potential.
She relaxed considerably, her expression softening. “What are you doing?” she asked, her pupils dilating.
“Something I shouldn’t be doing,” I murmured, my fingertips trailing up to her throat to brush her quickening pulse.
She leaned into my touch, her eyes falling half-closed. “Why does it feel so good?”
“Because it’s meant to soothe you.” My thumb traced her jaw, my gaze tracking the movement. She had such soft skin, reminding me of a flower petal. Her lips were soft, too. Or I imagined them to be in our shared dreams. They looked soft now, plump and ripe. I licked my own, my mind wandering to a place it shouldn’t as I increased the intimacy of our connection.
She shivered, the power humming between us in synchronization. It’d be so easy for her to reach out, to take a sliver of my access to the source, but she didn’t. She merely basked in the glow, her eyes now fully closed in contentment.
Until a cooing sound caused them to spring open in surprise. Our link weakened as her focus went to the falcon swoopingin from the hallway, her expression opening in excitement and pure joy. “Clove!”
Aflora’s familiar landed on the bed and shook out its feathers before peering menacingly my way.
Night cawed out a warning, but I sent a blast of security through our link, calming the animal before it picked a fight with the much larger bird. I wasn’t concerned about Night’s success—I knew he would win, as he always did—but I just didn’t want a repeat of the experience outside.
The falcon shifted closer to Aflora, its black eyes on me the entire time.
“I’m not a threat to your fae,” I informed the bird, lifting my hand for inspection. Not that it helped.
Familiars were resolutely protective of their owners, refusing to submit even to a Royal Fae of my caliber.
“The first rule you need to learn is how to communicate with your familiar via the bond you formed at the time of creation,” I said softly, careful not to provoke any emotions from her that might inspire retaliation from her new pet. “For example, I’m currently reassuring Night that you and Clove are not a threat to us. You should do the same for your falcon.”
“How do I do that?” she asked.
“Here, I’ll show you.” I slowly covered her hand with my own and opened our connection to begin a new tutorial on familiars and how to control them.
We covered a variety of spells all meant for calling our familiars to us. I also gave her some hints on how to properly defend herself and Clove when needed and even went into a handful of offensive incantations.
A hint of danger niggled at the back of my mind throughout our entire exchange, the notion that the method of my instruction posed significant risk to the crown, but Aflora neveronce tried to push, only using our link to learn and improve her own skills.
It took several hours, our familiars watching and bonding the entire time.
By the time we were finished, Aflora had propped herself up against her headboard, legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles, with me right beside her. She wore the most satisfied grin, her blue eyes sparkling with life once more and confirming I’d more than completed the task of improving her mood.
