I sigh. “Prince Tristan Bloodweed?”
Viola laughs so hard she has tears in her eyes. “I love everything about this guy already. See you!” She sends me a kiss in the air and disappears in the living room.
I can’t believe I’m doing this.
This is so reckless. So crazy. What if he lied and there are actual consequences to what we’re doing right under Gloombane’s nose? But I still dash into my room and start kicking stuff under furniture, and tossing fallen clothes straight into my closet, without any consideration for the state they’ll be in tomorrow.
I know Tristan is persistent in his interest, but I still feel an ever-growing fear that he might give up on me and leave, if the wait is too long, so I return to him as soon as I’m ready.
“Um… come in?”
He’s already tied the horse to a nearby tree and rushes my way. “Have I mentioned yet how pretty your beauty spots are? I want to kiss each one,” he says, staring at me intensely. It’s as if he can see into my soul and touch it.
For once, my mouth is faster than my brain, because he is making me swoon. “Go ahead.”
With a roguish smile, he sweeps me off my feet again, as if I’m as light as a puppy, and enters the building, heading straight for the open door ahead.
I almost wish Viola would peek through the living room door and see this.
Almost.
“I will have to explore all of your skin to make sure I didn’t miss a single one,” Tristan murmurs, kissing the skin under my lip as I guide him toward my room. He doesn’t even look aroundmy house much, as if I’m the only thing that can interest him now.
“Oh my god,” I rasp, my heart beating too fast, too hard. This is such an unreal moment, but I want to live it. I’ve left the small wall light above my bed on, and as we shut the door behind us, its glow creates a warm ambience that sets Tristan’s hair on fire.
He sets me down on the desk and leans down for a kiss much deeper than the one before. This is a kiss that means business. He parts my lips with his tongue and licks my teeth in a promise of other things he can do with his mouth. His hands slide up my black jeans, kneading my thighs like they’re dough. The hunger in his touch communicates without words just how much he desires me.
Me.
Sure, I’m not ugly, but I’m not that special either. I’m a farm boy from Ohio who could use a visit to the gym more than once a year instead of spending his time reading. I’m not rich, not particularly witty, and right now, I don’t even have a job. None of that seems to matter to Tristan.
Each kiss, each stroke speaks of adoration I’ve never felt worthy of, and when he unclasps the cloak before pushing it off my shoulders, I tremble, feeling unexpectedly naked when he kisses my shoulder through thin fabric.
“Do you want me to do something?” I ask, because the last thing I want is to be a disappointment to this perfect man who graced me with all this attention.
He slowly pulls the shirt out of my pants as he looks into my eyes. There’s this intensity in him, as if he knows exactly where he should be.
“Is there somethingyou’dlike to do? I’m enjoying myself. You… have done this before, right?”
“N—” What the hell am I even saying? Well, I have not done it with him, or anyone quite like him, that’s for sure. “Yes, ofcourse I have. Just never… so fast,” I admit, pushing my fingers into his lush hair. Those have to be extensions… no man has hair like this in real life.
Unless he reallyisan elven prince, which seems so real yet still impossible. I touch the tip of his pointy ear, and not only is it warm and real but even twitches under my fingers.
“If the connection is there, why not pursue it?” he all but purrs as he pulls me closer to the edge of the table while staying between my legs. The motion is as smooth as a languid wave and brings my growing cock into contact with Tristan’s warm flesh.
He knows why not and told me himself, but clearly the ethics of his world are not enough to stop him.
I gasp, briefly shutting my eyes when he closes his arms around me. I don’t think anyone has ever wanted to hold me like this, as if I were irreplaceable. “Maybe I’m scared of… getting hurt.”
He pulls back, cocking his head at me. It makes me think I’ve said something wrong, revealed too much of myself and given him the ick. I can just imagine him making an excuse and leaving me. ‘Oh, I’m sorry, it’s the dog that’s a Dark Companion, not you, bye!’.
But Tristan does no such thing and instead gives me a tender kiss on the lips. “I will not hurt you. I will keep you safe. Your shadow may be bound to another, but it’s me who pulled you out of the river. The way you admit your weakness is refreshing and sweet. You know the path to my heart.”
I think I really have died and gone to heaven, because no man speaks like that, especially not to someone who isn’t already their partner. But, as foolish as that might be, I want to believe him, so I breathe in the herby scent straight from his hand and cross my ankles behind his back, locking him in. I want to be all cool and tease him, talking about the labyrinthine way tomy heart, but I hate the games people play with each other’s feelings.
I want this to be real.
“Mine’s open. Waiting for you.”
