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I had no answers.
“Geneviève?” Eli’s voice tugged me out of my thoughts.
“Just thinking aboutdraugr,” I said.
He kept his gaze fixed on the road as he said, “I offered my blood because you have enoughdraugrtraits that I’ve had my suspicions about your humanity. If you need blood, mine is available. I would’ve offered sooner if I thought you really did need it now.” He glanced at me and teased, “But mostly, you appear to need liquor not blood, so I offered that instead.”
His smile had me making a rude gesture at him, even as it eased the tension between us. There was only so far we could contain whatever was between us, and my impulsive kiss earlier had eroded some of that peace. Honestly, the fluctuation of my magic had started it months ago.
It hit me that it was related. “My magic . . .” I shook my head, feeling like an idiot. My magic had identified him as my partner, and it was erratic from being unbound, but magic was not some weird thing with no rules. The thing binding me for most of my life was magic, too. It and my own gifts were at odds. I needed to be tethered. “I think I need to have sex.”
“I’ll offer that, too,” he said lightly. “If memory serves, Ihaveoffered.”
I sighed. “And I am considering it, but—”
Eli stopped the car alongside the street, sliding into a narrow parking spot as if he could drive with his eyes closed. He still had one hand on the wheel, but he twisted to stare at me. “Truly?”
I sighed again. “Yes.”
“With me?” he clarified.
“I liked kissing you.” I shot him my wickedest smile. “The handcuffs idea wasn’t without merit either.”
Eli’s quiet groan made me need to muffle my own response. Whatever else we were, our chemistry was excellent. It was the “what else” part that complicated my life. Still, I felt like I had to tell him.
“Eli?”
“Cream puff?”
“It’s not just that. My magic is weird lately because my mother made a bargain. A faery bargain.” I felt like the air itself went still when I said it. I also felt like he deserved to know, since he was a factor. My shift happened because Eli had become my partner, and of course, he was dealing with the fallout. “And that whole ‘mine’ thing that happened was just my magic being crazyballs.”
He made a “continue” gesture.
“I went to see my mother. She made a faery bargain so my beacon to the grave would be tamped down,” I said. “And mydraugrtraits tamped down. Until I met ‘a true partner, loyal and able to stand at my side.’”
Eli stared at me as if I’d just declared him a frog who ought to kiss me, or maybe since I was the one who’d been restricted, I was the frog in this fairy tale. Either way, I felt like he was hearing sentences I didn’t mean to say.
“Geneviève . . . I am honored.” His voice was thick with emotion I didn’t want to identify.
“Honored?”
“That your magic chose me,” he said in that same voice. He took my hand in his and lifted it. “It means more than I can say.”
I was running out of fight. “I trust you.”
His lips brushed my knuckles. Such a gentle thing ought not make my heart race or my knickers damp. His allure somehow ignored what ought to be and how my body ought to react. I pulled my hand away.
“And you have my back,” I said as calmly as I could. “You protect me. Who else would be my partner?”
“Geneviève . . . I have waited for years to hear you admit these things.”
Again with the perhaps-we-weren’t-in-the-same-conversation. This was why dealing with the fae—and probably thedraugr—was fraught with misunderstanding. It was like cross-cultural conflicts, but cross-species. A friend of mine had accidentally ended up engaged because she’d accepted a gift thatshethought was sweet, and the man thought was a statement of intentions.
Carefully, I said, “You’re one of my closest friends.”
Eli gave me a look with so much heat in it that I was suddenly grateful he’d respected my requests not to seduce me. Then he said, “And I am more than ready to prove that you will never need another person in your bed.”
“Somehow, I don’t haveanydoubts of your prowess after that kiss,” I said quietly. Admittedly, the women at the tavern who stared at him like they would sell their souls for another night with him had already convinced me that I would more than enjoy being naked with Eli.
