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I paused and looked at him. “Eli.”
“I deserve a person who loves me as I love her.” He pulled me closer. “And you deserve a person who loves and accepts you as you love and accept me.”
I sighed. “I do love you. Completely. Wholly. To the point of madness.”
He kissed me, as gently as if I were the fairy tale princess he should have. And although I wouldn’t admit it to anyone other than him, I felt that way. Sweet. Good. Fragile. No one else had ever made me feel like I could lower my weapons, like I could leave my sword at the gate.
“Shall we go catch a murderer?” Eli asked, sounded far too cheerful. “I can be free right this moment . . . or do you still need time to think?”
I gave him a curious look. Admittedly, Eli was always happy to exercise his warrior side. He might feign being a man of leisure, but my beloved was as much warrior as politician, as much shrewd businessman as ruthless fighter.
“What gives?”
The laugh he gave was pure sin, and my entire body responded to the wicked promise in that sound.
“Bonbon, once this case is done, I will inform my uncle of our bargain.” He gave me a look filled with promise I wasn’t yet understanding.
“So, you are eager to go home?” I asked.
“In a manner of speaking.” Eli pushed me toward his car, stalking me in a way that was both new and wholly predatory. His body protected me from view, despite the fact that we were out in the open. And I thrilled to the thought of his very public attention.
“Eli?” My own voice sounded more breathy than usual. Aggressive Eli was fast becoming one of my many favorite flavors of Eli.
Eli lowered his hand between us, fingers toying with the seam of my jeans. “When there are no rules left . . .”
“Home,” I echoed as understanding dawned on me.
I was his home, and he was mine. And once we were able to resolve this one last obstacle there was nothing to stop us from getting “married” in the way of his people. Sex. Intimacy. All of it.
I whispered, “No more rules.”
“Exactly, Geneviève.” He leaned closer, pressing himself tighter to me.
My eyes fluttered closed as desire made me weak. I was grateful for the car I was leaning against, and I let his magic and mine entwine. I forced my voice to be steady and let my guard down even more than usual. “An eternity making love with you still doesn’t seem like enough to fulfill this need.”
He chuckled, rubbing against me so that he drew a whimper from me. “We shall try, Geneviève. We shall definitely try, over and over . . .”
I whimpered as he pulled back. Maybe the magic of our bondwasmaking us more desperate, but I knew magic—had harnessed it from the moment I first drew breath in this life and so had he. We’d use this magic as we’d used the magic in both of our lives. I was no longer frightened, no longer angry. The force of this thing between us was heightened because we were so damnably compatible. Why not accept it?
“When do we speak to the king?” I asked, shoulders back and ready to move forward. Finally. I was done resisting. Fae bonds only affirmed what I already hoped: we were perfect together. That’s why Eli was already so sure of us, why he knew we could work around my fears, his heritage, my genetics.
“Soon. First, we must resolve this case,” Eli pronounced. “I cannot spend our wedding looking for threats to your life. Find out who is targeting you. Get married.”
I took several moments, shoving my needs back into their box, before I said, “I expect a honeymoon. Days and nights and weeks with no clothes, no work . . .”
“It will be my pleasure . . . and yours,” Eli promised.
Words escaped me as thoughts, ones he was projecting as hard as he could, crashed into my mind. Images. Sounds. Tastes.
“Tease,” I whispered.
“Promising, not teasing. I plan to deliver on every promise,” he countered.
And as much as I wanted to drag him inside and continue to enjoy my newfound acceptance of our future, I knew that the rules were still in place until we went before the King ofElphameto plead our case. And once I had Eli naked and able to be fully mine as my spouse, I wasn’t going to want to interrupt it for beheadingdraugr.
“To Houston then?” Eli prompted.
“To Houston,” I agreed.
