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But if anything, Tabitha looked affronted at his admission. “I see. You’re a prince, so you were allowed to risk yourself for the kingdom you loved, but none of us were meant to do the same for you?”
Leo frowned. What was he to say to that? “I don’t feel much like a prince anymore.” He paused, gathering his courage before the rest of his news tumbled out in a steady stream. “I wanted to see my family, but now that they have Archie to be Ainsley’s husband and their prince, I don’t know if I want news of my return to go beyond that—at least not for right now. Are you all right with that?”
Tabitha’s eyes grew distant, something foreign and solemn in her words. “It makes no difference to me what title you carry. Have I not already proven I would hold on to you no matter what form you take?”
She had proven far more than that—something that caused his heart to stir and seemed a far more precious form of magic. But he wanted more than her hand this time. More than her words. They had both held each other so much inside the faerie realm; there didn’t seem to be any need to delay. They would relearn his human form together.
Leo took another step onto the porch, letting his actions show his own intentions.
They continued to match each other step for step.
He reached her face at the same time she reached his.
Their lips met as one, equal in every measure.
Leo had entered the forest and came out as a cat at sixteen. He had never fallen in love before Tabitha and had only been drunk once before, getting into the wine at an age his parents would not have approved of. But that strangled memory was what he thought of now.
From the time he had entered the Fae Queen’s court until this moment, a part of him had been drunk, numb, asleep, but was now awakening. The pain was an almost welcome assurance that his heart was still beating, that his lungs still drew breath.
That he was still alive or perhaps alive again.
That the final curse had been lifted.
Leo still believed in the fae and the powerful magic they wielded, but he also believed in Tabitha and a love strong enough to counter any curse. And whatever life or lives he had left, he was determined to make the best of it, kissing Tabitha until they both needed breath.
“You . . . Would you like to come in?” The girl fumbled adorably under her curtain of hair, reaching her hand for the doorknob behind her. “It isn’t a castle, but my mistress signed the shop over to me when her husband died last winter, so you could stay here like you did before . . .” Her hand froze and her cheeks turned a bright crimson. “I mean, I know you’re not a cat anymore, but . . . I want you to stay. Do you want to?”
Leo grinned. That was fast. He might have been disappointed Tabitha had robbed him of the chance to propose first, but it wasn’t like he wasn’t prepared. They might not be the most conventional couple around, but they both knew what they both wanted. “And the cats won’t mind if you take in another stray?”
“Huh. I don’t care if they do.” Tabitha huffed, like she intended to give any feline dissenters a firm talking to, and Leo couldn’t be more in love.
He scooped her up bridal-style and carried her into a shop he already knew, though from a vastly different angle. Reds, oranges, and other colors his cat eyes had been unable to see popped up everywhere.
It was ridiculous.
Things with him and Tabitha often were.
But they would make things right eventually. He would give her the ring Ainsley already picked out for them from their mother’s collection—a cat’s eye with diamonds—and they would find a way to be married before the night was out. He might even return to the castle one day—if only to make certain the upstart miller’s son was making good use of his throne. But for now, Leo was happy to be just a man at home with his woman, kissing her to his heart’s delight while several misplaced and scandalized cats looked on.
The End
