Page 64 of Cursed Fae (Fae War Chronicles 2)
He nods in understanding and releases my hand to get to his feet.
“Thank you, Falcon,” I tell the pixie who only just now returns his attention to the table.
He smiles at me. “Ye’r most welcome.”
The walk back to our hut is a somber one and done in complete silence. My mind unable to focus on anything but the unbreakable bond, I block out everything else. That moment, the moment Taranus bound himself to me will be forever branded in my mind.
A nightmare on repeat.
And every time I think I get one step closer to being able to be with Rafferty, life throws us a curveball. Every. Single. Time.
The door closes behind us, and Rafferty comes around to stand in front of me. “Are you all right?”
“No,” I reply honestly. “I really thought there would be a way. I mean, she created this whole place. Why can’t she break that magic?”
“Binding magic is just that,” he replies, cupping my cheek. “Binding.”
“And you are honor bound to respect your brother, right? That’s why the dark magic attacks you?”
“It was,” he replies. “Originally, even as I hated Taranus, the idea of loving you the way I do while you were bound to him—it was wrong. It still feels wrong when I think too long on it.”
I stopped listening completely the momentloving youcame out of his mouth. “Loving me?”
Rafferty smiles softly. “Did I say that out loud?”
“You did.”
He steps closer, his hand completely covering my cheek. “I do love you, Ember. You are my strength and my weakness. My joy and torment. And every moment in your presence, I can do nothing but wrack my brain, searching for what I did to deserve such light in my darkest hours.”
“I thought that maybe your struggle was partially self-inflicted. That if you didn’t have time to think about it, then maybe it wouldn’t be so hard for us.” I close my eyes, and a few tears slip free. “Ridiculous thought.”
“Not ridiculous,” Rafferty says. “You amaze me, you know that?”
“How so?”
Rafferty arches a dark eyebrow. “You have been dying for five years, and you still find a way to be hopeful.”
“Hopeful doesn’t do a damn bit of good. I can be hopeful an unbreakable bond can be broken—doesn’t mean it will work. I can be hopeful my life will not end far too soon, but that is yet another thing I have no control over.” Shaking my head, I try to swallow down the emotions burning me up from the inside. “I went home to give you space, Rafferty. Because my being near you was tearing you apart. Hell, it was tearing me apart to see you struggle.”
“Not having you near me was far worse,” he replies. A massive man, weighed down by emotion. “You cannot possibly imagine the loss I felt when you were gone.” He sinks to his knees in front of me and presses his lips to the exposed flesh of my belly. “Of knowing I would likely never see you again.”
“I don’t understand. You told me then that I was pushing you into the dark.”
“You are my light.” He reaches forward and rests both hands on either side of me. “You are my light,” he repeats. “But it isn’t possible. I’ve already had my chance. Yet with you—” He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “With you, it feels like I have found my purpose.”
“I feel the same,” I reply, my voice barely above a whisper.
He smiles up at me. “Then perhaps we should take advantage of what we have been given.”
“A shorter life span? Extra doses of adrenaline?”
His grin spreads, and he reaches up to trail a finger down my body, starting at my throat and gently caressing until he reaches the fabric just below my belly button. My body heats in response, wetness pooling between my legs. Damn this man and his addicting touch.
“Time,” he says. “We have tonight. And for once, I’ve no darkness coaxing me to give in to you because it’s wrong. It's just me, Ember.”
“I am going to die, Rafferty.”
He swallows hard. “I know that is likely what awaits us.”