Page 102 of Samhain
I sighed and laughed, curling into her. “I shouldn’t.”
“But not won’t,” she whispered. “C’mon. I’ve had to share you with Lucifer this whole time.” That made me look up at her where I met that steel gaze, flickering with something sinful. “Let’s have a girls’ night. Like we used to.”
“You need to be sure,” I said. “One wrong move, our affair is on the front page of The Puck. Nowhere is safe.”
“I’ll sneak you into my room,” she said. “I booked the presidential suite on Lex’s credit card.”
I snickered, everything in me wanting to give in to her, wanting to give in to this sweet temptation. A night alone? With my wife? In a big hotel room? Well, not even the end of the world could sway me from that.
“Okay, darling.” I pushed up to kiss her, and her moan of approval sunk deep down inside of me.
I spent the rest of that night making her moan.
Sometime later…much, much later…after I let her strip me bare and lick whichever parts pleased her most, we lay in the king-size bed on our stomachs, facing each other. Naked from the waist up, I let my eyes trail over her freckled ivory skin. Such beautiful skin. I wanted to spend all night connecting the dots, seeing what constellations I could make.
We talked about everything. Poppy. Lex. Carter. My grandmother and her mother and the upcoming wedding.
“She’ll expect it before I run for Congress,” Ivy said. “Sometime in the next year.”
I could no longer act like it didn’t hurt, and I bit my bottom lip as I imagined what it would be like when it finally happened. When the two loves of my life stood in front of the whole world and pronounced their love for each other. I’d have to pretend to be happy, even as it spread like rot inside every part of my heart.
“It doesn’t change anything.” She grabbed my hand, bringing my knuckles to her lips for a tender kiss. “We still married each other in those woods.”
I snorted. “Yeah, and now we even have a child to take care of.”
She pulled one side of her mouth into a smile. “How are you feeling? After the thistles?”
“Fine,” I said. But my secret weighed on me. I didn’t tell anyone about my memory or what Alberich said. Part of me wanted to spill it right then and there. Ivy would understand. Ivy might even know what to do. Of the four of us, I’d loved her first. We were best friends, lovers, girlfriends, soul mates. She understood me in ways no one else ever could.
But Alberich’s words rattled through me again.
Little Thistle, you’ll come to owe me quite a bit before we’re through.
It sounded so…intimate. The nickname. The promise of a debt to be paid. What did he know that I didn’t? How was he able to be at the car accident? He was supposed to have been locked up in Faerie. Cursed! Unable to come to the realm of man. If he did, his first act was supposed to have been the complete annihilation of my species, not rescuing little ole me from a tumbling car wreck.
Perhaps I imagined the whole thing. Perhaps I made it up — a dream, an invention of my subconscious to deal with what I’d seen and done.
“Are you okay?” Ivy danced a finger over my shoulder and down the center of my spine. I shivered at the touch, scooting closer to her so I could use her body for warmth.
“Of course,” I said. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“This trip was intense,” she said. “It’s okay to be messed-up about it. I am.”
“Honestly, darling,” I said, “I survived growing up royal. I can handle a deposed king’s temper tantrum.”
She tried to smile, but concern radiated out of her gaze. “Miri, you stopped him dead in his tracks.”
Little Thistle, his voice hissed through my head again.
“We got lucky,” I said. “I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the rest of you.” I knew that in my soul. They each gave me strength, and from that, I’d been able to surprise myself.
Ivy raised a skeptical eyebrow, but that was her. Her mind was always working, always calculating the next risk, always planning four steps ahead.
I should tell her. The words were right there on the tip of my tongue.
But…I stopped myself.
I promised her honesty. I promised her the truth. But I didn’t even know what this was yet. Until I did, I wanted to keep it to myself.
