Rori spit the coffee she’d just sipped out of her mouth, spraying it over the railing. She coughed, eyes wide as she shot Cael a surprised look. Cael smiled behind the rim of his mug, his silver eyes shimmering, utterly pleased with his story.
Cassy patted her back several times. “Girl, easy. It’s not such a shock. I mean, he comes from good blood. Anyone related to Steve is good blood, good-looking, good eats.”
“Cassy!” Rori choked.
Cassy laughed. Cael chuckled, resting a hand on Cassy’s shoulder.
“Easy, love. Let her enjoy her coffee first.”
Cassy pouted. “I’m being honest.” That damn pout meltedinto a mischievous grin, her dark eyes twinkling like the Devil in disguise. She poked Rori’s shoulder. “And a man is fucking nuts not to fall for you. As it is, you left Brandon completely flabbergasted. Steve had to assure him it was no fault of your own. You had no idea that his brother had it bad for you. No one knew until Steve talked to him last night.”
“Um, okay.” Rori cupped the mug between her hands. “So, this is a bit much for me to swallow without my coffee.”
“Says my vixen best friend who was swept away by Steve’s godly brother. Hopefully there was no other swallowing going on last night that may have impaired your throat.”
Cassy winked. Rori’s face boiled. Cael turned away, but the slight heaving of his shoulders assured her he was hiding his laughter.
Rori shook her head, placed the mug back on the table, and brushed her hands on her borrowed shorts. She’d need to ask Cael where her clothes went. After she escaped this turn of conversation.
“While I’m here, I’m going to take advantage of the beach. I’ll be back.”
“But—”
Rori threw up a hand, stopping her friend. “I’ll be back in a few.”
She couldn’t escape her friend’s taunting fast enough. With the mix of emotions that evolved from the events last night, she struggled with her own conflicting thoughts and feelings about Thaddeus. She didn’t need Cassy to verbally drag her into a situation she wasn’t sure she even wanted. She was still trying to heal from Rich, still trying to figure out her own path to recovery from that traumatic situation. How the hell was she supposed to pursue anything with anyone withouthealing?
Kicking off her sneakers as she reached the end of the packed-sand pathway, she soaked in the softness of sand between her toes. The sun hadn’t baked the beach yet, and the ever-blowing breeze off the ocean kept the sands cool. She pushed up the sleeves of the thermal shirt and chose a spot partially beneath the shady trees close to the dunes, settling down and loosely draping her arms over her knees.
Minutes drifted by, the briny air and the methodical sound of water minimizing her worries. She came to the realization that Thaddeus’s actions in the bar had prevented her from doing something irreversible, and probably regrettable, with Brandon. She loved Brandon as her best friend, but nothing more. Crossing a line, even with a kiss, would have been hard to come back from. Cael’s quick thinking would soften the blow of the abrupt disruption, but his story came with its own bag of conflicts.
Thaddeus hadnotfallen head-over-heels in love with her. That was one exaggeration that triggered butterflies in her belly and resistance in her mind. It caused hope in her heart when she knew well enough it was impossible.
She was part of a race he loathed.
The first trickle of heat teased along her chest, coiling down to her belly.
“Faery doesn’t have oceans. A few lakes, but naught so vast and mysterious.”
The corner of her mouth twitched. She staved off the urge to smile, despite the sudden lightness that encompassed her at the mere sound of Thaddeus’s voice. The low-frequency thrum of his power caressed her, a warm security blanket she couldn’t allow herself to adapt to. He came with too many wild cards, too many unknowns. Friend one moment, foe the next.
His steps were light, nearly inaudible, but the breeze castsand that scratched over his boots as he stepped up beside her. She continued to stare out at the glistening water, the sun reflecting bright across the surface.
“My misunderstanding is that the water was blue, not this murky green.”
“The west coast of Florida has clearer waters. The east coast has hues of blue, but is often darker.”
“Hm.”
When he didn’t lower beside her, she looked up. Scraped her gaze upward along his black pant-clad legs and hips, the molded white shirt against an abdomen that she vividly recalled having more muscles than any man she’d seen firsthand. A chest carved out to a warrior’s perfection. Hair like thick silk with so many hues of light gold and white that now, in the sunlight, she couldn’t tell where the bleached gold ended and the snowy white began. The Faery man was made of creamy marble and sharp angles. Every last bit of him that she’d seen. He was perfection, a far cry from herself. She understood now why humans were so low on the Fae totem pole, but it didn’t make the sting any less painful.
He had his hair pulled back on his crown, enhancing those severe angles of his face and the fierce points of his ears. Mouth-watering, sinfully beautiful angles that she had stolen a feel of last night. Despite everything about his surface being hard, cold, unyielding, she experienced just how yielding his mouth could be, how soft his skin truly was, how smoothly all those angles melted together to create this timeless masterpiece.
She witnessed a side of him she’d thought impossible. A man more concerned about her than he had been about the repercussions of his actions on himself. He took every last bit of energy to heal her wounds while he suffered in silence until he fainted.
“May I sit with you?”
Rori blinked. Did he ask herpermissionto join her? Since when was she deserving of an opinion, despite last night?
