His lowered tone hits me in the sensitive spot between my legs and I freeze my movements as I feel the heat rise in all the places our bodies are touching. It lingers between my legs and I can’t help but bite my lower lip to restrain the moan that wants to escape at the exhilarating sensation I feel igniting all my nerves.
His gaze flits down to my mouth for a split second before meeting my eyes again. I cannot seem to pull away from his locking stare and for a moment, in our shared consciousness, I see a flash of our naked bodies entwined and can hear his voice sighing my name. We both gasp simultaneously.
“How do we do that? Why do we do that?” I ask, looking into his bewildered eyes. “Why have I been sharing visions withyoumy whole life?”
He sighs, looking at me with furrowed brows, a muscle in his jaw twitching as he clenches it. I can sense the inner cogs working out what to tell me and am surprised when he lets go of my wrists and sits up.
“I knew your mother, Inanna.” That was the last thing I expected him to say.
He sweeps a hand through his luscious red hair, and I feel a moment of envy, wishing I could do the same.
“Nuria, you and I… share a bond of sorts,” he says as I prop myself up onto my elbows, still painfully aware of his strong legs hugging my hips, keeping me in place.
Inanna… I mouth the word. This is the first time I have heard her name and it feels like a puzzle piece has found its place in the gaping hole in my heart.
“You look like her,” he adds, rubbing the back of his neck and giving me a half smile as he studies my face.No… he doesn’t get to look at me like that. Like he pities me.
“Well I never knew her. She died giving birth to me,” I snap. His face crumples for a moment before I look away. This man in front of me knew my mother more than I did and it doesn’t feel fair.
“Wait, how could you have known her? You look like you’re my age.” I look him up and down, searching for some sign of age.
“I was a boy when she… disappeared. The fae don’t age as humans do. We slow down the aging process in our early twenties and sort of just linger there for an extra hundred years or so.”
I chew my lip, contemplating both of these shocking pieces of information and pondering what that means about my own life span and what would have happened if I just continued living in the human realm. Would I have just stopped aging?
“We should head back to the estate. Before anyone realizes you are gone,” Embrys says, looking off towards the horses nervously, as if he can see all the way back to the house and the pandemonium that is unfolding there.
I take this moment, and my newly freed hands, to try and stealthily reach over my head for the discarded sword but before I can grasp the hilt, Embrys’ head snaps back towards me and he is on top of me again in a split second, pinning my hands against my hips, tucking them in with his knees then bracing his hands on either side of my head.
He hovers over my face, his red hair curtaining us off from the world, brushing the sides of my cheeks. I can’t control my pounding heart and the gasping of my breath as he leans in even closer; leaving our mouths just inches apart.
“Would you like me to tie you up?” he asks, mischief glinting in his eye, his mouth curling into that infuriating half smile.
Something about this man irritates the crap out of me whilst also making me want to rip all of his clothes off. That smile makes me want to bite his bottom lip hard enough to make him bleed. The electric pull between our lips brings us closer until I can feel his bottom lip brush mine, the tether between us feeling more and more tangible, more and more irresistible. I fight it, because Icannotfall for my bloody captor, no matter what my body wants, no matter what he meant to me before I met him.Family comes first,I reassure myself. Perhaps this feeling just scares the crap out of me…
“No,” I say in my driest tone, not giving into the pull I know we are both experiencing. He stops smiling and snaps a cool mask on as he pushes himself up onto his feet, grabbing my hands and pulling me up with him.
“Good. Let’s go,” he says, without looking at me as he leans down to grab his sword. He tugs on my wrists, pulling me along with him to the horses. I glance behind me hoping to see someone, anyone, coming to my aid but all I see are trees.
My stomach sours as I accept the failure of my mission. My heart breaks all over again from losing Marissa but I’m not even sure if she was here to begin with. Just a fool’s hope.
As I look forward, resigning to my fate of being carted back to my captor’s estate I hear a high pitched whizzing sound and something zooms within inches of my ear and lodges into Embrys’ shoulder. The sound of Embrys’ yelp scares the horses, causing them to whinny and gallop off back in the direction of the estate.Perfect.
I see what hit him and my jaw hits the floor.
An arrow is sticking out of his arm and he curses colourfully as he spins around, pushing me behind him and drawing his sword. “Stay behind me Nuria!” he says, scanning the forest. I just stare, in complete shock, at the arrow sticking out of him, and the blood that is pouring down his arm, before realizing we are under attack.
I snap back into focus. “No way! We need to get that extra sword!” I say, lunging forward, but am met with another arrow sticking out of the earth at my feet, stopping me from taking another step.
“Wait! Hold fire! That’s my sister!” I hear a wonderfully familiar voice call out of the dark. Marissa runs towards me, accompanied by three hooded figures lingering just outside of the shadows of the forest.
She is dressed in brown trousers and a white blouse with a green hooded cloak around her shoulders and a sword strapped to her hip. Her blonde, curly hair bounces behind her as she sprints towards me, grinning ear to ear. The hooded figures make no move to restrain her. She looks well… happy even.
“Marissa!” I call back and meet her half way, our bodies colliding together in a bear hug, now the second time in our life that we have ever hugged like this.
“You’re alive!” I say, pulling away and cradling her perfect face. “ I’m so sorry!” I turn her head side to side looking for any damage but she looks as if she has fully recovered from her kidnapping. She rests her hands on my forearms and I see the twinkle of her eyes as she blinks back tears.
“I thought they killed you! Nuria, we were coming to avenge your death,” she says, in a whisper as she grabs my hands and lowers them from her face.Avenge my death?I choke on a laugh. She looks over my shoulder to see Embrys yanking the arrow out of his shoulder and winces at his grunt of pain,ignoring my outburst. Her waggling, raised eyebrow is question enough for me to roll my eyes and shake my head.
