Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 84072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“That’s horrible!” I snapped. “She’s the worst mom ever! I could strangle her with my bare hands. How dare she use a child to further her career.”
“Sadly…” He squeezed me tighter. I could smell the earth on him, a heady scent of smoke, bark, and grass that made me lean in a bit closer than I normally would have. It relaxed me in ways I couldn’t define. “Even with a reincarnation like hers, it’s rare for a tiger to change its stripes, or in her case, the piranha to lose her teeth and every other jagged edge she keeps under lock and key.”
I made a face. “Please tell me you didn’t—”
“Bite your tongue! That woman would eat me alive, and I mean that with zero sexual innuendo. She’s… evil.”
She stomped her foot and pointed up at the banner across the taffy booth, scrunching her face. Then she shook her head and stalked off.
“So, that looked fun,” Aengus chirped.
Ben took one look at us, at the fact that Aengus was touching me, and let out a growl that sounded like a wild animal had taken control of his senses.
Aengus straightened and pulled his arm away. “She was distressed. I was comforting her, not trying to get her naked. Besides, you should give it a rest or at least feed her more so she doesn’t die by way of fucking too much.”
Ben opened his mouth, then snapped his closed, took a few seconds, and said, “Can you be anywhere but here right now?”
“Can I?” He shrugged. “Sure. Do I want to?”
“Aengus.” I groaned. “Benjamin’s stressed. I’m stressed.” I circled my hand through the air. “We’re all stressed. Why don’t you go spell Jasper again, and I’ll finish helping Benjamin set up. People are going to start arriving in the next hour.”
“Fine, fine.” He gave us his back and jogged toward the parking lot while I turned and pulled Benjamin into my arms, pressing a sound kiss against his mouth before pulling away with a knowing smile.
He bit out a curse. “I don’t like him touching you.”
“I don’t like him touching me either.” Small lie because Aengus was comforting, but it wasn’t sexual at all. “But he is your brother.”
“Don’t remind me. I purposely forget that tidbit every night in order to fall asleep without having nightmares.”
I laughed. “Well, at least now you have me to help you sleep, not that we did any of that last night.”
His face softened. God, he was so gorgeous it was hard to look away as he beamed down at me, his eyes locking onto mine, seeing into my soul, holding my heart in the palm of his hand with such gentleness that I wanted to cry. He had always been this solid rock.
Sexy with just enough arrogance that made a person want to know more.
But the centuries had changed him some.
He didn’t laugh as much.
I would never admit it to him, but it was almost like he and Aengus had swapped personalities. Aengus had always been more serious, whereas Ben always had a smile for everyone.
“Why are you frowning?” Ben lifted me up into his arms and pressed another kiss to my nose and then my mouth, his smile dazzling. “There she is…”
“I’m here,” I whispered.
“In my arms.” He answered with another kiss, and I hated that with each kiss, I wondered how many more we would enjoy before we were naked—before more white hair made itself known.
Before liver spots showed up on my hands and Botox failed my face.
“We’ll get through this,” he vowed. “I swear it.”
I stood up on my tiptoes. “I know, I just—”
“Benjamin!” Aengus suddenly appeared next to us.
“Be more careful!” Ben snapped.
“No, no!” Aengus was pale. “Jasper’s gone, I don’t know how he broke through the spell, but he’s fucking gone!”
And with the worst timing in the world, the first cars of volunteers started trickling in right along with the busload of kids from the orphanage who would work the taffy stand.
“What do we do?” My voice sounded hollow like I wasn’t myself. I didn’t have the power to protect the kids. I could barely protect us. My power was bound with Benjamin’s.
Within the curse.
Shaking, I gripped his hand. “Ben!”
He snapped out of it. “I’m thinking.”
“Think faster.” Aengus’s teeth clenched as he threw his arms up in outrage. “We have a maniac on the loose that can apparently break through Fae magic.” He frowned. “No human guardian has ever been able to do that. Ever.”
Benjamin’s face paled. “That’s because he’s not human.”
“What?” Ben and I yelled in unison.
“I should have seen it.” Benjamin squeezed his eyes shut. “Fuck! I just thought it was part of the curse because it’s always happened!”
“What has?” Aengus grabbed him by the arms. “What happens?”
“When I’m in pain from the curse, or when I can’t sleep, he touches me, and it goes away. It ages him a bit, but he always recovers within a few hours.”