Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 127026 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 635(@200wpm)___ 508(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127026 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 635(@200wpm)___ 508(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Their joining turned rougher. Both of them aching for a connection that could obliterate all those hours and days and months without the other.
There was no time or space that could do that. But they met with a fury and need that made it almost seem possible. So much time to make up for and never a way to accomplish it. All of it coalescing into a volcano on the edge of erupting.
Then, as their lips met once more, they both exploded.
Kerrigan had never felt anything quite like it. Never experienced a linking so intense that she literally had no words afterward.
Fordham folded over her body. His head in her shoulder. His breathing a ragged mess. She ran her fingers through his midnight hair, finding peace in the moment.
They sat like that for ages before she finally asked, “What are you going to do when we leave?”
He kissed the top of her head. “You know what I must do.”
“Return to the House of Shadows.”
“Yes. I need to reclaim my mantle.”
“I have a feeling it will be welcome.”
He frowned. “I’m not so sure.”
“I stopped there on my way here,” she admitted. “I didn’t get too close, but Viviana is taxing the poor, and if they can’t pay, then she is giving them an indenture and forcing them to be servants.”
Fordham went deathly still at those words. His words were like ice when he said, “She dares?”
“She’s queen. The rightful heirs are missing or presumed dead,” Kerrigan reminded him. “Unless you’ve heard from your sister?”
Fordham shook his head. “No. I’ve heard nothing of Wynter since we fought at Lethbridge and she disappeared under the rubble. She could be anywhere.”
“Then, it’s just Viviana, and she hates humans and half-Fae the most. I am not surprised she is turning on those Fae she deems lesser.”
He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. “I have much work to do. I’ll have to call Arbor and Prescott back from the country.”
Kerrigan shot him a look of confusion. “What do you mean?”
Fordham sighed. “I meant to tell you, but I didn’t know how. I saved my cousins from Lethbridge.”
“I know,” she said in confusion. “They’ve been in the city for a few weeks. You sent them there.”
He stared at her in alarm. “I did no such thing. I told them to go far away from here. To take a new life and never be seen again. She wrote to me to say that she and Prescott had found a place to stay in the countryside and not to worry about them.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. She said you sent her to Kinkadia. She and Prescott came to me to ask for help in navigating the city. They had some jewels to get as far as they were, but they needed help. She was the one who told me the story about the witch to begin with. I was suspicious, but …” Kerrigan sighed in frustration. “She said she’d heard no word from you.”
“I responded, asking her not to contact me until I completed my mission.”
She and Fordham stared at each other in the space, as if realizing they had both been played.
“Why would they do this?” Kerrigan asked.
Fordham shook his head. “I’ve no idea. I know Arbor played the game to survive the House of Shadows, but this is beyond that.”
“I’ll have to investigate further when I get home. Maybe they wanted a fresh start. Don’t worry about them. I can look into it.”
“So, you will return to Kinkadia after this?” Fordham asked.
“I was nominated for the Society council.”
“You’re a first-year member,” he said in alarm.
Kerrigan nodded. “I am aware. Doesn’t change it. The election will take place soon. I have to be there for the week of parties to try to sway the Society members to vote for me.” She made a face. “Should be terrible.”
“I wish to be there with you through all of it.”
“But your throne …”
“I will reclaim it and return to you as soon as I can.” He brought her fingers to his mouth and placed a kiss on them. “I did say that I would court you properly after the curse was lifted.”
“I will await you then,” she said, not wanting to burden the moment with all her other fears. They would have plenty of time for the rest of it. Until then, she would make do with the time they had in this bed.
She slid her legs over his lap, straddling him. He arched an eyebrow, but she silenced him with a kiss, pushing him back onto the bed.
* * *
The next day dawned a perfect summer morning. Golden light suffused the cottage bedroom when Kerrigan awoke in Fordham’s arms with the sheets knotted around their legs. Breakfast waited for them on a tray in the corner, and after they groggily woke from their dreamscape, they broke their fast with hidden smiles for the other.