SWNOVELS King of Always: Chapter 25
Isla
half an hour and still, there’s no sign of Raff.
He’s not coming.
My note was too silly, too cryptic, not enticing enough. He’s given up on me entirely or met a stunningly beautiful fae with fire magic who knows exactly what she wants—him—and isn’t afraid to grab hold and never let him go.
Okay, that last one’s a little on the ridiculous side. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s hooked up with someone since his return, but I’m his fated mate. I know it now. The fire in my blood tells me it’s true.
I drop to my knees on a soft cushion of wildflowers. Moonlight shines over the meadow, outlining the Emerald Castle and the forest trees with an edge of glimmering silver. I pick flowers and crush them between my fingers, sighing as I lay back on the grass, the balmy breeze caressing my skin.
Disappointment and longing fill my stomach.
Why was I so mean to Raff the last time we spoke, my words careless and spiteful after our escape? If I’d chosen them more wisely, maybe he would have turned up tonight like he told Magret he would.
A line of glowing lights moves up the hill toward me. I rise onto my elbows to watch them. Fireflies, I realize as they grow closer, closer, closer, then circle wildly above me. They flit over my arms and chest, and then disappear.
A blaze of light appears in the distance near the city walls. Hope sparks in my chest. Could it be…? I squint through the darkness at two columns of flames, hovering mid-air and moving toward me.
I stand quickly, the hem of my long dress tickling my bare feet. Yes! It’s Raff, dressed in the usual black and red leathers, an unbuttoned dark-colored shirt flapping in the breeze, and fire dancing on each palm, reaching for the heavens.
He stops about a meter away, lighting up the night sky around us. His fire magic crackles like a campfire, but it smells different, cleaner and sweeter.
“You came,” I say.
“How could I not?” In the moonlight, the intense brightness of Raff’s smile competes with the beauty of the flames. “I will always come when you bid it.”
As he moves closer, the fire reaches for me, licking my bare arms. “Sorry,” he says, and flicks his hands, the lovely flames disappearing. “You asked for fire. I brought it.”
“Yes, you did. And I promised cookies.” I withdraw a parcel from the pocket of my long linen dress, the soft wheat-colored fabric shining like gold. “Would you like a chocolate macaron?”
In two steps he closes the distance between us, so close now I can see every movement of his chest, the way it labors like bellows.
He grins down at me, his gaze on my lips. “I think I’ll pass on a dose of your baker’s magic. Tonight, I wish for my thoughts to be clear. And there is something I crave much more than chocolate.”
I raise an eyebrow. “And what is that?”
“Your kiss.”
The earnest look in his amber eyes, the rakish angle of his circlet on his forehead with its sunstone pulsing brightly, he’s so adorable, I can’t help but smile back.
“Words first,” I say.
“Ah, yes. You enticed me here with the truth—a precious gift indeed from a mortal. Tell me; I am ready to hear it.”
A flash of nervous energy rushes through me, my mouth going dry. I gently grip his forearms and step even closer. “I think I…” Taking a deep breath, I let my words trail off.
Raff’s focus is intense, like a hunter preparing to leap on his prey and devour it.
I promised the truth, and he deserves to hear it. “I think I might be in love with you.”
Even in the darkness I see his eyes flare, a rush of breath parting his lips. Before he can speak, I continue, my words tumbling over each other. “I think I felt it—a strong connection—the very moment you walked onto the dais the first night I arrived in Faery. And I’ve been fighting it ever since.”
“But why fight it?”
“Because I wanted to be safe, to protect myself from pain. Before I met you, I had this awesome life plan to prevent myself from ever being heartbroken, like my mom was when my dad left. That plan was to make sure I only ever loved people who loved me back.”
“Your plan was flawed. Only those who love you hold the power to break your heart in the cruelest of ways. I have realized the hard way that you cannot protect yourself from the pain of love. Open yourself to it and the greatest joy will be yours.”
“It sounds like you’ve been in love a lot then.”
He laughs softly. “No. Like you, I am only experienced in running from it. These wise words I recite to you are my brother’s. This is what he has learned, the advice he gave me when he returned with his family from the human world, which I, of course, have long ignored.”
“So, you don’t see yourself ever loving anyone?”
“As your note promised, the truth must be both spoken and heard. It is your turn to listen.” A warm smile softens the sharp fae angles of his face. “Each moment I spent chained, wrapped in the darkness of the Merits’ cell was in your company. Thoughts of you never once abandoned me.” His palms bracket my cheeks, his words whispering over my lips.
“And when you kissed me, I have never known such powerful sorcery. This magic that flows between us is love. I was too stupid to see it. Too proud to admit it. But I love you, Isla. Ask anything of me and I will give it to you. Should you wish me to forsake the crown and live with you in the human realm, I would do it in a poisoned heartbeat.”
Tears sting my eyes, wild, crazy hope soaring. “I would never ask that. Before I even met you, Ever spoke about you often. He told me that you planned to face the curse head on. Well, I admire your bravery, and I want to stand beside you and help you do just that.”
Forgetting my true purpose for meeting him here on the hillside away from the revels of the court, I press my lips to his, entwine my arms around his neck, and lose my mind in the blistering heat of his tight embrace.
Galaxies spin around us, a scorching wind rising, tugging at our clothes and hair. He groans and presses closer, lips soft but urgent against mine. With a ragged sigh, I melt against him.
Night noises, the hoots of owls, strange mewls and cries of the forest creatures all disappear, while internal sounds rage. The roar of my blood pulsing through my veins, pummeling at my ears, and words—crazy, crazy words like need. Want. More. Fire. Burn. Now.
Always now.
I tug the shirt over his broad shoulders, revealing marble-smooth skin, the demon tattoo on his neck and other strange glyphs glowing like rivers of fire. Behind my eyelids, images flicker—flames and burning pyres—not frightening as they should be but urging me to make the fire prince mine.
As a fae who cannot lie, he must believe the words of love he spoke to me before…but do I? He loves me, he loves me not… I don’t care. I don’t care. I’ll have him anyway.
Tawny hair silky under my fingers. Lush lips smiling. “Isla,” he says, teeth scraping my lips. “I cannot control the fire. This is…too much…I—”
“Let it rage,” I whisper, and kiss him again.
His fingers dig into my waist. He cradles my jaw, angling my face, pressing deeper. His body trembles, shakes. I can feel his restraint crumbling, his control slipping. It is the most wonderful thing—my power over him. “Raff… Let it go.”
Another groan, a whispered curse—and he does.
A circle of waist-high flames roar around us, the heat intense, the glow maddening. And perfect. I’m not afraid.
His kisses change, becoming wild and urgent, ragged breaths panting over me. This is everything. All there is. All I need. My skin blisteringly hot, I peel the straps of my dress down.
Raff’s dark-honey gaze devours me, his fingers brushing mine aside and taking over the task. Between savage kisses, we undress each other, then lie on a cushion of wildflowers.
His weight heavy over my body, he draws his head back, his gaze searing, otherworldly. Terrifying. “By moon and stars, fire and blood, by the Elements Five and all the powers of the Seven Realms, you are mine, Isla, and I am yours.”
“Yes.” I nod, the longing to make it true like a dagger twisting at my heart.
“Say it.”
“I’m yours. You’re mine. No words are truer, Raff. Just like you’ve always said—I’m the girl you’ve been waiting for. Nothing is truer.”
Then he surges forward, and we become one, the promise we’ve made to each other branding our souls forever.
I kiss him the way I’ve been dreaming about ever since he pressed his palm against my back and spun me around the Great Hall, the curve of his sneering lips a lush temptation. Our first touch. Our first dance.
And now I kiss him deeply, holding nothing back as his hands trail over my body, the sounds he makes heady and intoxicating. Setting me on fire. Ruining me and remaking me with every sigh.
Our bodies’ rhythm, like old tales of faery tricks, is a dance I want to be spellbound in forever. It’s everything I dreamed it would be. The pulse, the beat, the flames that consume me. The fire.
Heat coils deep in my belly, an inferno spreading to my toes, my fingertips. Movements no longer smooth, he hooks an arm in the crook of my knee, taking more. His fingers press and pull, urging me closer. Teeth scrape, sharper, harder.
“Isla. Isla,” he says, and the flames swallow me, splintering my bones to ashes.
Warm lips kiss my shoulder, my neck, then my lips. “I love you,” says the fire prince, his body still, his breathing a mess.
A fox shrieks in the distance, reminding me where we are—the meadow, encircled by magical flames. “I know. I love you too. I can’t believe this…that I’m here, who you are, how I feel. It’s crazy. Crazy but brilliant.”
He smiles. “Like fresh, sweet poison, you have ruined me, and I do not wish you to stop.”
I stroke from the pointed tip of his ear down to his cheek, cupping it softly. “You might regret those words when I tell you the other reason I asked to meet you here.”
“What? This was not it?” His eyebrows lift. “Tell me now.”
“Soon,” I say, then hoping to distract him, “Kiss me again?”
His lips curve. “You are a demanding creature.”
I laugh. “Eh. You can handle it.”
“But can you handle me?”
Guess I’m about to find out.