CHAPTER ONE

LIA

Blink, blink.

Blink.

A grid of intricately carved crown molding high above stared back at me. Why was I on the floor? My back muscles cried out as I propped myself up on my elbows, rolling my stiff neck. The dawning sun filtered into my chambers around the dark red drapery, casting a hazy glow on the wooden floor. Had I slept here all night?

When I flipped through my last memory of the night before, it struck me like a speeding bullet. I tugged on the loose neckline of my tunic. My skin was creamy and smooth, not a single blemish. Gone. It was gone. Had I imagined it? The pain knocked me to my knees and now the black mark was as if it hadn’t been there in the first place.

Light knocking echoed through the room before the heavy door opened and Cameron peeked his head inside. When he didn’t find me in bed, his gaze fell to the floor.

His ocean eyes studied me with a head tilt, stepping around the door and closing it. “What are you doing on the floor?”

It was a good question. One I didn’t have a good answer for. The lie flew as easy as my wings. “I slipped on my way out of the bathroom.”

So, maybe it wasn’t the best of lies, but it was a lie nonetheless.

Cameron held out his hand with a laugh. “Aren’t faeries supposed to be graceful?”

“Aren’t boyfriends supposed to be complimentary?” I latched onto his hand and let him help me to my feet.

“Boyfriend, huh?” His smirk was altogether too cheeky.

“Yeah, it sounded weird as soon as I said it.”

“No, I like it. Though it sounds a bit too temporary for my taste.” His lips pinched to the side. “Considering I did give up my life for you.”

My lips pursed with a raised eyebrow. “You gave up a human life you didn’t like anyway.”

“At the risk of dying.” Cameron looped his arm around my waist and drew me against his sinewy body. “I feel like that’s important to note.”

“Fine.” I smiled, pressing my hand to his bare chest at the open collar of his ivory tunic, my fingertips grazing the warm skin. “What would you rather be called?”

His eyes grew inquisitive, slimming to slits. “What is it the fae call each other before they bond? Their match?”

Heat filled my cheeks. Did Cameron want to bond with me already? That seemed a bit fast, even under the circumstances. “Yes, they’re a match.”

“I like that.” Leaning in, his nose kissed the tip of mine. “You’re my match.”

Fireflies flickered in my belly. Quieting the hitch in my breathing, I teased, “Hold your horses there, partner. We’re not bonding yet.”

Even if Cameron transformed in part because of me and he loved me now, it didn’t mean that would last. There were lots of beautiful faeries in Rymidon, and I wasn’t always the easiest to get along with. After living with me for the last few months, one would think he’d have figured that out by now. He might find someone more suited for him in time.

This wasn’t the human world where we’d be together for another sixty or so more years before we passed away. If lucky enough, we’d breach the thousands. That was a long time to be bound to the wrong faery. We’d need to be sure. Cameron would need to be sure. Very sure.

“Who said anything about bonding?” His mouth nudged mine with a quick kiss, the curve of a smile pressing against my lips. “I mean, of course, at some point down the line. Next week, maybe? Or the following,” he joked.

I smirked, patting his chest. “How about we test the faery waters for a bit before you bind yourself to such declarations. You might change your mind.”

In human years, Skye and I were together for almost fifty years before I was sent to watch over Calliope. Had I been a Royal, we’d have bonded long before that, but fifty years to Cameron probably felt a lot longer than it did to me.

“Are you getting cold feet on me?” he asked.

“Not in the slightest, but I’m accustomed to how our realm works. You’ve still got time. A lot of time. You’re going to look and feel in your twenties for several hundred more years.”

“Wait, how old are you?”

“I’m twenty.”

“But like, if you had to guess how many human years you’ve lived. How old would you be?”

I scratched my temple. “I can give you a guesstimate, but you know our realm runs differently. It’s hard to match up the years correctly. You’ll get used to it though.”

“So, give me a guesstimate.”

“I don’t know. Two hundred years?” I shrugged.

Cameron smirked. “So, my match is a cougar. Rawr. I always wondered what it would be like dating an older woman.”

I smacked his chest and he chuckled.

Cinching me tighter, Cameron’s large hands molded to the small of my back as his lips roamed across my cheek and down my neck. Languid, deliberate kisses. “I woke up alone this morning. Where did you go?”

I swallowed, the touch of his mouth turning my brain to mush. “I needed to go to the bathroom.” It wasn’t a lie. I did leave last night to use my washroom. I just happened to pass out on my way back and slept on the floor for the remainder of the night. Or so it appeared.

“I have a bathroom in my bedroom, you know.”

Kiss.

Down.

“I…I didn’t want to wake you.” My whole body tingled as his skilled lips traveled along my sensitive skin, his tongue making an occasional sweep. The air escaping my lungs quivered.

“Well, I’m definitely awake now,” he said against my collarbone.

Oh gosh.

My head rolled back, my eyes falling shut.

Tap, tap, tap.

The softest knock interrupted Cameron’s magical mouth and I cursed whoever it was.

Taking a step back, Cameron left his arm curled around my waist as I cleared my throat. “Come in.” The two words were breathless gravel.

Jessamine appeared around the door, her black hair braided in a crown around her head. “Oh. I’m sorry to disturb you. I can come back.” She started to creep behind the door.

“It’s okay.” I stepped farther away from Cameron, untangling myself from his hold. “What did you come here for?”

Pausing, she stepped inside the doorway, her yellow-green wings fluttering. “Queen Sarai asked if I would come to help you dress this morning.”

I’d always dressed myself, considering I wasn’t a Royal, but maybe Sarai thought it was normal or that it would make me feel pampered or more welcome in Rymidon.

Jessamine and I had never been friends, more like acquaintances as I’d come to the castle quite a bit for Skye, but I still wouldn’t have been comfortable allowing her to dress me.

“Thank you, but I have it handled.”

She nodded. “Trilla will have breakfast served soon if you would like to dine with the Queen. She’s on her way to the dining hall now.”

At the mention of food, Cameron’s stomach rumbled. “We’ll be there,” he said, and a chuckle tumbled from my lips.

Jessamine left and he pulled me in again. “I feel like I could never stop eating and still be hungry. Is that normal?”

“Beats me, but my transformations have been different from yours.”

“And you.” Cameron framed my face with his masculine hands and covered my lips with his. He kissed me with a ravenous need, like I was his next meal. “You make me insatiable.”

What woman wouldn’t want to hear a thing like that? But was it me? Or was it his of his new heightened senses and abilities? He was now living life on full blast, no longer diminished by ordinary human attributes. Everything had more flavor, more color, more sensation. Just more. No human words could touch the magic of the fae realm.

Cameron’s stomach growled again and I laughed. “I think your body needs food.”

“But it needs you more.” He rolled into me, our hips and lips meeting.

I broke away from his kiss with my hand to his chest, bowing my head to catch my breath, and a smile on my face. “C’mon. We don’t want to keep Sarai waiting.”

With an exaggerated sigh, he said, “Okay.” Tipping my chin up, he kissed my nose. “You’re right.”

When Cameron let me go, my knees buckled, a dizzying mist muddling my head.

He hurried back to me, helping to steady my wobbly legs. “I make you weak in the knees, huh?”

Rolling my eyes, I covered my unexpected fumble with sarcasm. “Don’t let it go to your head, Romeo.”

Was that a fluke? Literal weakness from Cameron’s kiss? Or was it something more?