Despite the turmoil in our personal relationship, I still trusted him as my commander. It was because of that, because of our hundred-year-long friendship, that we needed to speak. We could argue and fight this out if necessary, but the silence had to stop.
An elderly male stepped forward. “Is this why our magic is dying?”
“It’s not dying, it’s . . .” I didn’t know what it was. I’d blamed the flickering, malfunctioning magic on its overuse, but it wasn’t only our healers’ whose magic had grown erratic.
Those who powered all of Niev weren’t as reliable, and with their magic slipping, everything from our fae lights to melting snow wasn’t functioning correctly. Some areas in Somnio had snowdrifts that we couldn’t maintain, forcing citizens to relocate.
It was a maddening version of defeat, and I didn’t know how to address it.
Could it be my fault? Had I not only surrendered my magic but all of Niev’s? That couldn’t be it. It couldn’t.
“You have my word that we are looking into it,” I said. “As soon as we learn something, I will relay what we know.”
The crowd answered with their own cries and accusations.
My mother had told me that even without magic, I was the true king of Niev. I couldn’t understand how that made sense anymore. That my parents had deceived their people for over a thousand years was unforgivable. And I, their heir, no longer held the very thing that could protect my people. What was a fae king without magic?
I knew the answer—no king at all.
An innate need to run away grew inside me. I stayed, though, until after I’d answered the last question and the last citizen had left.
Their confusion and disappointment permeated the air. There was nowhere I could hide where I could outrun it.
Before George could leave, I stopped him. “Meet me at my house before the end of the day. Come in your fighting leathers if you must.”
His eyes darkened with his nod. Everly shot me a disapproving look, and with her head tipped down, she shook her head.
I didn’t bother watching them leave but took Teddy’s hand and led her to our cottage. It was a long walk that did little to settle my mind. When I stopped before the first patio step, Teddy pulled her jacket tighter around her hunched shoulders. She took the first step and turned to face me. While she remained shorter than me, she didn’t need to inch up on her toes as much to kiss my lips.
I expected her hands to cup my face or run through my hair. Instead, I let out a ragged breath when she rubbed against my pants, and my cock stirred. She bit my lower lip, running her hand harder against my growing length.
“Teddy,” I hissed in her ear.
She wound her arms around my neck as she wrapped her legs around my waist.
“Take me,” she said.
“I . . .”
She bit my lower lip hard enough to draw blood and hummed. A shock surged through me.
I moved us over the remaining step, pressing Teddy’s back to our front door, where I gave her a rough, demanding kiss.
She was panting by the time I pulled away, already reaching for the back of my head to draw me closer once again. I worked the doorknob until it opened, and once we were inside, I rested Teddy on our couch.
She worked quickly to remove her clothes, and the sight of her bare for me slammed into my chest. I’d never tire of looking at her, of worshipping her.
I might not have known who my gods were, but Teddy was my goddess.
“Are you just going to look at me or fuck me?” she asked with a twitch of her brow.
“Vith.”I swallowed hard, trying to calm the desire that rose and rose inside me.
She spread her legs, circling a finger around her clit, and I growled when she slipped that finger inside herself. The scent of her arousal imprisoned me. It clouded my thoughts so that the anxieties of the day melted away.
“I’d very much like to fuck you if that’s all right with you, My Queen.”
Her smile spread big and wide. “Then fuck me, my mate.”
