Shan had been happier the rest of that day than I’d seen her in a long time. It had taken a lot of self-control not to react when she’d gripped onto me, holding my hand without reservation and chattered about what Edvina had told her. My chest had clenched so tight when she tentatively shared how she’d always wanted to be a teacher that I’d had to rub it when she wasn’t looking. I had never considered my future or what I’d do with my life if I wasn’t a warrior. Mainly because being a warrior of one kind or another always seemed to be my destiny, but for Shannon? If she wanted to be a teacher, then I’d make it happen. She deserved to follow her dreams. And, yeah, spontaneously holding hands? It was so un-Shannon-like that I’d been momentarily speechless. But something told me to act as if I didn’t notice her behaviour. Especially as I didn’t want her to stop. If this was more like the true Shannon than the hard, snarky, aggressive person she thought she had to be, I wanted her to stay this way. I wouldn’t make her feel self-conscious. I’d give my Butterfly the opportunity to become who she wanted without judgement or comment, and if a friendship with Edvina would encourage that to happen, then that was great.
Keeping my senses alert to the danger lurking in the air, I smiled at the excitement in Shan’s voice. The sound of it made me even more determined to make sure she got to do whatevermade her happy. “Yes, it’s the fourth day in this week’s sun cycle, so they will.”
Her brows rose. “Do all the kingdoms of Faery use numbered days and sun cycles as weeks?”
I smiled indulgently at her. “They do. It just depends on how far into Faery you go as to whether you use the left or right moon to follow their progress around the sun. Time moves differently here than on Earth, but we still use minutes and hours. I guess the moon cycle here is just like a month at home but there are more weeks in the month. The moons mirror each other in how fast they go around the sun, so it makes no difference which one is followed.”
“Ah, right. I always wondered about days and weeks and stuff because of Blue but never thought to ask, not when the clocks seemed to move the same.”
She slipped her arm through mine as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Since we’d admitted this was happening between us, I'd not held back. I’d been touching her at every opportunity, to the point Finchley had slapped me around my head and told me to give the ‘poor girl’ a break. Shannon’s laughter had earned her another long session of punishment. Finchley had taken to zapping the air with a little blast of magic to warn us she was coming in after finding me bending Shannon over the back of the couch. Grinning, I lifted her hand from my arm and kissed her fingers.
She smirked, mischief glinting in her eyes. “So…can you sense anyone around?”
I chuckled, knowing exactly where she was going with this. My cock twitched, totally on board. We’d had sex every night and whenever the mood struck us during the day, which was frequent. The more we were together, the more I fell in love with my beautiful mate. Because that was what I was, totally and utterly in love. I was hooked on her smile, on the light laughterthat fell from her lips when Finchley scolded me for some made-up insult, for the way she flushed when I grabbed her and kissed the breath from her, for the way she threw her head back and begged me so prettily to take her; so many things I couldn’t even put them into words.
I also loved that she was braver now and would explore my body to figure out what I liked. She even had the confidence to tell me when she was up in her head and needed me to take that away for a while, surrendering control to me. I wondered what side of the coin she’d show me today: curiosity or submission. “No, only a deer, several rabbits, and the gliders up there.”
“Oh, good. So you could throw me up against that tree over there and fuck me senseless then?”
Without giving her time to blink, I had her up against the tree in question and her combats undone. Her moan was obscene as I slipped my fingers into her slick warmth. “Anything to make you happy, Butterfly.” And I meant it. She was the most essential being in my life and had been for years. Connor had seen that even before I had. He’d seen how we battled to hide our pain and how Shannon was on the verge of breaking, so he forced us both to confront our feelings. I’d have to thank him eventually. Internally, though, I rolled my eyes. He’d be such a smug motherfucker about it.
All thoughts of anything but Shannon soon fled. Her smile bloomed at my words, and my breath hitched. Gods, I was so totally screwed. She could ask me to cut out my tongue, and I’d do it. “You’re so beautiful and so fucking mine,” I whispered before kissing her. I was a total sucker for that smile, and itbloomed so often now that I didn’t ever want her to go back to the dark place where she’d been before we came here.
Edvina was outside the school with the children as we approached. They all sat crossed-legged on the soft grass while she encouraged each to read a passage from the book they all held. After a few minutes, she left one of the older kids to supervise and strode over, a welcoming smile on her lips.
“Hey, Hunter, it’s lovely to see you. Nice to see you too, Stone,” she added as an afterthought.
I raised my brows and laughed. “It’s okay, Vina. I know who you're pleased to see.”
“Well, can you blame me when female company is hard to find around here?”
“Not really.” I glanced around the pretty village square. A few people were milling around the bakery and the grocery store, a couple sitting on the side of the well, but certainly no other lone females. As always it was hard to know how old everyone was. They all looked my age, but looks meant nothing. Once Fae reached their late twenties or early thirties, their ageing slowed so much that it was almost non-existent. Anyone who did look even remotely old was, by default, ancient and was afforded the respect they deserved, though many Fae went mad before any wrinkles appeared. It was the High King’s responsibility to decide on their fate. A part of Ventry’s role I didn’t envy, even if such deaths were an accepted part of life in Faery.
Like many other long-lived supernaturals, Fae didn’t reproduce easily, hence why this school and the handful of children in it were so precious. Seeing babies and children so frequently was one of the reasons I loved being on Earth. Shifterfemales went into heat regularly and found it easier to get pregnant than Fae. Maybe I wasn’t good at expressing it, but I was over the moon for my brothers when they had children.
My stomach tightened and I clenched my teeth. Would Shannon go into heat and need me to help her through it? Mother Wolf, I hoped so. I rubbed at the ache in my chest. I’d never considered having a child. Never let myself when I knew how difficult it was. As I stared at Shannon, it dawned on me that such a thing could be our future. A family. Did I even deserve that when Gwen would never get that opportunity?
As if sensing my distress, Shan’s attention focused on me. I forced a smile to my face. Would a child of her own make her happy? Shit, she’d only just got over a long and harrowing addiction, and still had one hell of a messed up past that needed working through. I wasn’t stupid enough to think this time with me had cured her of all the darkness her dickhead of a father had left her with. But maybe when she was ready, we could discuss what our future might look like.
“Hey.” Warm fingers clasped mine, pulling my attention back to the two women. “You okay?”
The thought of a future with this strong, beautiful female who had room in her heart for so many people despite being damaged by her past, a future that might even include a child, made me cup her face and kiss her deeply.
A cough from Vina had me slamming back to my senses, but I didn’t pull away quickly. I simply eased off, still sipping from her lips until we broke gently apart.
Her lips were swollen and her cheeks flushed. “Well, damn, that was unexpected.”
I grinned. “Good. Don’t want to become predictable.”
Shannon raised a brow, then her eyes narrowed as she searched my gaze. “That’s something you’ve never been, Stoney-boy. So? You gonna tell me what that was about?”
I shot her a cocky grin and stepped back. “Nope.”
“As arrogant as ever,” Vina scoffed before giving me a pointed look. “If you’ve made the effort to walk to the village, I assume you have things to do?” Before I could answer, she turned to Shan. “Come on, you can come and sit with me and the kids for a while. You can even help me teach them to read. It’s hard sometimes to give them enough attention when there’s only me. Stone will be fine.”
Shannon’s face was a picture—joy and surprise, followed by uncertainty. It broke my heart that this was how she really felt. Here, away from the need to be the kickass person she always was, she was shocked that someone had asked for her company. “Erm, yes, I guess?”
I smiled, trying to encourage her. “Go on. You’ll enjoy it, and the kids loved you the other day. Look, they’re already coming over to fetch you.” It was true. The two youngest ones she had chatted with the most were already running over, brandishing big, happy smiles on their faces. “Go and enjoy yourself. I’ll be waiting nearby.”
