Just when I thought he would allow me my weakness without making me feel weak.
The arrogant bastard straight up ignored me, striding forward with the same ease and grace of his normal walk, and I was too scared to fight his hold in case Tabitha got hurt or dropped in the process. My mouth worked perfectly fine though. “Seriously. I’m not kidding. I don’t need to be carried. I’m only here so you can bond with your daughter and help with my fucking memory loss, not to be carried around like a baby.”
He didn’t slow, stepping us onto a particular large reven bridge. On the other side I caught sight of a giant mansion—Len’s home no doubt—but there was no time to examine it outside of noting that it was dark, with slate and stone accents. Not a lot of silver details for a silver prince.
“Put me down, you fucking asshole!” I snapped again.
His hold tightened and he moved faster. “Anyone ever tell you that you have a dirty mouth,” he smirked. “Tabitha’s first word is going to be fuck, just like Aurora’s.”
He wasn’t wrong, and I knew I should try to curb the language around my daughter, but seriously. “This is kidnapping, Winter!”
Heat caressed me briefly, and I wondered if it was a reaction to the nickname.
“Are you sure you consider this kidnapping?” he asked softly.
I had to swallow hard to speak around the lump in my throat. In truth, it probably couldn’t be considered kidnapping when one: you weren’t a kid, and two: you kinda wanted to be ‘napped by them. Which sounded so much dirtier than intended.
Unable to fight back, I just held my daughter, who was apparently still enjoying the ride if her little smile was any indication, and fumed internally. This fae bulldozed through my composure and knocked down my barriers—barriers that were in place for a damn good reason.
I’d already near lost myself to someone more powerful than me this week, and I had no intentions of doing it again, no matter how appealing the secondsomeonewas.
Len continued toward the large dwelling and I noted there were no gates or barriers. No doubt no one risked his wrath by trespassing on his territory. When we reached the front door, it did the usual and opened without his touch. There was a reason he was arrogant. Confident.Powerful as fuck.Whatever you wanted to call it.
Inside, the space was light and airy, without any of the darker aspects of the exterior styling. High ceilings, and a set of stairs in the center of white marble floors, indicated that there was at least another level above.
“You’ll have your own area,” Len assured me as he strode toward the stairs and ascended like he wasn’t carrying an extra hundred and fifty pounds of shifter and child. Bastard wasn’t even breathing heavily—Wait, was he breathing at all?
“I’d appreciate my own space, thank you,” I replied stiffly.
“When you’re done resting, there’ll be a royal dinner to attend,” he continued. “You must be introduced to the court. That way, everyone is aware of your status and will give you the support befitting your position. After, we’ll work on the memories.”
“Royal dinner?” I shot back. “Last minute addition?”
He just shot me a slow smile, and I shook my head. I’d worry about the dinner later. First came rest. Maybe after a nap I wouldn’t care that I’d be meeting the Silver Land’s royal court in jeans and plain shirt. I mean, it wasn’t as if they’d expect anything more from a shifter, so I might as well live up to it.
“Where have you gone?” Len asked, startling me from my thoughts.
Focusing again, I noticed that we’d arrived in a bedroom. A gorgeous bedroom, in a shade of green that was a lighter version of my eye color. The room was dominated by a large bed, with bedding in varying shades of green, silver, and gold. There wasn’t much else in here, outside of a set of double doors that appeared to lead to a balcony, and another door through which I caught a glimpse of a white bathroom.
“Sam,” Len said, “are you okay?”
Shit, right. I hadn’t answered his question from before.
“Yes. Yes, I’m totally fine. I was just mentally laughing about showing up to your royal dinner in my jeans—making my usual bad impression on the world.”
At the bed, Len lowered me gently to my feet. My legs were weaker than expected, so I mostly sat on the side of the bed, keeping Tabitha in my lap. The fae prince crouched down so he was near eye level with me, his expression bleeding sincerity. “Leave that worry to me. For now, get some rest. I won’t go far in case we trigger the glamour and lose this time as well, but I can give you privacy. I’ll return later with food.”
He always thought of everything, and I still had no idea how to deal with being cared for. “Thanks,” I said, a yawn cutting me off as my true exhaustion hit once more.
I owed Len a hell of a lot already, and it scared me to know how deep into his world I was falling. Even the demanding part of his personality was growing on me.
Secretly, deep down, it was probably the part I liked the most.
22
SAMANTHA
When Len left, I was alone with Tabby. It was the first time I’d ever been alone with my daughter, and I was nervous as fuck.
