It’s such an unusual tone for him that it wakes me up. My eyes snap open, searching his face. “Why would I mind?”
“I can never be fully fae.” Old pain flickers through his eyes, and my heart pinches. He hides behind so many walls, but underneath it all, he feels so much. He’s truly my match, his heart a squishy jelly heart like mine. “I’ll never look like the Luke in the book.”
“I don’t want the Luke from the book!” I cup his cheek, softening my voice. “I want you, the real Luke.MyLuke.”
“So you really don’t mind that this is as human as I can ever look?” He stretches his wings, rippling the water. “I can never go out into the world with you, never leave Ferndale Falls’s protection spell.”
“As far as I’m concerned, we could live in your library for the rest of our lives, and it would be perfectly fine by me.”
“You say that now, but what will you think in a century?”
“Ah, well… about that.” This isn’t something I’ve wanted to think about, but there’s no avoiding it now. I look away, my fingers playing with his wet hair. “I’m still human, so… a century isn’t really in the cards for me.”
“Incorrect.” His brows slam together. “You’re a witch with access to your magic. That automatically extends your life and the life of your familiar.”
I gape at him, my eyes feeling as if they’re about to popout of my head.
“And since you’re mated to a dragon, the longest-lived of the fae, you’ll live even longer.”
My mouth opens and closes a few times, and before I can think of what to say, another yawn overwhelms me.
“Come, my love. Let me take care of you.” His fingers go back to work on my scalp, and I snuggle against him, melting into a boneless puddle of goo.
The movement makes his knot tug at my entrance, and another aftershock goes through me, tightening my muscles.
Luke gives a pleased grunt, his upper cock firming against my stomach, but he continues to wash me with gentle hands as I doze in a blissed-out daze, my head pillowed on his shoulder. When he stands from the tub, he blasts us with warmth, drying us fully. Then he climbs the stairs to our bedroom, settling back on the bed with his wings held out to the sides instead of trapped behind him.
I sprawl on top of him, my hips flush with his, my thighs spread wide around him.
“Sleep, my love,” he rumbles, the sound vibrating up through me where I lie on his chest.
I do as he commands, his wings wrapping over me like the best of blankets.
Luke wakes me the next morning, sitting on the edge of the bed, a cinnamon latte cupped in one hand while the otherholds a plate piled high with pastries from Cake My Day.
“Snickerdoodle,” I breathe, scootching up in the bed to rest against the headboard. “You really are perfect.”
My stomach growls as I shove a strawberry cheese Danish into my mouth, the flakey pastry bursting over my tongue with sugar and fruit and cream cheese.
“I knew you’d be hungry after our activities last night.” He gives a knowing smirk, referring to the time I woke up and rode him with his knot still buried inside me until we both came all over again, and then again at dawn when his knot finally released, and he “cleaned” me by eating me out until I saw stars.
“You’re not wrong.” I gulp my coffee and reach for a cinnamon roll, leaving him to eat the five others.
As soon as we’re done, he leans over and kisses me, sugar and cinnamon mixing as our tongues tangle. “Pretty little candy witch. I hunger for you all over again.”
“Yes,” I say. Then an idea strikes. “But there’s something I’ve been dreaming of…”
“Whatever you desire.”
I pull him from the bed and pad through the castle. It feels so sexy to walk naked like this, unafraid to show my body. It feels even naughtier to walk in front of him while he’s fully clothed. We circle down the tower, passing my old bedroom, which it turns out was right under his rooms this whole time.
When we get to the reading room, I step up to the portal window and think at it really hard, hoping it can pick up on my wishes without me having to say anything out loud. Fae hearing can be a little too good when you don’t want to spoila surprise.
We step out into the hidden romance collection, right in front of the reading nook.
“You knew about this?” Luke growls. “How?”
“The library brought me here.”
