I throw my head back and moan.
Maybe honesty has its perks after all.
Chapter 31
Exhaustion doesn’t begin to cover it. Somehow I’m able to walk straight as the sun finally sets and I watch Warin put his clothes back on.
His body is a work of art. His tongue is the eighth wonder of the world. All I want to do is drag him back into bed and continue to act like the rest of the world doesn’t exist.
“Are you sure we have to leave?” I complain, and maybe I tug on the string at the bodice of my dress.
He tugs on his belt, hooking it on the latch and all I can do is look at his deft fingers, which are probably the ninth wonder of the world.
All these fantasies I’d unknowingly had about him over the last decade didn’t do him justice.
He leans over the bed, grabbing the strings and tying it into a bow.
“Such a tempting little present. I’d prefer to keep you naked and wet all night long, but we have things to do, don’t we?”
I grumble, but nod. He’s right. We have a lot that we need to figure out. He grabs my left hand and kisses the ring on my finger.
“Remember that how I act in front of the council is just that, an act,” he reminds me.
“Right,” I say, grabbing his belt and tugging him close. “I’m your little obedient pet, aren’t I?”
He shivers, grabbing my wrists and pulling my hands away.
“You’re insatiable.”
“You love it,” I joke.
“I do,” he replies, but his tone is more serious as he leans down and presses a kiss to my hair. “Now, let’s get to work on getting these vampires out of my goddamn house, yeah?”
“Ugh. Fine.”
He smiles as he holds a hand out for me, and we’re out the front door. Achille has the SUV parked out front waiting for us.
But suddenly all the fairies that live in my garden congregated out front.
“Are they going to attack?” Warin jests and I elbow him in the stomach. He doesn’t even flinch.
“What’s this about?” I question them, and Tabitha takes center stage.
I wouldn’t call her their queen, perhaps their unspoken leader, because she always has so much to say.
She takes a deep breath, her hands on her hips. “We’d like to…well, we’d like to say…um, yeah.”
“What she’s trying to say is that we’re sorry and that we would like to formally meet your mate,” Domingo interrupts.
“What he said,” Tabitha adds in. “As long as he doesn’t make any more jokes about popping off our heads and drinking all of our blood.”
“It was a joke. Drinking your blood would be too tedious,” Warin says.
“Warin,” I snap and take a deep breath. “I appreciate your apology. I take it that means you and the other fairies plan on staying here?”
“If you’ll still have us,” Domingo says.
“No more being rude to Ember,” Warin says sternly. “And there’s a chance that she won’t be here as often, so that would make you all the wardens of the cottage.”
