“You think?” She sounded hopeful.
“I sure as hell hope so,” he muttered, extricating himself from her and tossing the throw blanket over her petite frame.
He found the journal and also pulled out a shoe box of jewelry his ex-girlfriend had left. “Do fairies use magick stones? You know, crystals and stuff?”
FAYE
She sat up to peer in the box as Cade set it in her lap. Inside was a heap of jewelry, mostly with large semi-precious stones. She sensed the intelligence in the stones, the songs they sang. Pulling out a chunky amethyst pendant in the shape of a donut, she held it to her heart.
“Does it help?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she whispered. “I think so. Seems like it’s talking to me. It wants to help.”
Cade lifted an eyebrow, but he didn’t comment. She wondered at the ease with which he had accepted her magick. She’d spent her whole life hiding her pointy ears and her abilities from humans who wouldn’t understand, and yet it hadn’t fazed him.
“Who do these belong to?”
He shrugged. “Me, I guess. You, if you want something.”
“Who did they used to belong to?” she pressed, sensing a story.
“I bought them for my ex-girlfriend, so she left them when she moved in with Tom, Dick, and Harry.”
“All three?”
“Yeah. They have some kind of polyamory thing going—I don’t know. It’s not my gig. I’m the type who mates for life—with just one woman.”
Something about his words made the hairs on her arms stand up. “Did you think she was your life mate?”
His upper lip curled and she thought she heard a growling sound deep in his chest. “I made a mistake,” he muttered, standing up.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to touch on a sore subject.”
He gave a quick shake of his head. “It’s not.” He waved his hand at the box. “Have at those—take them all if you like them. I’d rather you enjoy them than…” He gave his head another quick shake, then looked at her. “I like you, Faye. I’m sorry I’ve been a ass about it all.”
She didn’t know why his apology should make her blush, but her face grew warm. “Um, thanks, I think.”
He pointed at her, with a return of his devilish look. “That doesn’t mean you’re not still under house arrest.”
“Yes, Master.” She grinned. Despite the hell he’d put her through, the master/slave game titillated her as much as it did him, and hearing he was a “mate for life” kind of guy rather than the playboy she’d assumed him to be made him one hundred times more attractive.
When he had disappeared into his bedroom, she changed into her jammies, brushed her teeth, and returned to the sofa. She left the journal. The truth was, she had read it backward and forward, and there was nothing about magickmistakes in it. She curled up on the couch, holding the purple gem against her sternum, and closed her eyes.
She woke up freezing. Darkness permeated Cade’s house, and he clearly slept with the thermostat turned down. She shivered under the thin throw blanket. Standing, she tiptoed to the closet where she’d found the sheet to use as a tablecloth, but came up empty on blankets. Maybe Cade had an extra one at the foot of his bed. She heard a soft snore from his bedroom where the door stood ajar.
She crept into his room, peering into the darkness. She couldn’t see anything. Bumping into the foot of his bed, she patted the mattress to find the covers. Cade jerked, and at the same time, she heard a terrible, animal-like snarl and felt the floor thud as he landed inches from her.
She screeched in surprise as she was yanked up off her feet by a thick arm around the waist and was held dangling in the air.
“Faye? What’s going on?” he demanded in a gruff, sleep-graveled voice.
“I’m sorry!” she squeaked. “I just came in for a blanket—it’s cold on the couch.”
Seeing in the dark did not appear to be a problem for Cade, because he landed his huge palm square on her ass, hard. “Don’t surprise me when I’m sleeping,” he growled. “It’s dangerous to sneak up on me.” He tossed her in his bed.
“What are you doing?” She lurched to her knees to climb back out. Crawling in behind her, he wrapped a heavy arm over her waist and pulled her back firmly against his front, spooning her.
“Go back to sleep. I’ll keep you warm,” he mumbled, his breath already returning to the slow sigh of slumber.
