Mom stood next to Dad and didn’t look alarmed, but she’d had thousands of years to perfect her poker face. Rowan and I, on the other hand, were flying blind.
Magic thrummed through the air, thick and heavy. Power flowed in the wind, soaking my veins and bones. This was ancient magic, that of the universe long before any of us gained flesh. The fae bond tugged me forcibly. It wanted the male by my side. Rowan’s hand clamped against my waist was warm and possessive, sending a strong flood of desire through my bones.
His nostrils flared and he glanced down at me, surprise lighting his gaze. “Evie?” His whisper was quizzical yet amused. “Are you alright?”
My fingers itched to tear his clothes off, take him to the ground and make him mine.
Rowan’s eyes began to glow.
Dad spoke again. “You are here to witness the official crowning of my daughter.”
Hmm. I thought we’d already done that. My foot tapped impatiently, and I had to sing a song in my head to keep from molesting Rowan.
“I can smell how much you want me,” Rowan murmured, his voice so low only I could hear him.
“It’s the bond,” I whispered back. “There’s so much magic in the air I’m having trouble controlling it.”
Rowan stared at me. “Then don’t.”
I let out a soft laugh. “Funny.”
Ignoring everyone else around us, Rowan turned me to face him and lowered his forehead to mine. “Don’t.”
Dad cleared his throat.
“Though my daughter has already been crowned, she has never stood before the most important of her people, nor has she brought forth a king.”
Rowan blinked. His attention jerked to my father.
“Are you sure?” I whispered. “I can leave. Right now. I can hurry back to the cottage and calm this thing down. I’m so sorry.”
“My daughter has chosen Rowan Beithir to stand as your king.” Cernunnos swept a hand out toward us. “He is loyal and stronghearted and will serve both us and my daughter well.”
Rowan cursed under his breath. “Evie. Did you mean for this to happen? I can get us out of this. I can?—”
I put a hand over my chest. The magic was unbearable now. My eyes cast an azure glow over his face. “If you want out now, say the word,” I gasped. “I don’t think I can hold this in for much longer. This bond is not the same as a shifter bond. It’s?—”
Rowan let out a soft laugh, cupped my face in his hands, and gave me a searing kiss. He teased my lips open and claimed my mouth. With one hand tangled in my hair, the other yanked me against him.
Applause rang out in the clearing.
Magic exploded between us, a song of pure, primal power, encompassing us in a silver and pink haze. That bond reached toward Rowan, flooding his body with ancient magic.
He gasped, his eyes wide with surprise. The bond between us allowed me to feel Rowan, know him down to his bones, his wants and dreams, his hopes and failures.
He was everything I ever wanted. Beautiful and perfect and flawed and so utterly in love with me it almost brought me to my knees.
I closed my eyes against the flood of sensation, tears streaming down my face.
I heard my mother gasp. Moira’s cool touch against my arm before she drifted away.
Right now, it was only Rowan and me. No one else existed in this time and space.
“Evie,” Rowan whispered, his hand tightening in my hair. “Gods above. You are so fucking beautiful. Inside and out.” Tears slipped from his eyes. “I’ve never felt anything like this.”
I laid my head against his chest and wrapped my arms around him, so overcome I couldn’t speak.
Gasps rang out. I lifted my head to see a matching crown of silver swirling above Rowan’s head.
