“I accidentally got touched so I’m just going to take some time to cool down,” I told him.
He frowned, nodding. “I’m sorry to hear that. You look very beautiful, Fallon, I hope you have lovely time.”
Another man stepped out of the shadows behind him, carrying a briefcase and sidling up beside Master Clarke. I squinted, trying to place him. He looked familiar. He had dark brown hair and seemed to be in his early forties. As my gaze fell to his hands, and the master healer marks that sat atop them, I remembered who he was: Ariyon’s master teacher. A healer.
“Fallon, have you met Master Hart?” Master Clarke motioned towards the other master teacher.
Master Hart waved to me. “Hello, Fallon. I need to get home to my wife and children. Good night.” He spoke quickly, without making eye contact, and then walked off.
I shared a confused look with Master Clarke, who shrugged. “He’s a bit of a recluse. Have fun at the dance, okay?”
I told him I would, and then Master Clarke left. Now I was all by myself, swaying to the sounds of the music coming from across the street.
Were Eden and Ayden dancing? Were Blair and Hayes there together? I wanted to walk over there and try to still make a fun night out of this, but I also wanted a little bit longer to myself. A moment more to wallow in self-pity and the fact that my first real boyfriend had dumped me because my curse was just too hard to handle. That wasn’t even fair to think. Ayden tried, he wanted to try even when I made an effort to end it. But it was still sad, mostly because now I was all alone.
Always alone.
Two shadows passed by the front gate and my heart leapt into my throat when I saw that those shadows were preceded by Ariyon and Ayden.
Ayden peered into the school courtyard at me, then looked at his brother and nodded once before walking away, across the street to seemingly meet Eden.
What the fae was that?That nod? Had he gone and told Ariyon what happened? That we broke up?
Why would he do that? And why was Ariyon walking towards me with purpose in his gaze. He wore a torn white T-shirt that had splotches of paint on it and black pants that were also covered in drips of color.
He strode right up to me, letting his gaze run the length of body, and my breath caught in my throat. Reaching over, Ariyon pulled on the pinky finger of my gloved hand and slipped the garment right off. Then he took off the next glove, letting them both fall to the floor, so that my arms were bare. What he did next took my breath away. Reaching up into my hair, he pulled out my clip, letting my long black tresses unfold into curls down my back.
I was panting by the time he leaned towards my ear. “I want to give you everything you want,” he said, threading his hands through my hair, and my knees went weak at the declaration.
Then we danced. Like arealdance. Close. Slow. Everything touching. Hearts racing. Locked stares. It was everything I ever imagined and more.
The music was soft, but it didn’t matter, we could dance to nothing but the moonlight and it wouldn’t matter in this moment.
I looked back up at Ariyon, at a total loss for words as he expertly glided me across the courtyard, staring down at me with a tenderness I didn’t think he was capable of.
When I finally found my words, I peered up at him. “Why did you break up with Blair?” I asked bluntly.
I didn’t want to be some rebound. He’d been so hot and cold since I met him, I wasn’t sure how he felt about me, and I’d literally just broken up with his brother.
“Because she wasn’t you,” he declared, and I sucked in a shocked breath. “Because no matter how many times I kissed her, it wasn’t you.”
It was quite possibly the most romantic thing he’d ever said, in a messed-up way.
“Why didn’t you ask me out sooner?” I tried to keep the hurt from my voice.
He sighed, looking pained. “When I found out you were the daughter of my mother’s killer, I naturally had some reservations.”
“Fair enough.” I shrugged. “What about after that?”
He looked over at the open courtyard gates where Ayden once stood. “You mean after my lovesick twin brother came home the first day of school and called dibs on you? I had to back off then. I love him too much to take anything he desires away from him.”
My heart hammered in my chest, so loud I was sure he heard it. His love for his brother made my heart positively melt. “What are you saying, Ariyon?” I breathed.
He let go of my waist and threaded his hands into the back of my hair, cupping the sides of my face with his thumbs, and a heady rush of adrenaline hit me at the contact. He was touching me more than I’d ever been touched in my life, and I was loving it.
“I’m saying that from the moment I met you I’ve felt some spark of myself come alive that I long thought was dead. I’m saying that I can’t get the way you smell out of my head, and I dream about tasting you. I’m saying, Fallon Brookshire, that I don’t care who your mother is, I just want to be the person that makes you happy. It’s always been you.”
His lips crashed onto mine then and I whimpered as he swallowed the sound. His tongue pressed against my closed mouth, and I opened my lips, deepening our kiss. My stomach flipped over as his tongue slid against mine and the slick sensation made warmth pool in my belly. He dragged his fingers down my neck while still kissing me and it was almost too much sensation, like an overload I wasn’t prepared for and yet it was perfect.
