I would hate that, being mated to someone I didn’t love just for the “greater good.” Doesn’t seem fair at all, if you ask me.
“It is not the same for Seelie fae.” His gaze dances along my throat and collarbone, as if searching my skin for marks.
He can look all he wants, but he won’t find any. I’m not even sure I would have allowed Nolan to bite me if it was customary, which is a good thing since we’re no longer together.
The fact doesn’t hurt as much as it did a few days ago.
Best not to think too hard about why that might be. “That’s right. Our rings are our mating bonds.”
“Will you give your Nolan a ring on the anniversary of your birth?”
Nolan isn’t mine. Not anymore. Not ever again.
“We’ll see.” Now to change the direction of this conversation so I don’t end up confessing my woes in the middle of a crowded café. This day isn’t about me; it’s about Maddox securing a love of his own. “Do you mind me asking what’s so special about the woman you’re hoping to win over?”
He splays his hands atop the lace tablecloth once more. When he looks at me from across the table, there’s an emotion I can’t quite place in his depthless black eyes.
“Many reasons. Some easier to explain than others. She is the most beguiling fae my eyes have ever seen,” he says. “I feel like the luckiest of males whenever I catch even a glimpse of her. She is intelligent and quick of wit. When I am around her, my heart beats fast, like I have run a hundred hunting trails. And yet . . .” Maddox falls silent while my mind whirls, desperate for more.
“And yet?” I urge, enraptured by the depth of his affection.
Maddox’s gaze captures mine. Holds. “Yet, there is also a calmness in her presence. For most of my life, my mind has tended to wander, but when she is near, the world and its many distractions fall silent and still.”
Heavens, that’s so beautiful.
What must it be like to be loved so thoroughly?
Emotion thickens my voice when I finally find the words to respond. “Make sure you tell her that.”
Everyone deserves to feel so special.
Maddox collects his fork and finishes the rest of his pie, which makes me far happier than it should. When both of our plates are empty, he insists on paying, and then we leave the café.
I expect him to go toward the bridge, but instead he starts for the road leading to the castle.
“Are you not going to The Divide?” He seemed so anxious before. What’s changed?
“Tomorrow is soon enough. I must check on my Biscuits.”
Seeing how much he cares for that ugly little beast is sort of sweet. I find myself falling into step beside him even though it’s in the opposite direction of my house. Going back is at the bottom of my list of desires at present. “How did you even end up with a goat in the first place?”
“On one of my outings in your lands, I came upon a lone goat in a field full of tall grass. He followed me all the way back to the castle gardens.”
I catch his arm, forgetting for a second that he wears no shirt until my fingers hit bare skin. He stills, and I drop my hand, ignoring the strange tingling in my fingers. “Wait. Are you saying you stole some poor farmer’s livestock?”
He’s too busy frowning at his arm to notice me swipe my still-tingling palm down my skirts. “Biscuits was not stolen. I returned to the field and spoke with the farmer there. He was very cross because my Biscuits was filling his little belly with his crops. He said he never wanted to see ‘that damn goat’ ever again. I brought Biscuits to my home so he would not be lonely.”
Who would’ve thought such an imposing Unseelie warrior would have such a soft heart? “Why did you name him Biscuits?”
The tips of his ears darken beneath the rings he wears, and he drops his gaze to the cobbles beneath his feet. “It is a silly reason.”
“Well, now you have to tell me.”
“Ever has said that the biscuits Kerris Dawn gave him were the best thing to ever happen to him.”
Hold on. “Are you saying a goat is the best thing to happen to you?”
He shrugs. “Biscuits chose to follow me over all the other fae. It is a pleasant feeling, being chosen.”
