“The Sapphire might dull my inhibitions, but it doesn’t make me forget the past.” Shaking his head, he pulled back slightly, frowning down atme.
My heart squeezed tight. After all this, was he truly going to pull away from me? “What are yousaying?”
“As much as I want you,” he growled, leaning down and nipping my ear, “I will not fuck you when you’re drugged out of your mind. I can’t forget what you’ve said. The sober Moira would never want me to take advantage of her like this, and so I won’t. I will, however, kiss you until you can’t breatheanymore.”
It was a promise on his lips, one that made my toes curl. I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer. I didn’t care about the prophecy. I didn’t care what might happen next. I only cared abouthim.
His lips found my mouth once again, and I sighed with a deep kind of happiness I had never known until now. And he kept his promise. He kissed me until the world drifted away from usboth.
8
Sunlight pokedat my closed eyes. Groaning, I threw an arm over my face and snuggled deeper into the covers, my back brushing up against…skin. Alarm jolted me awake. I threw off the covers, eyes flying open. Lugh lay beside me in the bed, a peaceful expression on hisface.
My heart thumped hard, and my mouth went dry, even as a need curled deep within me. The covers barely touched his bellybutton, and his whole fantastic well-muscled chest was on display. He looked damngood.
Images flashed through my mind. His hot mouth on my stomach. His tongue teasing the curves between my thighs. An ache built inside of me, and I reached out for him, despite everything within me that told me tostop.
Dammit,Moira!
Sucking in a deep breath, I shook my head and tried to remember the night before. The Sapphire still dulled my wits, but it did little to muddy my memories. Lugh and I had set off the Sapphire while the guards waited for the inevitable attack. As the magical drug rushed through our bloodstream, we’d lost oursenses.
And we’d ended up wrapped in each other’s arms for the rest of thenight.
Lugh cracked open his eyes, his face expressionless. “I see the Sapphire has worn off, so you are making yourescape.”
Pain lanced through my heart. “I’m not making my escape. I’m just trying to figure out what the hell is goingon.”
“You know exactly what is going on,” he said in a low growl, narrowing his eyes. “You lost your inhibitions and finally gave in to what we both want. And now that your inhibitions are firmly back in place, you want to run from me.Again.”
“Lugh.” I let out an aggravated sigh. “Theprophecy—”
He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t want to hear anything more about the bloodyprophecy.”
“Fine.” I threw my legs over the side of the bed and padded over to the window so I could peer out at the morning streets. Everything looked normal. There were a few fae wandering through the courtyard, and the front gates in the distance looked intact. No blood painted the cobblestones. I frowned. “Nothing’s happened. Quentin and his army didn’tattack.”
“No.” Lugh sat up, the sheets falling to his hips. “Uisnech came with a report last night after you’d fallen asleep. The enemy never showed. We kept the extra guards stationed until sunrise, just in case, and we will be extra vigilant today. But it appears they had coldfeet.”
My stomach twisted, and I frowned. “Something isn’t right. That doesn’t make anysense.”
Lugh let out a heavy sigh. “Perhaps they saw the extra guards and decided it wasn’t worth the effort. They wouldn’t have gotten inside, even if they hadattacked.”
He had a point. But still, I couldn’t help but wonder. Quentin had never said they were going to attack. Had this all been some sort of test, meant to see if I would actually set off the bomb? If so, what came next? Regardless of the attack—or the lack thereof—I knew deep down that this couldn’t be over. Nothing in the supernatural world was ever that simple, especially not when it came to power-hungry fae intent onrevenge.
* * *
Boudica and Warinwore matching hollow eyes. Fae don’t need sleep the way humans do, but we still get tired, particularly if we spent the entire night manning defences, on high-alert for any potentialattackers.
“I didn’t see a damn thing at the southern defences,” Warin said. “I don’t think they showed atall.”
I glanced from Warin to Boudica, who shook her head. “None at my station either. They were a no-show.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and raised my brows at Lugh. “I don’t think we should assume they’ve given up. If he’s gone to this much trouble to get his hands on your spear, he’ll find anotherway.”
Saoirse cleared her throat. “I agree. No visions have come to me, but I have an uneasy feeling aboutthis.”
Lugh let out a sigh. “Fine. Then, what would you propose we do? Keep the extra guards on the castle defences at all times? We don’t have the numbers for that. We can handle that on little sleep but not zero. At this rate, we could manage two more days before the guards start dropping fromexhaustion.”
“Maybe Quentin was counting on that,” I pondered. “He could be waiting until everyone is too tired, and rush inthen.”
