Page 23 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown

“Lie.” He kisses my nose.

I flinch. “Okay, so what if it is? Why do you think I’ll come back? I could just completely forget about all of this and go on with my life.”

“You wouldn’t be able to do it. Your mind has constantly been on me, hasn’t it?”

“Your ego is huge,” I mutter.

“It has. Just like my thoughts have constantly been about you. You feel the tug, the bond we have with each other.”

“No.”

“Yes.” Our noses touches. “You do. Don’t lie, Sweets. I feel it as well.”

I pull away from him, making myself dizzy from trying to look into his eyes for so long, close up. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He’s just really good at guessing, right?

“Everything will soon make sense.” His hand hovers over my cheek. “Come back for answers.”

Leaning to the side, his finger gently touches my cheek, and my shoulders drop. This feels so right, which is confusing. Nothing has ever felt like this before. So why now? Why with a Fae?

We stare into each other’s eyes for several seconds, maybe even minutes, getting completely lost in each other. Each time I look into his eyes, I find something new. The different shades of blue. It’s like looking at mountain ridges from afar.

A throat clears behind him, and my eyes go wide when I see another Fae male. He doesn’t look at me, though, his are eyes trained on Kieran. When did he get here?

“Hig—” the man says.

“Yes, Elias?” Kieran cuts him off and gives a subtle shake of his head.

My eyebrows pinch together as I look between them. What was the other man going to say? Why did Kieran stop him?

“Her thirty minutes are almost up,” he quietly informs Kieran before turning and walking away.

Eyes wide, I gasp and squat to grip the handles of the buckets. Thirty minutes was when I told my mom I would be back. If Elias hadn’t come and stopped our staring contest, I would have been late. What would I tell my mom then?

“Let me carry those closer to the edge of the forest.” Kieran takes them out of my hand before I can say anything.

He starts to effortlessly walk in front of me. I follow behind him, silent as I continue to watch him. Why do I want to always be around him? Why is he always on my mind?

“This is as far as I can go without you being punished.” He gently places the buckets down.

“You mean you being punished?” I tilt my head to the side.

They wouldn’t punish me if they saw a Fae with me. They would think he was doing something to me and would torture him.

“Both of us would,” he replies. “I’ll be keeping my eye on you.”

“Like that isn’t creepy,” I mumble, not able to hold it back.

He full-on belly laughs before bending down. “You love it,” he whispers, his face inches from mine. “You secretly love it. Love that I watch you, look over you, the gentle touches, the nip of the ear. Everything. You love it all, but it’s okay. Soon enough, you won’t deny it.”

My face flushes, and I look away, unable to keep up the intensity between us. How had he pegged me already when he didn’t know me at all? It’s like he can read my mind.

“In time.” He presses a kiss to my forehead. “I’m a patient man.”

I stare at him, stunned as he takes several steps back from me, a smile still plastered on his face. He looks so handsome just standing there, gazing at me.

“Go on,” he urges me. “Your thirty minutes are almost up.”

Looking down at the filled buckets, I take a deep breath and hold in my groan. I don’t want to carry both of these at the same time. It’s an almost impossible task. Does my mother really think I’m this strong?