Page 39 of A Courage of the Chosen

“Entirely. And besides, don’t look so affronted. You should see the bites you’ve left on my chest.”

That stops me short and his blazing eyes lock on mine. “I’ll wear your marks proudly, mo sholas.”

The bridge is open between us, and our arousal collides, both his and mine. My reaction to him is so visceral, like now that we’ve finally given in to whatever this is between us, there’s a deluge of want and desire that runs far deeper than either of us anticipated.

“I tried to tell you without everyone catching on. Sorry, lass,” Reyne grins.

“It’s fine. I appreciate you at least trying to keep it quiet.” I shoot scathing looks in Callahan and Brodie’s direction.

Brodie winks, and Callahan shrugs like he couldn’t care less. I dive back into my breakfast, plotting what I can use to cover the marks.

“Are humans prudish about sex?”

The question makes me choke on my eggs for two reasons. Firstly, because the new side of Callahan continues to catch me off-guard, and secondly, there’s a child-like curiosity to the way he asks it. They’re at odds with the way he was when I first met him, when he only spoke to me out of necessity.

Callahan pats my back while I gasp for breath.

“You okay?” Rach asks, handing me some juice.

“Fine,” I wheeze out. “Just went down the wrong pipe.”

“Something went down somewhere last night, that’s for sure,” Eòghann teases with a waggle of his eyebrows.

“Ew. That’s my brother, please don’t,” Rach grimaces.

Brodie leans over the table for a fist bump.

“Children. The pair of ye,” Reyne says, her Scottish accent thickening.

“What do you mean?” I silently reply to Callahan as the rest of the group resumes their easy chatter.

“I heard you considering how to cover the marks. I could only think you being raised as a human would make you think that. Seelie are pretty open when it comes to sex.”

Reyne explained this to me when I first arrived in Elfayne, and I’ve attended two balls in this very palace that devolved into a level of debauchery that makes me blush whenever I think about it.

“They’re certainly not as open,” I explain. “To flaunt sex in the human world is considered . . .” I struggle to find the word to explain to him, “indecent, for most people.”

“There’s lots of ‘indecent’ things I want to do to you, and I don’t give a fuck who knows about it.”

Color rises in my cheeks, and Callahan runs the back of his knuckles along it, his eyes swirling with unfiltered desire.

“Shall we leave or . . .?” Brodie says suggestively, and everyone laughs as Rach hits him in the chest, playfully whispering at him to leave us alone.

Callahan drops his hand and I cast my gaze down to my plate, finishing the meal while keeping my thoughts, feelings, and eyes to myself.

When everyone has had their fill, Reyne sends the plates away with an easy snap of her fingers.

“I want to train today,” I reply to Brodie’s earlier question. I’m fully committed to riding out with the army to face the Dorche when the time comes. I won’t be the kind of queen that sits back and lets her people make the sacrifices she’s not prepared to make herself. I want the Seelie of this world to look at me and know that I would give everything to win this war. Even my life.

My intention is not to die brutally on a battlefield, so I need to be stronger, faster, and smarter, if I have any hope of surviving.

“I’m sure we can find somewhere private—”

“No,” I cut off Callahan’s reply. “We train with the soldiers. They need to see us fighting with them. They need to know we’re on the same side.”

“Agreed,” Brodie and Eòghann respond in unison.

“What about training with magic?” Callahan’s silent question is uncertain.