“Your what?” She shoved her finger in her ear and wiggled it. She’d heard him clear as day, but she wasn’t going to allow him to weave her into his plot of evil.
Oh, who the hell was she kidding? If he kissed her right now, she wouldn’t stop him. Curiosity killed the cat.
Well, she wasn’t a cat, that was for damn sure.
“You are my fated mate. The woman who will lead the Royal Fairies and the Wolfairies with me, making sure the future is secure for our kind. We will rule right next to the Alpha of the pack.”
“I hate to break it to you, big fella.” She patted his chest, letting her fingers linger a little too long. “My brother and his wife Daphne are the king and queen of the fairies, as well as being Alpha.”
“That’s a lot to take on. I’m sure your brother wouldn’t mind the help. Besides, my sister was not next in line. None of my sisters were.” He flattened her hand against his skin. “I’m the true King, and you are the only true Queen.” He trapped the part of her skin that Norse had burned. “See this?”
She squinted at the mark on the inside of her wrist. Defined dark lines dotted her arm. “That’s the Royal Fairy crest.” She swallowed. “That doesn’t mean anything.”
“Why would a half spirit, locked in a bottle, brand you?”
She’d never really liked the idea of fated mates. She preferred the idea of finding the perfect mate and taking her time getting to know him, making sure the choice was hers and only hers.
Not some cosmic shift in the stars.
Dayton certainly changed the way she looked at the world around her. She should be working on finding a way to lock Dayton back up. At the very least, she should be working on a plan to reach her brothers and let them know what little she’d found out so far.
“You’re reading too much into that,” she said.
He arched a brow. “That image you showed me when you had me locked in that cage. That was of you and me on the farm. It’s constantly changing, based on our actions and the actions of something out to hurt us, though I’m not sure who the threat is, yet.”
“How do you know?” she asked.
“Your thoughts tangled with mine while Norse and I were trying to merge. And I can see the painting move and change. It’s like watching a movie. I suspect soon you will be able to see what I see.”
“I think you’re full of shit.”
“Really? Because you kept thinking you should be utterly terrified, but you believed, deep down, I would never hurt you.”
She blinked. Her mouth opened and closed with her lashes.
“You can’t tell me I’m wrong, can you?”
“That proves nothing.”
He cupped her chin. “What does this prove?” His full lips brushed over hers with a tender sweep like a feather duster clinging to a ceiling fan.
Raising up on tiptoe, she gripped his neck as their tongues met in a wild frenzy of lust. She sucked it deep into her mouth, letting him touch every crevice. And she was in total control of herself. It had been a long time since she had a hunger to be desired by a man. To have her body worshiped and her mind treated like an equal. However, right now, she didn’t care what he thought about her intellect. She only wanted to selfishly take herself to a place she’d only fantasized about. Even a dead woman would want to sink her fangs into his flesh.
His arms circled her waist and once again, he lifted her right off the ground.
Only this time, she wasn’t about to argue.
And it still didn’t prove anything. She shuddered, feeling his warmth enter her body through every pore. Fairy dust filled the room like sparklers. Everything she thought about her life was instantly replaced with visions of a world where Dayton was the center of her universe. The sun rose and set with him.
She jerked her head back. “No fucking way.”
Dayton had the audacity to wink. “I might be new to this world, but it’s impossible for a creature that is part wolf not to know when they have met their fated.”
“Fuck,” she muttered.
“I’d prefer to call it making lo—”
She poked him in the chest. “I liked it better when you didn’t talk.” She squirmed until her feet hit the ground. “We’re stuck in here for a few hours, so I’m going to make the best of it by—”
“Making love?”
“Get your head out of your ass.” She stomped off toward the kitchen. Once she claimed a mate, or one claimed her, as a wolf, they had to accept.
Sadly, she accepted him and that sealed the deal. No going back now.
Chaz was going to kill her.
Dayton might kill Chaz, since he was pronounced King by legend, not birthright.
Oh, this was fucked up. She needed to find all the answers before Coral’s protective wrap disappeared and her brothers came face to face with Dayton.
“Where are you going?” Dayton called.
“I’m going to do some research. There are books here that I haven’t had a chance to look at, and they might have some answers or explanations.” Or ways to reverse mating.
“That sounds so boring. Don’t you think it would be more exciting to get to know one another, naked.”
“I’ve seen you naked.” She plopped herself at the table, hoping her cheeks didn’t flush bright red. “Besides, you’ve got two hands. Get to know yourself.”
He burst out laughing.
“Go ahead and laugh, but that might be the only action you’re ever going to get being mated to me.”
4
Dayton fell back on the bed. He rubbed his temples. The pain between his ears had subsided to a dull throb, but it still drove him crazy.
Though not as much as…shit. “Hey. What’s your name?” he yelled, staring at the ceiling. Hundreds of images collided in his mind. It
