“There is only one among the Ten who hates us enough to—”
She snapped her finger over his lips, giving him a stern look that said it all. They both knew who it was, Galeta the Blue and the Head Mistress of all fae. Danika had learned long ago that walls had ears and secrets were never safe in Kingdom.
Shaking her head, she said, “And now I understand why you do not wish to alert the council until we have proof and that is all that needs to be said about this, Jericho. For now. Promise me?”
His lips thinned and she sensed his anger, but not at her. They’d both suffered because of Siria’s spite and Galeta’s constant need for revenge against Danika. But neither one of them were in a position to take on the power of the sun or the Blue right now.
“I swear it,” he finally whispered against her lips and she gave him a quick peck on the lips.
“I love you, and thank you, for you’ve given me so much hope tonight.”
His eyes closed. “I am tired of our separation, Calanthe, I need you. Anything I can do to fix not only them, but us, I will do.”
She rested her head on his shoulder.
“There is one more thing,” he finally whispered into the stillness a moment later.
“Oh Gods, I’m not sure I can handle anything else.”
“No,” he shook his head, “this isn’t bad. Just something I learned of the girl that perhaps you did not already know.”
She leaned back to stare at him. “I lived with her for years.” Which of course he’d know since Jericho had kept a constant vigil on her throughout their years apart. So what exactly did he know that she did not?
Leaning in to whisper in her ear he said something that made her eyes widen in astonishment and then laughter bubbled from her lips.
“This just got very, very interesting, my dear.”
He nodded as his eyes twinkled back at her. “My thoughts indeed.”
Hands were on him. Soft, feminine hands. At first Aeric smiled, it’d been so long since he’d felt the touch of a woman.
Knowing he was dreaming because Claudia was no more. And because it was a dream, he traced his hand up the length of her bare forearm. “Claudia,” his voice was full of grit and sleep, his sexy morning growl she’d used to call it.
She shivered, and he wet his lips, cock going hard at the thought of filling, molding his hands to her ample breasts as her golden halo of hair cascaded down around the two of them. Palms itching to trace her creamy mounds, he grabbed hold of her plump bosom. Squeezing and kneading just the way she liked.
A sultry sigh and a breeze that smelled of fresh spring rain teased his nose.
He frowned, telling himself to open his eyes and put this dream behind him. He was somewhere important, doing something that required focus. Now was not the time for sleeping. But he was sluggish and exhausted, his mind muddied by half remembered visions.
“Wake up, man.” The voice was dulcet and shivered with threads of heady desire. Then a finger traced down the length of his nose, across his jaw. Claudia’s voice sounded different, more… refined. But no less enticing.
She was moving away from him.
The thought gripped him with panic, made him wrap his arms about her waist and drag her slight form atop his. She weighed almost nothing. But dreams never really were substantial to begin with.
“Mmm,” he rumbled, coming slowly awake. This dream was more real than any he’d had in years. “A kiss first, to wake your man up proper.”
A little sigh filled the space between them and then a mouth was on his. It was warm and sweet and tasted of sugar. But it was also clumsy and bruising. A showering rain of hard, hard kisses full of virginal passion and the knocking of teeth.
Claudia wasn’t clumsy. Ever. And dreams weren’t supposed to sting.
The thought was like ice water to the face. His eyes snapped open, only to now find himself staring into the eyes of a stranger.
For a moment he was confused whether to be angry or not. Because while he did not know her, she was perhaps the loveliest creature he’d ever beheld. She had a heart shaped face, with almond shaped eyes and full pouty, perfect lips.
In his stupor, he felt his body responding and the moment it did was when he snapped from his trance. This was Wonderland, where to trust anything, especially those that looked this seductively beautiful, could be a death sentence.
Startled, he jerked back and then roared as his battered leg took that moment to remind him that moving like that was a bad idea. She jumped back too, landing in an almost feline pose.
“Who are you?” he snapped. She was crouching in front of him, her hands balled into fists on the ground as she eyed him warily.