When he takes a prowling step forward, my pulse jumps, like I’ve suddenly found myself playing the prey in a hunt. “Tell me, do you remember how it is between fae?”
“Umm, no.” I give a slow shake of my head, confused by what exactly he means.
“Fae are not like Oreans,” Slade explains as he walks over to the fireplace and crouches down in front of it.
My eyes drop to his powerful thighs, and I watch as he meticulously layers the grate with kindling from the neat woodpile before he lights it with a piece of flint. Sparks come to life, and he leans in closer, blowing softly until flames lick up the wood. I don’t know why I find that sexy, but I do.
“Fae are wilder in our instinctual drives. We can be demanding and ardent, dominant and jealous.” He stands up and faces me again, and even though he’s no closer than he was before, it feels like something between us has compressed. Like the world is shrinking into this moment. “Especially with...someone we want.”
I’m hot all over, my ribbons unable to hold still any longer as they twine against my back.
“I didn’t answer you right away because I need you to understand something first,” he tells me, that dark, brooding voice of his caressing my ears.
I force myself to let go of my skirts and smooth out the wrinkled parts I’d clutched onto. “Okay...”
Newborn firelight flickers at his back, but his gaze gleams brighter. “I was going to make myself walk away. I was going to leave early—tomorrow actually. I had every intention of respecting your decision. Whether it was to stay with him or to run, I was going to force myself to accept it and leave you be.”
I don’t like hearing him talk about leaving. Just the thought of it makes me squirm.
“But make no mistake. I would’ve still wanted you.”
My eyes prickle with his declaration.
Right now, with the intensity of his attention on me, I can feel that wild edge he just mentioned. “It’s all or nothing, Auren.”
“What do you mean?”
“I want all of you,” he tells me, a newfound hunger in the depths of his green eyes that stirs heat beneath my skin. “Every piece, every memory, every minute, every inch. This isn’t going to be some casual dalliance. This isn’t going to be temporary. I want you soul, mind, and body. I want your trust and your thoughts. I want your past, your present, your future. So make very certain that you want me for the right reasons. Be certain that you’re choosing this, because once you do, there’s no turning back.”
An overwhelming rush of emotions drenches me. I’ve been caught in the rain of Slade’s storm, not a single part of me left out of the torrent. But surprisingly, my doubts don’t sprout up. Worries don’t flood me. Instead, I feel an inner resolution, like bobbing ice that’s finally settled and gone still.
“I want it,” I tell him with a resolute nod.
A slow, wicked grin curls his lips, and my toes curl with it. When he looks at me like that, my skin seems to shimmer, though it has nothing to do with being gold.
“But I get all of you too. I won’t ever again give myself to someone who doesn’t give himself back to me. So make very certain that you’re choosing this, King Ravinger,” I parrot back to him. “Because once you do, there’s no turning back.”
He chuckles, the sound like a gravelly baritone that’s music to my ears and makes my own lips lift.
“Oh, I’m certain,” he replies. “I chose you the moment you called me a prick, and your ribbons tried to knock me on my ass.”
A surprised laugh escapes me. “That’s when you decided?”
“Yep. No need to admit when you chose me. I know it was when you were admiring my ass outside.”
My mouth pops open, cheeks going hot. “For the last time, I was not looking at your ass!”
“Mm-hmm,” he replies, sounding unconvinced as he walks over to the curtain and drags it open, filling the room with the silvered light of the sun stuck behind a veil of snowdrift clouds.
When he opens the balcony door and looks up at the sky, I frown. “What are you doing?” I ask as he comes back in and shuts the door.
“Gauging the time. We have about half an hour, I’d say.”
“You have somewhere to be?”
He gives me a sardonic look. “Do you honestly think I’d leave after you just told me you’re in love with me?”
I blink in shock and rear back. “I didn’t...I’m not in love with you,” I quickly say. “That’s not what I said.”