Faery Godlover

The fae composed himself quickly after. “I take it you didn’t even make it to his bed?”

“What? No freaking way!”

“All right, all right. You don’t need to be so testy about it.”

Duada gusted a long-suffering sigh as if he was dealing with a daft kid. “Fine, fine. I understand. I have seemed to miscalculated your interest. The next one will be better, I swear. Just—tell me more about what you’d like in a mate,” he said, leaning back and sprawling his muscular arms over the back of the couch.

For a long moment, Jasmine was distracted by the sight in front of her.

Duada looked like some kind of bizarre Playgirl centerfold, all sinew and dark hair and wild, crystalline eyes. This asshole fae prince was mouthwateringly sexy. Part of Jasmine wanted to just point at him and say, “That. I would like that in a mate.” But at the same time she knew he was off-limits, or at least she assumed he was. She didn’t know what the rules were regarding fae-human relations, seeing as she had never encountered a fae before. “I don’t know… sensitive and thoughtful? Someone in touch with his emotions,” she suggested, shrugging. “I don’t care much about his physical attributes. I just need him to be a nice person. A nice, sensitive, caring person.” Unlike someone I just knew, she thought grumpily. Damn you, if you weren’t this gorgeous, it would be easier for me to hate you.

Duada nodded slowly, looking at her with a quizzical expression. “Interesting. I always thought that was the main attraction for human females. Some human said to me recently that bigger was better when it came to that. So, I’ve taken the liberty to reserve the creme de la creme just for you.”

“Where did you hear that?”

“In a bar somewhere.”

“I’m sure that was meant as a joke. For your information, we’re not all that shallow,” she retorted, rolling her eyes. “I’ll have you know that bigger isn’t always better.”

“Oh? Do elaborate. So you prefer slightly bigger than average but slightly smaller than Hayden?”

“Duada, please.” Jasmine covered her face with her hands. She was mortified at the direction this discussion was taking. From the way he appeared to be enjoying himself, Duada was clearly messing with her. Didn’t she hear somewhere that faefolks had a macabre sense of humor? “Can we not talk about male genitals anymore, please? Like, ever?”

She heard him chuckling.

“Well! I can see this topic is too delicate for your sensitive ears. But I must admit, you’re more entertaining than I originally thought,” the fae said, clapping his hands together.

“What about Hayden?” she asked.

“What about him?”

“I kinda ran away from the party once I discovered…” She gulped. “It was cowardly of me after he was so nice. He took me out for a wonderful dinner and introduced me to his friends…”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”

“You will?”

“I’ll erase his memory. I can make tonight’s date as if it never happened.”

“Oh. Thank you, I guess.”

“I shall do my best to find you your perfect gentleman. Time for you to get some sleep— you’ve got a big day tomorrow with your next date!”

She let down her hands and eyed him with suspicion. “I changed my mind. I don’t want another date.”

“Oh, but you must!”

“I have a feeling you’re just yanking my chain.”

“Yanking your what? Jasmine, I’m not a human and most importantly, I’m not a female. You must pardon me if I didn’t get this thing right the first time. Nobody’s perfect in the beginning.” He got up and slowly straightened himself in full height. His gaze zeroed in on her, his eyes blazing.

She found herself shrinking in her seat as he leaned down to her. At that very moment, he looked so goddamn dangerous.

“Besides,” he breathed in icy tone, “you and I are bound by the covenant. I can’t leave Earth until I complete my task. The sooner I can get you your man, the sooner I can return to my Queen’s court. Do you think I enjoy playing matchmaker for some unfortunate human? Me, a high fae of royal birth?”

“I-I suppose not.”

“Then, you shall meet your next date tomorrow. You want a man with a golden heart, yes? Sensitive, caring and passionate, yes?” Duada quickly slipped back into his cheerful mood.