The Gilded Fae (Royal Fae of Rose Briar Woods 2)

“I’ve already done it.” I make him meet my eyes. “Answer my question.”

His frown deepens as he studies me. “I’m a human actor, a hotelier, a businessman. You’re a queen of Faerie. A world doesn’t exist where we can be together.”

“Let’s make one.”

“Sabine…”

I wrap my hand around his neck, coaxing him closer. “I’ll ask you again. Do you want me?”

“Since we’ve met, there’s never been a time I haven’t wanted you.”

“Good.”

I lean into him and kiss his lips like they are mine to kiss. And maybe they are.

Alex’s fingers skim over my waist, warm through the silk of my gown. “Sabine,” he whispers. “Swear you’re free.”

“I’m free.”

Alex drags me against him, holding me in a tight embrace.

“I’m afraid I’m going to wake up if I let you go,” he murmurs.

I smile against his shoulder, breathing in the familiar smell of his cologne. I’ve never forgotten it. My body remembers the feel of him, the way my smaller frame fits so naturally against his, my curves meeting his muscular angles like we were meant to be pieced together.

Alex will always be the boy who made me feel butterflies and the man who sets me on fire. He’s my past, and he’s my future.

“Marry me,” he says raggedly. “If you truly mean to stay, wear my ring and take my name.”

“As long as Alaric doesn’t make it.”

He laughs, pulling back and catching my face in his hands. “Truly?”

I nod, near tears.

Alex kisses me slowly, sealing the promises made between us. It took us ten years from the day we met for our paths to converge, but now we have a lifetime to share our walk—a lifetime of shows, holidays at the coast, visits to the café, and thousands of mundane and perfect days.

“Did I see Drake with you?” he finally asks.

I grin. “He said it wasn’t safe to send me into Valsta alone.”

“I should greet him.”

He offers me his hand, and we make our way back into the theater. When we find the house empty, we look in the foyer. But Drake and Frederick are absent.

“Where could they have gone?” I say aloud as we look around.

From behind us, a woman says, “Look who has returned.”

We turn and find Madame Corsavina.

“What are you doing here today?” Alex asks the woman.

“I came to see Sabine.” She looks between us, smiling to herself as she produces her velvet bag of tokens.

“Not that again,” Alex says with a roll of his eyes.

“Indulge me.”