Page 78 of How Does It Feel?

I grabbed his bicep and bit my lip to block out the intense pain.

His mouth parted as he paused to stare at my lips. “Then, like me, they would have underestimated you.”

The room was still for a moment. I watched him work, unsure of what his words meant.

“Is it always dark here? Don’t you ever miss the sun? How dreary,” I asked, struggling to change the subject and not curl up against his large chest.

He was still a horrible monster even if he happened to be kind to me in this moment.

His hands splayed on the sides of my waist as he pulled me harder against his chest.

We were so close now I could see every gray speckle in his sky-colored eyes, feel every fold and wrinkle of his shirt against my body.

Tension crackled like fire in the air. Both of us fought against something forbidden, something wrong.

He cleared his throat gruffly. “It is never truly sunny, but not always night. Just as it is always different shades of day for the Seelie.” He bristled tensely at the mention of the other Fae realm.

He reached up and touched the back of my head. His eyes flickered shut as he threaded his hands in the back of my hair.

“Until this moment, I’ve never known you could crave something you’ve never wanted,” his voice was thick like honey.

I watched his full lower lip and the creases that adorned it as he spoke as if I’d been hypnotized. My thumb found his lips and moved lightly across the soft linear creases. He abruptly stood to his full towering height, startling me, and I shifted to get off the bed, unsure of what had suddenly happened, but he lightly tightened his grip, still in my hair. Threading his hands through my hair, he tipped my head up to look at him. I instantly tensed, ready to fight him.

“You have a wound on the back of your head. Be still, and we will be done quickly.”

I relaxed, and he loosened his grip slightly.

“That’s it. Good girl.” His voice rasped down on me.

“I still hate you,” I said calmly as I stared at the black fabric that covered his large chest.

“I still need you dead,” he said, but his words were said without venom.

After a few dabs of ointment on my head, he finally let me up and guided me back to my cage.

“Take this,” he said as he handed me the black cloud-like comforter of his bed.

I paused to watch him a moment before taking it into my cage. Was he truly giving me his bedding so I didn’t have to sleep on the hard floor?

“It’s covered in your filthy human blood,” he said as he handed me the fluffy bedding.

“What are you—”

“Rest, Callie. The second trial is tomorrow.”

He turned abruptly and left, not returning for the rest of the night.

Chapter 22

A Bonding Proposal

Mendax

“Be sure she gets whatever she wants to eat. I don’t know the last time she’s eaten,” I told the maid as I walked into the large kitchen.

“Yes, of course, Your Highness.” The petite Fae nodded.

What was I thinking?