Page 23 of Protected By the Elf Prince

“Yes.”

“That means you were alive before electricity.”

“Yes. But I am also from another dimension. I was born where the fae reside. Where my father rules and my brothers stand at his side. I wasn’t interested in the title. I wanted a place somewhere quiet and away from it all. I moved to this realm. In the country west from here, which I would love to show you one day. Only if you wish.”

Landon blinked. He opened his mouth and closed it again. He let out a groan and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Do you mean…? Are you saying you’re a prince?”

“Yes. But again, I have asked not to be classed as one. I want a simple and quiet life.”

“I… I really don’t know what to say.”

“Does this mean the shock of my age has passed?”

He snorted. “That took a back burner after you mentioned dimensions and princes, but now you’ve brought it back up… are you saying you’ve been around for two hundred years, waiting for some random accountant to show up?”

The way he phrased it nearly made me smile again. “Not consciously.”

“But now?” he pressed. His eyes shone with confusion, uncertainty, and a kindness that I very much liked seeing.

Which was why I gave him the truth again. “Now,” I said softly, “I cannot imagine my life without you in it.”

Landon stopped breathing for half a second, then immediately looked away as his cheeks tinted. He exhaled slowly before muttering, “You really don’t do anything halfway, huh?”

“No.”

“That’s terrifying too.”

“I am beginning to think humans find many things about elves unsettling.”

His lips twitched. “You wanted to commit arson because a woman flirted with me.”

“As you continue repeating it, it sounds progressively worse.”

“It should.” He chuckled, and I found myself utterly captivated by it.

Perhaps sensing the intensity of my attention, Landon cleared his throat and looked back down at his drink. “You know, this was supposed to help me figure things out.”

“What things?”

His jaw tightened slightly. “I came here because I wanted to make sure women still caught my attention.”

Pain flickered sharply through me before I could suppress it.

Landon noticed immediately. He winced. “Sorry if that’s hard to hear.”

It depended on the answer, and I was suddenly too scared to ask.

He sighed, then shrugged. “I should say, I like women plenty, but I’m not… I don’t know, drawn to try and be with one right now.”

Blood rushed through my body. “And what do you feel when I am around?”

I should not have asked.

That was wrong of me.

It was pushing when I promised I would not.

Shaking my head, I told him, “Do not answer. I’m here just to talk. To get to know each other.”