Page 44 of Fallen Court

Collapsing, Lach reached over and tucked me against his chest. I counted his breaths as it rose and fell, treasuring the beats of his heart. We laid there, limbs still tangled, stealing small touches until his breath grew even and his eyes closed.

I pushed onto my elbow and stared at him. “You do have sexy magic.”

“Are you lodging a complaint? Because if you don’t want me to—”

“No!” I cut him off. “Trust me, I’m a fan. But you acted like I was imagining things.” How many times had I been convinced he was using his magic to stoke desire in me, and he had acted like—

“You were.” His mouth pressed into a bemused line. He still hadn’t opened his eyes. “I never used it on you before.”

“Liar.” But I swallowed.

He chuckled, stroking a hand down the length of my spine. “That just now? That was only a taste. A sneak preview of the things I could do…” He paused, peeking at me with heavy eyelids. “Before…I didn’t want to scare you.”

I swallowed, discovering a lump in my throat. I couldn’t pinpoint what had changed between us. Maybe it was saying I love you. But it felt deeper than that, and something told me that sharing that magic meant more than he was letting on. I cleared my throat. “How does one perfect their sexy magic, exactly?”

“Perfect? Are you calling me an expert?”

“I wouldn’t dare risk inflating your ego any further by saying something like that,” I retorted dryly. “I asked out of scientific curiosity.”

But his grin widened. “So, do you want to hear about all the women I’ve used sexy magic on? For your research? Maybe you should take notes. I bet there’s a pen and paper around here somewhere.”

A soft snarl slipped from me, and I sat up, startled. Lach laughed, hooking an arm around me and dragging me back into his arms. He kissed the top of my head. “I’ve never used my sexy magic with anyone,” he murmured. I blinked in surprise but remained silent. “I don’t summon my shadows often.”

“Why?”

“Because usually there’s a cost—not just to me but to my court,” he said in a soft voice. I held my breath, afraid I wouldn’t hear him. “It’s hard to explain. My magic—our magic—isn’t what it was.”

Just like the magic at the Hallow Court.

“Am I worth paying the price?” It was an honest question. I’d seen what happened to magic that had been broken.

“Always, and it’s different with you…now…” He fumbled the words like he didn’t know how to explain it.

The whole matter promised a heavy conversation, one I wasn’t sure I was ready to have. Not yet. Facing the truth was inevitable, but I wanted to steal a few more minutes. I let my eyes drift along his muscled torso, watching all but one of his tattoos shift and swirl as they trailed downward—as if he was thinking exactly what I was.

“Where are those headed?” My finger traced the one that remained on his chest.

Lach hooked an arm around me and dragged me under him.

“Why don’t we find out?” The promise dripping in his voice made my thighs clench.

He started a slow descent, dropping kisses down my neck and over my collarbone. I arched to meet his tongue as it circled my nipple. But as my hand wrapped around the back of his neck, it brushed a raised scar. I pushed up, earning a grunt of annoyance from him, as I inspected the mark there.

“Is that…” I trailed away, already knowing what the winged skull meant. It wasn’t like his other tattoos, smooth and changing. Its ink was burned like a brand into his flesh—a permanent symbol of the crime he’d committed when he saved my life.

“Like it?” he asked, shifting to his knees and taking me in his arms. “It’s one of my top three.”

“I’m not sure I want to know what the other two are,” I whispered. Seeing the mark that labeled him a dead man brought reality rushing back like a hangover. Despite my desire to ignore it, I knew we couldn’t, not when we’d only narrowly avoided the Wild Hunt. I needed answers. A lot of them. And there were things I needed to tell him, starting with what had happened at the Hallow Court.

“We should talk about the Wild Hunt…and Oberon.” My stomach lurched as I said his name.

“Mood officially killed,” Lach grumbled, but he didn’t let me go. “It can wait.”

As if he didn’t want to hear what had happened any more than I wanted to revisit it. Especially when I considered how Lach would react to what the prince of the Hallow Court had done. The witches may have saved me, but they hadn’t stopped him from magically binding me.

Maybe there was no witch wedding. The goddess definitely hadn’t blessed shit. But Oberon had used fae magic before the ritual when he handfasted me, just like Bain and Ciara had done. I lifted my hand, inspecting it for signs of the mark. I had no doubt I had cause to break the handfasting. What I didn’t know was exactly how to officially do it, and when Lach found out…

Plus then there was the matter of my ring. I still didn’t want to believe Oberon’s claims. But Lach had begged me not to take it off, which meant he knew something about it. But what? How was I going to wait to ask about that?