When evening fell, Sionnach walked Carissa back to her Jeep. Above them, the sky seemed to go on forever, and the distant sight of the cliffs and cacti in the dusk was gorgeous. Heat shimmered close to the earth as the warmth in the ground and the cool air of evening connected. Usually, he would be happy to be in the desert on his own, but tonight he wanted someone to share it with; he wanted the sort of union that he’d never had—one he couldn’t have until he was able to be with his true mate. He wouldn’t have relations with a mortal, but a night spent kissing and touching under the stars was tempting. In some quiet part of his mind, he could admit that Carissa would only be standing in for the one he wanted, but tonight, he simply didn’t want to be alone. In a moment of weakness, he blurted out, “I’m camping out here tonight. Maybe you could stay.”

She paused, kissed him, and said, “Well, if we were inside one of the buildings . . . I mean snakes wouldn’t get into the sleeping bag, right?”

“You’d stay? Really?” He pulled her into his arms again, torn between guilt and hopefulness. “With me?”

She laughed, not coquettishly but as if surprised. He had been the one keeping their kisses tame; he had been the one not pushing the lines.

“In a heartbeat . . . but . . .” She glanced at her watch. “I’m already going to be late.” She bit her lip, and then after a moment, she offered, “I could call my father on the way home tomorrow and say I had a flat or something.”

Sionnach brushed her hair from her face. He knew better than this. He was the Alpha here, the one tasked with setting the rules that the other solitaries followed. “But?”

“I’ll be grounded probably.”

“And they’d worry all night. . . .” He rested his forehead against hers. “Waking up with you beside me would be beautiful, but I don’t think either of us is ready for the costs of that.”

“Either of us?”

He pulled back to stare into her face and half answered her question: “I like seeing you. If you’re grounded . . .”

“Oh.” She blushed and ducked her head. “That cost. I thought you meant there was something else wrong.”

Faeries don’t keep mortals, he thought quietly to himself. What would you say if you saw what I am? What if things went too far and there were a child? That thought reinforced his resolve. Half-fey children were dangerous to birth, and the courts stole them away if they were discovered. He wouldn’t wish injury to Carissa or cope with the loss of any child of his. He smiled at her and opened the door of her car. “Go home, Carissa, before my morals flee again.”