Fighting with him still made her hot.

“Don’t say that about yourself,” he said, reaching for her again.

“Hey. I know my own worth. I’m worth ten of any Fae around,” she joked. “I also know that I’m not a pretty, fancy noble like…”

The name that she didn’t say lingered between them. Darby. She wasn’t like Darby. Darby, who had turned her down. Who was currently sullying her perfectly beautiful self with some Fae male who would never appreciate her and who she had no affection for. All to make little Fae babies rather than making herself happy.

Clover’s mood soured at the thought.

Hadrian stroked back the cut of her bob behind her perfectly normal human ears. “I like you just the way you are.”

“Course you do,” she said with a wink.

His finger moved to the chain she always kept at her throat, and he pulled it out from where the necklace nestled against her skin. She grabbed it back from him and tucked it away.

“Sorry,” he said quickly. “You just never take it off. I was wondering why.”

“It was my dad’s,” she said softly. The shape of the locket pressed firm against her skin. “It was the last thing he ever gave me. He told me to always keep it safe. That it… I would change the world.” She laughed. “It’s ridiculous. What’s one girl going to do anyway?”

“Isn’t that why you’re part of Rights For All?”

“And look at what that got us,” she snapped unfairly.

He held up his hands. “I just think you should give yourself some credit. You are changing the world. At least mine.”

He pulled her close again, and this time, she didn’t resist. She didn’t want to resist him anyway. Men were so much more complicated than women. She never preferred one over the other. In fact, she’d always just been attracted to the person rather than their gender. None of that had ever mattered to her. But Hadrian was one of the few males she’d felt comfortable with for this long. And she wanted it to work… even as they hid it from everyone else.

“Hey,” he whispered, tipping her chin up to look at him. He was a full head taller than her, which was a feat. She was tall for a human.

His lips grazed hers. She groaned and leaned against him, forgetting the world. They still had hours to themselves. She needed to stop arguing with him and use the time to their best interests. Neither of them heard the soft tread of satin slippers against the wood or the sitting room door click open. Only the pained gasp from the now-open doorway.

Clover’s head jerked to the side to find Darby’s stunned expression. Tears came immediately to her big black eyes.

“Darbs,” Hadrian said, taking a step toward her.