“Are you sure?” The question is so tentative, somehow conveying understanding if my answer is no. I swallow, nerves and butterflies and fear and a thousand other emotions running through me. You could lie. I could wait a little longer, really examine whatever’s changed deep inside of me. I could plot and scheme and control every aspect of telling him about us. Admon still hasn’t found anything useful that might tell us about what it could mean. The words are on the tip of my tongue, but then I pause. Every moment between us flashes across my mind. Every cup of tea he’s made, every time he’s opened himself up to me, every time the heat between us has felt unbearable. Fingers brushing across the lightning bolt necklace he gave me, my smile is so wide it practically hurts as I nod my head.

“I’m sure.” The barely held back tears gathering in his eyes lose their battle and stream down his face. Strong arms wrap me around my middle, hauling me to my feet and then squeezing even tighter when we’re standing. My own tears leak slowly down my cheeks as Thorne caresses my back and then my hair. He finally releases me from the hug, though his big, warm hands wrap around mine as he stares into the center of me, all the way down into my aether-heart.

“My Queen,” he whispers, kissing the top of my head, my forehead, my eyelids, my lips. “My mate. My Laurel.”

Laurel

The witch and the fae fell madly in love, despite all the warnings about what might happen if they gave in to the bond fate made for them. The Mages, that ancient sect of ichor-worshipping fae, were displeased by the power the witch and the fae could command once they were united. It launched a war that would change the very fabric of the world for millennia.

Unknown Story, Unknown Origin

I aerstep us back to the suite at the estate, and a feral energy consumes us both. His hands explore every inch of my body as he kisses me with a fierceness that makes me moan, a low and humming noise from the back of my throat. The sound causes him to take my face in his hands and angle me to deepen the kiss. I don’t know where one of us begins and the other ends, our bodies are so intertwined with one another.