Elena returned to her apartment after her meeting with Leo. She had just set her books on the desk in the bedroom and pulled off her leather jacket when the sound of a key grinding in the front door made her freeze.
Reese.
Elena ran into the living room with her heart pounding in her throat. But it was just Keen sweeping inside like he owned the place.
Somehow Keen had pilfered a key to her apartment and proceeded to use it at his leisure.
“Dammit, Keen! You can’t just walk in and out whenever you like.”
He pocketed the key, ignoring her as he headed into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator.
Her shoulders sank. Elena didn’t really mind Keen showing up. She was only disappointed it wasn’t Reese.
“Any news?” she asked. No need to be specific. She asked the same question of Keen about ten times a day.
His cool face strained in a grimace. Since their failed farmhouse rescue, Keen hadn’t faltered in his search for Reese. Dark patches camped out below his eyes, and his hair had even taken on the Derek O’Brien no-comb appearance.
“Sources loyal to your mother confirm Reese is in Tirnan. She is being held captive. For what purpose, no one knows. They have nothing to gain by keeping her there.” Keen’s large hand squeezed the refrigerator door and he slammed it shut, the bottles rattling inside.
Elena let out a loud breath. “Thank God she’s alive. I mean, it’s not ideal that she’s in Tirnan, but it’s better than the alternative.”
Marlon’s vassal had initially threatened to kill Reese if Elena didn’t show up at the farmhouse. This meant there was hope. “We can get her back, Keen.”
He spun around. “Not we. You’re finished traveling to Tirnan.”
“No way.” She shook her head vehemently. “I have to find Reese. It’s my fault she’s there to begin with.”
“Do not mistake your run of luck in Tirnan for anything other than what it was. You will leave the rescuing of Reese to my men and me. I will find her, and I will return her to you.” Keen straightened, his chin all proud, sharp edges. He was serious.
“Why? Why do you care what happens to Reese?”
He broke eye contact. “I told you I would find her. Fae do not lie.”
Yeah, sure. She’d bet that wasn’t the only reason. Keen cared about Reese. He just wouldn’t admit it to himself, or to anyone else.
Well, she cared about Reese too. Elena had been irritated when Leo suggested she rescue her mother, because she felt Fae needed to step up and help, but she’d planned on doing it anyway, just like she planned on saving her best friend.
Keen’s help was welcome—because he cared about Reese, even if he didn’t acknowledge it—but she would search for Reese no matter what. “Keep me informed every step of the way. And come to me if you need help.”
“If I need you, I will find you.” He said this only for her benefit, she could tell. The chances of Keen believing he needed her help were one in a million, so he wasn’t actually lying.
Keen grabbed an apple from the counter and a few granola bars from the cupboard before ducking out the front door—just as Derek stepped in.
After seeing where New Emain was located, she understood why her place had become the community living room. As she was located between campus and the Fae’s new headquarters, the convenience of food and smutty reality TV were apparently too much to pass up. Plus, Keen was still technically her guard, though he’d simmered down a bit and had stopped watching her every move.
Keen and Derek exchanged the proverbial guy nod before Derek closed the door and scrubbed a hand down his face. He looked up and their eyes met. His shoulders relaxed, and he strode over and grabbed her in a hug. “I missed you.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed him back. “You were only gone for a couple of hours.”
“Yup. Still missed you.” He smiled and leaned in for a kiss.
Derek, especially, had taken what had happened in Tirnan hard. Camille had to pry Niall’s heart from his hand once they’d made it through the portal. Elena didn’t even think Derek knew he still held it. He seemed to be walking around in a state of shock.
They’d held each other all night that first night, Derek sleeping fitfully. He’d called his parents the next morning to “check in,” but Elena could tell he’d needed to hear their voices, though he couldn’t explain to them why.
Derek didn’t disclose the Fae to his parents. This time, though, it appeared his reasons for not telling them that he was a Halven stemmed from the need to protect his family, rather than from fear of abandonment. He’d gained perspective after his time with Niall. But no matter how horribly the Fae king had treated Derek, Derek hadn’t wanted to hurt the leader.
Had Derek simply maimed Niall, neither she nor Derek would be here right now; Fae healed too easily. Derek would have been imprisoned in Old Kingdom and Elena would be dead. Derek had done what he had to do.
“I’d do it ten times over if it meant protecting you,” Derek told her when she’d asked him if he regretted it. And she believed him. Traveling to Tirnan hadn’t only brought them closer, it had made their relationship rock solid. After all they’d been through, she trusted Derek more than anyone.
Their fates might have been divided, but not their souls. They were meant to be together.
“Where’s Keen headed?” Derek asked as he set his backpack down and sank onto the couch.
“To see about rescuing Reese,” she said, and joined him.
Derek studied her face. “Really? They found her?”
Elena told Derek about Reese being trapped in Tirnan.
He looked down and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Elena. But if they’ve got her imprisoned, they must need her or they would have… Anyway, it just means they’re not likely to hurt her.”
Elena pressed a knuckle to her mouth. “I know. You’re right,” she said, but she was still worried.
Derek wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Keen’s a badass. He’ll find her and heads will roll.”
She smiled and turned to him. “You two forming a bromance?”
He sat back, stretching his legs out wide. “His golden good looks are appealing”—he pulled her onto his lap—“but I like my lovers saucy.” He kissed her cheek and lingered, rubbing his lips across her skin.
She squirmed, but kept her expression blank. “Keen’s saucy too,” she countered.
He growled and she giggled. “So insolent. If you must know, I also like my lovers soft.” He ran his mouth behind her ear, a puff of breath teasing a surprisingly sensitive location below the lobe that had her squirming again. “And round in the right places…” He glanced down at her chest and quirked a brow.
She looked to the ceiling and shook her head. Men.
Derek grinned and leaned over her until she fell to the side on the couch, his weight lightly pressing her into the cushions. His face grew serious. “And you—I only want you, Elena.” He lowered his head and kissed her, butterflies, or whatever you wanted to call them, fluttering around in her belly and bouncing off one another like heated molecules.
Her sensitive, magical fingertips ran over his shoulders and down his sides to the gap between his T-shirt and jeans. She rubbed a slow circle against his bare skin, and the press of his mouth intensified.
She pulled gently away. “Stay with me tonight?” This time, it had nothing to do with protection or comfort. She was safe for now. She just wanted him.
“’Course,” he mumbled, and returned to kissing her, his lips moving down her throat to the top of her breasts—
A cell phone rang.
Derek stilled at the base of her throat as if considering whether or not to answer it, then sighed.
He sat up and pulled out his phone, glancing over with a look of apology. “My dad. I’d better get this.” He put the phone to his ear, but before answering the call he pointed a finger at her. “Do not move. We will continue our conversation in a moment.”
She grinned at the hidden meaning, and used the break to grab a glass of water from the kitchen.
While Elena stood behind the peninsula drinking her water, she thought about how Tirnan had changed her too. Becoming a doctor had been her goal, until she realized it was her family’s dream, not hers. Having the power to help people the way she did in Tirnan settled something deep inside her. For the first time in her life, something else interested her besides science—the mixing of science and magic. Alchemy.
The tone of the call on the other side of the room changed and Elena glanced up.
“I’m not going anywhere, Dad,” Derek said.
He’d mentioned that his dad hadn’t relented on trying to convince him to attend a better school. Because Derek didn’t want to tell his parents about Fae, his reasons for remaining at Dawson escaped them.
“I like it here and I’m plenty challenged with the coursework. My girlfriend’s here, and I have no intention of leaving her.”
Elena’s fingers gripped the glass, her heart thumping rapidly. No one had ever referred to her as their girlfriend. In some ways, she and Derek were so much more than boyfriend and girlfriend, but the reference made her giddy just the same.
“Yeah, sure. I’ll call in a week and let you know the name of my replacement advisor. Tell Mom hi.”
Elena waited until they were secluded in her bedroom before she asked him about the phone call. Lying on their sides atop the comforter and facing each other, she said, “Did you mean it? What you told your dad?”
“Nah.” The side of his mouth kicked up as he tucked back an escapee curl that had fallen across her eye.
“Oh.” She tried to not look disappointed.
“Dawson’s classes aren’t all that challenging, but what I learn from Fae will be. Besides, it looks like I’ll be needed in Old Kingdom.”
Her forehead puckered. She didn’t like the idea of Derek returning to Old Kingdom. “That doesn’t sound like a good—”
He leaned over and silenced her with a peck on the lips. “Either that, or we risk another dictator ruling. Fae live a long time, Elena. I can’t do that to Oldlanders. And who knows. Maybe having a Halven as their king will endear us to them?” When she continued to frown, he added. “Okay, probably not. But think of it this way: I’ll be able to update the plumbing.”
That would be an improvement, but she couldn’t smile when gripped by fear for his safety. She lived with enough anxiety over her mother and Reese. “Are you sure you have to be their leader?”
“For now, yeah. Being a king in Faeland wasn’t my dream, but maybe I can do good there. I’m not subject to their long history of war against each other. A Halven as leader could help smooth things over. I’d be able to rule with wisdom, instead of emotion and power in mind.”
She ran her fingers through his hair. Not happy, but also understanding his point. “You would make a great king. I just don’t want to lose you.”
Replacing Niall with an even more barbaric ruler wasn’t the solution. Until they found someone else, Derek was their best option. And who knew, maybe this was his calling the way alchemy was hers.
Elena thought about the rest of Derek’s conversation with his father and ducked her head into his shoulder, hiding her face. “But when I said, ‘Did you mean it,’ I meant what you said about your girlfriend.”
He leaned back and rolled her on top of him. “I love you, Elena.” His heart pounded beneath the hand she had pressed to his chest. “When I’m not near you, I’m thinking about you and wondering how long until I see you again. When I’m with you, I’m thinking of ways to get close and touch you, even if it’s only to hold you. And when you smile…I wonder if there is anything more beautiful in the world. Make that worlds.” He grinned.
His words stole her breath. He loved her.
She stroked his brow with her fingertip, and bent to kiss his lips with every spine-tingling, happy emotion he stirred in her.
And then the full magnitude of what he’d said kicked in, and she smiled so widely her cheeks ached. She squirmed and bobbed giddily on top of him. “I have a boyfriend,” she said in a singsong voice.
Derek grunted as a stray elbow landed on his ribs. He flipped her so she lay beneath him again. “How should we celebrate your first official relationship?” he asked in a deep, sexy voice, his hand snaking down her collarbone to the top of her breast.
She smiled slyly. “By holding hands?”
His palm stilled and he frowned, shaking his head.
“Hmm… With a kiss?”
He put his mouth on her neck and kissed and licked his way down. “Getting warmer,” he murmured.
She tapped a finger on her mouth, trying not to move while his lips and hands made her face heat and her breath catch. “No hand-holding, but kissing is okay, yet not enough. What to do, what to do… I’ve got it. How about a heavy make-out session?”
“Warmer still,” came his response from the general area of her belly button, where he’d lifted her top a few inches and exposed her skin. His hands continued their wonderfully tormenting path down her torso to her hips.
She closed her eyes, breaths shaky and uneven as her stomach and thigh muscles clenched beneath his fingers. “Fine—you win.” She reached down and yanked his T-shirt over his head.
He sat up as though affronted, his eyes sparkling. “Hey, I’m not that kind of guy.”
She smiled. “You’re a terrible liar. Is that drool on the side of your mouth?”
He raised his hand to his lip and grinned. She took that opportunity to shove his chest until he fell with little effort onto his back. Then she straddled him.
Her fingers glided along the muscled landscape of his chest and stomach. “I like the new and improved Derek.” Was that her husky voice?
Derek tried to frown, but she could see the smile creeping through. “Is that all I am to you? A hot body?”
She looked up and scratched the side of her head. “Pretty much.” She leaned down to place a soft kiss on his mouth. “Are you okay with that?”
“Fine by me.” He beamed.
The next several seconds saw a frenzied loss of clothing.
Derek’s large, hard, beautiful body loomed above her, the expression on his face thoughtful. He placed a gentle kiss on the corner of her mouth. “I was only joking about celebrating with sex. I just want to be near you. I don’t care what we do. Though this is amazing.”
“I know that, and if I haven’t said so yet, I know you would never willingly betray me. I’m sorry I doubted you for even a moment. I love you, and I love that you’re my first boyfriend.”
His arms tightened around her. He grinned widely. “And if I have my way—your last.”
