The Dark Fae (The World of Fae #1)(10)

She continued to watch the film, though she didn’t see anything but the flash of headlights, balls of fire, and the sparks streaking across the screen as metal ground against metal. Her concentration remained on the fae who held her hand, possessively, heating her thoroughly. But more than that, she knew he studied her with the same kind of wolfish bemused expression. And that’s what distracted her something fierce.

He leaned over and whispered, “I’ve never had any girl, fae or human, act so spitefully toward me. Whatever had I done to deserve wearing the ice cold drinks on my bare chest?”

She smiled, but wouldn’t look at him. His dark eyes were deadly entrancing, charming, lulling her into a false sense of desire. He didn’t want her. He wanted her to beg for mercy before he had her killed. Or did the job himself.

He added, “It took every bit of resolve for me not to flinch when the icy sodas hit my chest.”

Alicia’s smile broadened. So he wasn’t as tough as he acted. She could just imagine him trying to pretend not to be unsettled by the ice hitting his sun-warmed skin for the human girl’s benefit. Though she wondered why he’d be so honest about it with her now. Did he think if he gave up a secret, she would, too?

No way would she tell him who her father was. Not that she knew anyway. Her mother had kept her maiden name so the fae wouldn’t ever be able to learn Alicia’s father’s name. And Alicia only knew her father’s first name…

Suddenly golden-haired fae, six of them, dressed in navy blue tunics and dark brown trousers appeared at the bottom of the stairs. For a moment, they looked at the carpeted floor, then turned their attention to Deveron and the rest of his party. At once, the six male fae tromped up the stairs to Alicia’s aisle. From their grim expressions, they looked like they had a formidable mission. Were they coming to arrest her?

Instantly, her stomach muscles tightened. Deveron’s hand grasped hers more firmly also. Was he protecting her? Or keeping her there so she could be taken prisoner?

He was a dark fae. He wouldn’t be helping her. She tried to free her hand from his steel grasp.

“You’re in trouble now if the royal guards are coming for you,” Ritasia warned.

Alicia knew it. She was a dead woman.

Deveron cursed under his breath, then leaned over and kissed Alicia’s lips. Before she could react, shove him away, enjoy his attention, slip out of his reach, or kiss him back, her head began to swim in circles around and around, faster and faster as if she was riding a spinning top at an amusement park. Everything swirled into the dim light of the theater to a much darker void.

Could a dark fae’s kiss disorient her that much?

She tried to concentrate on him, on the feel of his warm lips pressing with such passion against hers, on his hand that gripped hers for dear life. Then the swirling slowed down. The dark gave into light. The smell of buttered popcorn turned into the fragrance of fresh grass. No longer was she sitting upright in a theater chair, but she reclined on a bed of soft, tall grass.

Her eyes began to focus on her new surroundings.

Too dizzy, she couldn’t sit up. She tried to open her mouth to speak as Deveron leaned over her, watching her, not saying a word. Her stomach’s queasiness began to settle.

For what seemed like an eternity, she attempted to focus on him, on the dazzling blue sky above, and the puffs of white clouds that she could make out.

Birds chattered in a forest—a forest?—just a few feet away. There were no forests on South Padre Island.

She closed her eyes and tried to make sense of what had just happened. She was watching a suspense thriller with Cassie and Ritasia, then suddenly, Deveron and Micala arrived. And then...and then a gap in her memory prevented her from remembering what else.

She looked at Deveron’s lips. They curved in a naughty grin. He’d kissed her. But no. Something before that. What had happened? Think, Alicia, think.

Somehow she figured knowing what had happened before the kiss would prove tantamount to her survival. But as much as she attempted to remember, she couldn’t.

He leaned over further and took her hand in his and touched his lips to hers.

She should object. Shouldn’t she? He was a dark fae and she was…she was…was she a dark fae, too? She couldn’t remember. Why couldn’t she remember?

His name was Deveron and he was…he was kissing her—again.

She tangled her fingers in his dark brown, shoulder length hair, the rich color shimmering in the warm sunlight. The gold around his eyes sparkled with an intensity she hadn’t remembered before. Then they closed as he deepened his kiss.

“Alicia,” he mouthed against her lips, uttered with such longing and desire, she knew he loved her.

Her brow furrowed for a moment. Didn’t he?

He kissed her eyes, one with profound reverence, then the other. He moved to her cheeks, doing both of them the honor next. And then her lips again. And she succumbed. No one had ever kissed her with such tenderness, such finesse, such passion. She was in love. Had to be.

Male voices spoken some distance away garnered their attention. Alicia parted her lips to speak, but Deveron covered them with his again. She gave into his loving touch, but then the swirling began all over.

She groaned as her world shifted from golden light and sweet smelling grass to rotating dark and the only scent, Deveron. His subtle spicy fae fragrance drew her under his spell.