Valerian Sylverfrost, Prince of the Winter Court and possibly the most lethal Evermore I know, just crawled over and laid his head in my lap.
Whoa. A thrill of . . . something shivers down my spine. We could be two college lovers enjoying the park after work. The thought dredges a sharp pain in my chest as I realize how much I want that.
A normal, easy, human relationship defined by mundane things like the first time we meet each other’s families or share an apartment key.
That’s the opposite of what's happening here but . . . against my better judgement, I run my fingers through his dark blue hair, startled by its silkiness.
A puff of air escapes his lips at the contact, and then he closes his eyes.
“You smell divine,” he murmurs.
Dangerous territory, I remind myself, but I don’t remove my hand, and he doesn’t remove his head. Both of us testing how far we can take this new form of intimacy and still control ourselves.
“So,” I begin, carefully weighing my questions. We only get four apiece. “You hate hotdogs, you hated the gourmet mac ’n’ cheese we found at the flea market—”
“That vile yellow stuff?”
I tug on a strand of his hair. “No interrupting while I have the question leaf.”
“The what?” he demands, his eyes flashing open.
I grab a golden leaf and wave it over his eyes. “This. Just go with it.”
“Fine. You have the dead leaf, now please. Ask your question.”
“So, you hate our food, even the amazing stuff. What do you like?”
Relaxing, he closes his eyes again. “Are you asking what my favorite meal is?”
“Yes, I guess I am.” I can’t stop staring at the dark blue curtain of lashes resting against his ivory cheeks. The swell of his bowed lips, parted slightly.
“Every year in the Winter Court, we celebrated the ice maiden with a festival. There’s this treat called snow candy made from maple syrup. I rather like it.”
“Wait? That’s your favorite food? You won’t touch a taco or deep dish pizza but you’ll eat candy?”
He shrugs. “My father never let me have any, so I’d sneak away from the royal entourage and eat so many I was sick.”
Whoa. “So you rage ate candy to piss your dad off? That doesn’t count as your favorite food. Okay, that’s it. I’m making it my mission to find something from the mortal world that you love.”
“Never going to happen. Now, my turn.” He opens his eyes, those silver irises like trapped mercury as he holds my stare, and takes the leaf from my hand. “What did you want to do with your life, before I dragged you to the Everwilde?”
Okay, he went serious right off the bat. I chew my lip, trying to remember my dreams before all this started. “I don’t know, I was so focused on keeping everyone fed and safe that I didn’t have time to think about much else. College, maybe? So I could do something that helps people.”
“That’s very noble of you.”
“What?” I bristle at the hefty dose of sarcasm in his voice. “You think helping people is naive?”
“No, I think it’s very human, and also useless in the Everwilde.”
This guy. I’m so tired of the Fae using the Everwilde as an excuse for their bad behavior. But I don’t want to argue, not when he’s being truthful, so I blow out a breath, snatch the leaf away, and continue. “What was the first thing that drew you to me, before?”
“Your smile,” he says immediately. “You were always grinning like you knew a secret, and I wanted desperately to know what that secret was.”
“And did you?”
“Yes, you’re deeply obsessed with me. Now, my turn.” He takes the leaf before I can argue, twirling it above his head. “Have you ever had a boyfriend, Summer?”
I nearly choke on air. “In the human world? No, I mean—no. A few guys asked me out, but I was too busy for that.” I reclaim the leaf. “When we were together before, did we, you know . . .”