I exhaled and looked down at the book. “I’m trying, Lonan.”
From the corner of my eye I saw him slink closer, and then he was gently removing the book from my hands and climbing into my lap, straddling my hips as he clasped my face between his long fingers.
“I know,” he murmured, kissing along my cheekbone to the bridge of my nose.
“I feel like a failure,” I admitted, closing my eyes as he kissed along my jaw to my chin. “I want to do it. For you. But I can’t figure out how. And I’m scared of what will happen if I can’t. And what will happen if I can.”
“I know,” he murmured again, wrapping his arms round my neck and burying his face in my hair. “You’re not a failure.”
He leaned back and cupped my face again, staring intently into my eyes. Even though his expression and voice were as sombre as ever, I knew he was trying to cheer me up when he asked, “Have you tried getting drunk and lying with one of the fae?”
After a pause, I burst out laughing. I was grinning wickedly when I leaned closer and said, “I haven’t done the getting drunk part first.”
“Well, maybe it’s time you discovered the pleasure of it.”
So we did. With great enthusiasm. And I also discovered the pleasure of licking fae wine directly off Lonan’s body.