Page 44 of The Broken Elf King
I shook my head, opening my eyes really wide in an effort to appear sober. “I’m super clearheaded.”
He chuckled, running a finger down my chest. “You know what elf wine does to humans?”
Who cares, just take me. Right here under the moonlight, I wanted to say.
“Huh?” I traced his sharp jawline, imagining running my tongue along it.
He sighed, pulling his hand from under my dress and then creasing the fabric down flat. “It robs them of their memories while drunk. You and your friend Autumn won’t remember any of this tomorrow.”
Dread settled in my gut. Not remember this amazing kiss? That was criminal. “I’m onlyhalfhuman,” I reminded him, dizziness washing over me as I closed one eye in an effort to see Raife’s face better.
He shook his head, smiling. “Let’s get you to bed.”
One second I was lying flat on my back and the next I was being hauled up into his arms.
“The map!” I turned to look at the blanket.
“In my pocket,” he told me.
I relaxed, resting my head against his chest, listening to theboom boomof his heart. Being this close to him I could feel what he was feeling.Adoration,fear,loyalty.
“What are you afraid of?” I asked sleepily as the elf wine tried to pull me under.
He bristled, saying nothing as he navigated the halls of the castle. When he got to my room, he opened the door and set me on my bed, pulling off my shoes and covering me with my blanket.
Leaning into my ear, he whispered, “You. I’m afraid of you. You’re the kind of woman I could lose myself in.”
I could feel my eyebrows knit together in the center of my forehead. Everything was blurry and my words felt like mishmash in my head. I wanted to say something back but couldn’t. Footsteps retreated, and then the door shut.
Eh, best to talk about it tomorrow when I was more clearheaded.
* * *
The next morningI woke up feeling like I’d fallen off a horse and had then been punched in the face. I opened one eye, saw that I was in my dress from yesterday, and moaned.
What the Hades had happened last night? All I remembered was having a fun picnic with Autumn, then drinking too much elf wine.
Everything was fuzzy after that.
With a sigh, I sat up and went through the motions of getting ready. Not in the mood to dress up, I decided to leave my hair down and wavy, and applied no makeup. I also didn’t bother with a fancy dress. The king was out of town anyway; all of his meetings would be canceled. Instead I wore a knee-length blue sundress with no frills.
Grabbing my angel romance book, I shuffled over to the kitchen to see what Chef Brulier had made. When I entered the kitchen, he looked at my hair and outfit, a stark contrast to how I normally dressed, and raised an eyebrow.
“Too much elf wine,” I mumbled.
He smiled a little. “Breakfast is already on the table waiting.”
“Thanks.” I waved him off. It was nice not to have to cook all the meals anymore now that he was back.
Opening my book, I started to read as I pushed open the doors to the king’s personal dining hall, and got about halfway into the room before Raife spoke.
“Good morning, Kailani.”
I froze, slowly looking up from the book to see him sitting in front of the two plates of food. A small vase of fresh flowers had been set between them.
“You’re back.” I snapped the book shut and set it on the table, taking my hair into my hands and starting to braid it in an effort to freshen my appearance.
His face fell and he suddenly looked like I’d shot his horse. “Yeah… I got back last night. You don’t remember?”
