Page 100 of Harnessed in Gold
I’m a little frightened, and I’m pretty sure he is too. But I continue feeding him energy. One delicate vine winds around our hands and curls halfway up our forearms. I let out a shaky giggle. “It tickles.”
He chuckles softly but doesn’t respond. Leaning closer, cheek pressed to my head, he turns our joined hands this way and that, the vine hanging loosely like a bracelet as it slides along our skin. The most beautiful bracelet I’ve ever seen.
Leo’s heart pounds hard and fast against my back. “This can’t be real.”
How is any of this real? I’m sitting on the floor in the arms of a faerie, harnessing emotions and charming a plant.
“You’re amplifying my magic,” he says, voice laced with awe. “I don’t know how, but you are.”
“Because I’ve replenished your energy?”
“No, it’s more than that.” He extends his fingers to unwind the vine. “It feels different.”
“Different how?”
He shakes his head, his scruffy chin snagging my hair. “I don’t know.”
When we let go of one another’s hands, he brings his close andrubs it with his thumb. I take it in mine again and brush my fingers across his palm. It looks and feels the same to me—warm, strong, capable.
“Anyone could do that, right?” I let my head fall back against his shoulder. “I mean, Avery could, couldn’t she? Just pull up some earth energy, say, and feed it to you?”
I feel his hard swallow against the side of my neck. “She might be able to make me feel a little less tired, but she wouldn’t be able to boost my magic. You’re not just refilling my energy, Betts, you’re part of the connection between me and the plant.”
My fingers dig into his thigh. “Like a battery?”
He stares, unseeing, at the jasmine. “Yes, but more.” He snaps out of his daze and runs a hand down the length of my hair. “This is a good thing. It’s amazing, actually.” With the push of his thumb against my jaw, he tilts my head back until my eyes meet his. “You’reamazing.”
All thoughts of blossoms and harnessing and energies fly from my mind. There’s nothing but Leo. His hand on my face, his strong arms and perfect mouth. Admiration and desire bleed from him and melt into me.
I reach for the soft curls behind his ear—his pointed, faerie ear—and slide them between my fingers. I swear something has drugged me. The jasmine? Leo’s emotions? I grip him behind his neck.
“A chroí,” he whispers, mouth hovering over mine. “I don’t know what you want.”
I claim his lips.
He’s what I want. The past, Rime, and Nàdar be damned.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
When he triesto pull back, I cling to his neck like a greedy child.
“I can’t do this,” he says, looking away.
He can’t, but he wants to. I can feel his every thought and impulse.
I nudge him by the jaw. “I won’t shut down again, I promise.”
With wild eyes, he searches my face.
My heart knocks against my ribs, even though I’m not breathing.
At last, he growls, “Come here.” His powerful hands lift and turn me until I’m straddling his lap like I was in his car. Only now there’s room, so much more room. And a bed, a floor, whatever he wants.
Anything to feel him close to me.
He breathes my name and captures my mouth, one hand tangled in my hair and the other gripping my backside.
From some distant corner of my mind, like an echo in a vast cavern, a voice warns,He can’t be yours. As soon as the search is over, he’ll be gone. Forever.
