“Don’t what?” I asked, confused.
“Regret it,” he clarified. “Once I realized what was happening, I let you in. It felt right.” He lifted a shoulder. “And it still feels right. I don’t need to know more than that.”
So accepting and honest. Sol might be a giant of a man, but inside existed the biggest of hearts, and I felt it now, beating in time with my own.
None of this was what I expected for myself.
But something happened to me this week. I just woke up ready to embrace it all. No more chaos. No more fighting. Just feeling and reality and an unequivocal need to accept it.
That’s your inner fae, Claire, Exos murmured, his presence thriving around me. You’re finally allowing her to breathe.
And it feels amazing, I admitted, smiling. But Vox didn’t seem to agree.
“Tell me what you need,” I said to him. “An apology? A better explanation? I can’t promise either, but I can try.”
“Is this still about the ball?” Sol demanded, his dark eyebrow arching. “The fact that she asked me and not you?”
Irritation tainted the air surrounding Vox. “It’s not the ball. It’s everything. She mated with Exos and Titus because she wanted to. Even with Cyrus, it seems. And she at least asked you to the ball. I’m just a mentor, the one she latched onto in a time of need. Which I get, and it’s fine, and it’s my own damn fault for not embracing the connection sooner. But it is what it is. Can we find Exos now?”
His assessment left me reeling.
Because, for one, I didn’t mate with Exos because I wanted to. It’d been on accident. Same with Cyrus. And I hadn’t chosen Vox only out of need. Although, I could see why he felt that way.
&nb
sp; Who knew the Air Fae was so emotional? Exos drawled. Kiss him, Claire. That’ll solve it.
I nearly fell over. What?
You heard me, princess. Kiss the man. Exos spoke the words as a demand, but a hint of amusement underlined them.
I don’t—
Claire, male fae thrive on action. And all of yours thus far have Vox feeling left out. Just kiss him. Trust me.
Had my behavior made him think I wasn’t interested? Maybe. I had been quite reluctant. A brat, really, considering how patient all these men were with me.
All right. Time to fix that. To put all the confusion to rest and move forward.
I stepped closer to Vox, caught the wild frays of his energy, the uncertainty swirling around him, and the general hurt beneath the surface. My element reached out to soothe his, to brush the harsher strands and mingle our elements in an intimate manner. “Vox,” I murmured, moving into his personal space. “I initiated the bond with you because our powers are a match. And”—I took a final step—“I like you.” Perhaps we weren’t at the same level as I was with Exos or Titus, but I sensed the potential. If he’d let me in and gave me a chance.
Which meant I needed to show him my interest, to ground him the way he’d grounded me last week. I went to my toes and brushed my lips over his. Just a tender stroke, one meant to entice and invite, and wrapped my arms around his neck. The second kiss was a little more forceful on my part, begging him to react. And by the third, his lips finally reciprocated, the shock of my touching him receding into a passionate flurry of wind.
“Claire?” he questioned, his mouth against mine.
“Vox.” I smiled. “Please kiss me.” I could feel his desire to thrumming through my veins; otherwise, I would have backed off by now. But it was a tangible presence, tangling with my aura in the most alluring of ways.
Vox and I were more alike than he likely wanted to admit. He seemed to fear his magic overruling him, just as I had feared my fae half.
“Give in to your instincts,” I whispered. “I did.” Sometime over the last week, with Cyrus’s help, I’d accepted my magic and my nature, my most inner desires, and my passion. And it’d only made me stronger.
One of his hands hand fell to my hip, gripping tightly. The other thread through my hair, tugging my strands into his fist as he positioned me where he wanted.
And then he took me.
Not hard. Not rushed. Not fast. Just thoroughly. Expertly. As if his mouth was designed just for mine, his tongue knowing and skilled, and stole my breath away. It was the perfect kind of embrace, one where the wind lightly brushed us both, whirling us into a cloud of perfection and yearning. Only, a hungry presence at my back confused my senses, earthy tones mingling with mine and heightening the moment to one of irresistible lust.
Vox turned me in his arms, right into Sol, who was waiting to catch me—with his mouth.