Flame and Starlight by Dana Isaly

Chapter Seventeen

I had butterflies in my stomach. Being out of the Night Court had Asher and me in our own little world. He didn’t have any responsibilities weighing over his head, and I was experiencing a whole new world for the first time. I had taken a nap after we got back from shopping before I had to get ready, and he came in to wake me up with a cup of coffee after his bath. His hair was still dripping down the thick column of his neck, and I followed each drop like I was parched.

As I looked at myself in the mirror after an hour of getting ready, I was excited and confident. I was wearing a spaghetti-strap dress that was black with an ivy-like design laid over it in the same silver color as my starlight necklace. It seemed to move and dance over the fabric. It hugged my body but was loose enough you couldn’t see the dagger tucked tightly against my thigh. My opal ring Asher had purchased for me hadn’t left my finger since he placed it there.

“I went out and got you something while you were sleeping.”

I jumped at his voice and blushed at being caught staring at myself in the floor-length mirror. He was dressed in all black again, but tonight he was missing a tie, and the top two buttons of his shirt were undone, allowing the designs of his tattoos to poke out.

“I think you’ve bought me enough today,” I said as he walked closer, both hands behind his back. He walked behind me, and we locked eyes in the mirror. He slowly brought a solid black tiara over the crown of my head and placed it gently in my hair. It was covered in jagged black quartz and small smooth pieces of onyx. It was beautiful, and I couldn’t take my eyes off it.

“If you’re going to pretend to be my arm candy, you’re going to look damn powerful doing it.” He turned me around to face him and pushed my chin up. “Just because you’re here under those pretenses doesn’t mean you have to be meek and quiet. I think you know by now that’s not really my style, little duck.”

I smiled and held my chin up high as I turned around and adjusted the tiara tighter against my hair. “We’re staying to dance tonight,” I said as a challenge, and I met his eyes in the mirror. A smirk played across his lips, but he agreed.

“Should be interesting seeing as our dances are sure to be different from yours.”

I paled. All I could imagine were the dances I saw in period films where they barely touched and had very specific steps to go by. Twerking probably wasn’t going to be their dance of choice. When he saw my ghostly face staring at him, he laughed.

“Don’t worry, I can lead you through it. They won’t even know.” He winked and pulled my hair off my shoulders and to the nape of my neck, letting it fall down my back.

“Just don’t let me fall. That would be mortifying,” I said as I followed him out of the cabin. He snorted and picked me up, his magic keeping us warm against the chill. I clung to his neck and pushed my face into his shoulder, hoping I wouldn’t smear red lipstick all over the fabric. I still wasn’t used to flying long distances, and my stomach dropped as he made his way above the trees. I was never a fan of heights. I could feel my legs clench together at the thought of falling.

“Relax, Alys,” he whispered in my ear. I reluctantly released my death grip and peeked over his shoulder. We were going at a leisurely pace, and the large pine trees beneath us looked black in the setting sun. The feathers of his wings fluttered in the wind and shone blue in the dusky light. I looked up at him and watched his side profile.

Gods, he was beautiful. I mentally traced each sharp angle of his face before my attention snagged on his lips. I let that familiar warmth spread through my body and settle low in my stomach. His nostrils flared, and he looked at me. His eyes darkened and met mine. I smirked, daring him to say anything. Before he could, I held on to my tiara and tilted my head back, letting the wind tousle my hair, and laughed into the open air.

“Hold on, my little wildling,” he murmured into my hair and then angled down. My stomach dropped again, but instead of being afraid, I trusted him and let myself enjoy the experience, smiling the entire way down.

We landed in an alley, and he barely let my feet touch the ground before he backed me up against the wall of the building. He grabbed both sides of my face and stroked my cheeks with his thumbs. His emotions flooded my system, making my vision blurry with a need I had never experienced before. My breath caught in my throat.

He wants me.

I leaned into his want that he was letting pour into me and locked my eyes on his. They were the color of the smoky quartz on my tiara and burned into mine. His wings encased us against the wall, and his jasmine-scented shadows danced playfully over my skin. That warmth in my stomach broke into a wildfire and made my knees weak, but his body was flush against mine, holding me up. His nostrils flared again as he leaned closer, running his nose up the side of my throat, breathing me in.

His hands fell to the fabric at my waist, and he curled it in his fists, pulling me even closer against him. I tilted my head back until it hit the wall behind me, giving him access to my neck. The mark he left on my body flared to life under his breath, and all mine left me as I felt his lips skim his dust.

“I can smell myself on you,” he whispered against my skin. “You can feel what I’m feeling now, can’t you?” I swallowed but didn’t answer. I felt a sharp pain on my shoulder.

“The fuck?” I pushed him away and saw blood on his smirking lips. His wings snapped away, but his shadows stretched out, still clinging to me. “Did you just bite me?” My hand went to my shoulder and came away with fresh blood on it. But I could feel it healing and closing up already. He grabbed my wrist, and that need assaulted me again. I groaned against it, trying to fight it with my anger.

He fucking bit me.

He took a step closer and brought my fingers one by one to his lips and licked the blood off each one. If I hadn’t been so angry at him for biting me, I would’ve been a puddle of goo at his feet for how he was making me feel.

“Mm,” he purred against my hand. “You even taste like chocolate.”

I ripped my hand out of his and, with speed I didn’t have a week ago, grabbed the dagger from under my dress, and pressed it harshly against his throat. “I will use this dagger on you, High Lord. Don’t push me.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that you can feel my emotions now, little duck?” He pushed into the blade a little more, and I rolled my eyes. I sheathed it back under my skirts.

“Because,” I said, grabbing onto his arm and leading us out of the alleyway, “I didn’t want you to be afraid of what I could do with it. You’d keep your distance, and I need you to trust me.” He moved his arm and linked our hands together, our fingers interwoven. We stopped outside the door, letting others pass us and go inside.

“Do you feel anything in me that says I can stay away from you?”

I met his eyes and sifted through his emotions like folders in a filing cabinet. His usual sadness and anguish was still there, but the wantedness I felt just a few minutes ago was so strong it plowed over everything else.

“No.” I took a breath. “I don’t think so, at least. You’ve got a lot going on in there.”

He smiled, and with his free hand, he pushed my hair over my shoulder. His lips touched my shoulder where the bite mark had now fully healed.

“Good. Let’s go eat, then.” He led me inside without letting go of my hand, trusting me with every single fleeting emotion that flowed through him.

As we found our seats, I could tell that Asher holding my hand made a much bigger statement than me being on his arm. This looked way more intimate, and it did not go unnoticed. Asher pulled my chair out for me as we took our places at the same table as the night before. Leona was already there, her eyes locked on Asher’s impressive frame as he settled in next to her. I couldn’t blame her. He was perfect. But the jealousy it caused me to feel was overwhelming.

“Try not to break it this time,” he said loud enough for others to hear as I poured his wine.

“Try not to piss me off this time.” He laughed and filled both of our plates with food.

I downed my entire glass of wine and then poured myself another and began nursing that one. When Leona grabbed his attention away from me, the darkness that hid itself just under the surface came rushing up again. My hands shook at the raw power it brought along with it, but I took deep breaths and tried to focus on eating. I sat on my left hand, keeping it safely tucked away while my right pushed food into my mouth at an alarming rate. I was just trying to keep myself from falling apart and breaking the entire table.

When Leona finally had to take a breath, Asher turned his attention towards me and grabbed my hand out from under my thigh. It tingled with the loss of blood. When I turned towards him, mouth still full with food, he poked my cheek playfully with his other hand and then began eating. He lightly massaged my hand until it didn’t look like it was going to fall off my arm anymore.

The darkness ebbed but didn’t disappear, and I wondered if he could feel it or sense it. I wondered if he knew why it made itself known when I wasn’t the one receiving his attention. I had to remind myself that just because I knew he wanted me didn’t mean I had any sort of claim to his affections or his attention. That was a role I was very much used to. Tom had made me very well acquainted with fleeting touches and smiles just for me. And also the distance that came after it. I was used to taking what I could get and being happy with it.

“That’s a lovely little tiara she has there,” Leona said, begging for Asher’s attention to be returned to her. I downed the rest of my glass of wine before leaning in front of Asher to get a good look at Blondie.

“Who’s she? The cat’s mother?” Asher snorted. “My name is Lyssa. And thank you for the compliment.” I sat back in my chair. “Asher surprised me with it.” He smirked and gave my hand a small squeeze as he filled my glass again.

I threw that one back as well, and the room tilted a bit. I could feel a few people at the table gawking at me, but it was hard to care when the alternative was to listen to the darkness and slam her head into the table until it cracked. Her head or the table, it didn’t really matter.

Everyone finished their meals while making small talk and avoiding eye contact with me. Once people began to finish and filter out, I leaned over to Asher and rested my chin on his shoulder.

“I’m going to go get some fresh air.”

“Someone is feeling tipsy,” he said, pushing strands of hair out of my face. “I don’t like the idea of you being out of sight,” he whispered for only me to hear. “I’ll go with you.”

“I’ll be right outside the door. I just need a minute to sober up.”

He reluctantly nodded and let go of my hand as I stood and made my way on wobbly legs to the door. I couldn’t feel how cold it actually was thanks to the alcohol coursing its way through my veins. I turned to my right and saw Zemira leaning against the wall, smiling in my direction.

“High Lady,” I said and stumbled into a shallow curtsey. She laughed softly and patted the wall next to her. I leaned my back up against it and took a deep breath.

“Hello there, Alyssandra,” she said in a low voice. It took me a couple of heartbeats before I jerked my head towards her. She had called me by my real name. She knew who I was. Lead filled my stomach, and I knew she could see fear in my eyes.

Kill her. Kill her. Kill her.

I pushed back at the sliver of darkness creeping into my thoughts.

Zemira laughed.

“I mean you no harm, and I’m not going to tell anyone,” she said as she lifted her eyes to the night sky. I felt like I could breathe again. “How stupid does Asher think I am?” Her smile grew wide then. “Rumors were circulating between the High Fae about a little human girl Theron was searching for. And then we hear she gets swept out from under his nose, supposedly by the High Lord of the Night Court himself. When Asher showed up here, a pretty woman on his arm…” She trailed off. “I love Asher like a brother, but he can be such an idiot sometimes.” She sighed and looked back at me. “It seems you’re not human any longer, though.”

I met her eyes and sighed. “That’s a long story.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I have nothing but time.”