More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
To otters . . . You're not monsters. Don't ever let Irish mythology tell you differently, you adorable, whiskered darlings.
“I can think of several pleasant ways to punish your smart mouth, love.”
I was born to become a skunk ornament in a crone’s cottage, apparently. This was the true purpose of my existence, the fate-weaving arseholes.
Those dark brown eyes of hers narrowed on me. They were a lovely shade, like the dirt of a freshly dug grave—mine, apparently.
“Taryn, my sweet whiskered alley rat, the one my soul calls Rynnie, I can’t deny our hot, sparking chemistry a second longer.” Her face fell in a here-we-go look that threatened a laugh to break through my clearly irresistible charm. “You keep seducing me, lass, despite my protests—” A muscle jumped along her jaw “—and, so, to save my tarnished reputation, I have decided to accept your proposal.” Placing a hand to my heart, I theatrically whispered, “Aye, I’ll marry you.”
“By the come hither look in your eyes—” I scoffed. “Murder eyes, Finn.” The smile widened. “I’m flattered you’d kill for me.”
“The most important part of the legend, Taryn, wasn’t that she was a virgin. Any maid would do, if so.” He tilted my head, then lowered his mouth to almost brush against mine, whispering, “It was that she be beautiful. And, love,” he paused, his voice growing rough, “your beauty is now proven legendary.”
“Not here,” the raven said, her black eye firmly fastened to mine. I tipped my head at the spy bird and lowered my head back onto my bed of moss. Why was the raven protecting us?
Last night, she was enchanted by the silver water and moonlight and I was completely under her spell. Even the will-ó-the-wisps were bewitched and gathered to dance in her presence.
Even after our mate bond was dissolved, I would tear down mountains if another male kissed her.
A bargain of convenience my mind agreed to but we were bound by ravens. A real mate bond before the fae.
Someone punch me in the otter wound!
And, before I realized what I was doing, I had stepped toward her, cupped her frozen face in my icy hands, and declared like a besotted lunatic, “I vowed to put you above all others. That includes my own needs. If I must labor the entire night for you to sleep by a warm fire, I will, lass, and without complaint.”
“Finn for typical murder eyes moods. Finny for those extra stabby feelings. And Finnan for when I’m ready to walk sixteen feet away and point a stick at your heart as you come flying back to me.” “That’s beautiful, love.”
Taryn Hunt was going to be the death of me. Two days and already war drums beat in my chest for this girl.
Moon above, she was about as fun as being dumped into a bag of hissing opossums some moments and, in others, like floating through the star-flecked sky.
“Don’t tell me, my feisty skunk ornament.” Finn wagged a finger at me and my lips twitched. “It will ruin the fantasy and you know how much I enjoy our fantasies.”
“Steal a thousand kisses from my lips, Finnan. Then steal a thousand more.” My fingers traced along the edge of his ear to the point and he shuddered. “Make my heart your next catch.”
Steal a thousand kisses from my lips, Finnan.
Turning into an animal whenever someone threatened to take Taryn from me was ridiculous. And, yet, I knew it wasn’t just our mate bond riddling my head. I was falling for Taryn Hunt.
“Calm, my swearing sweet potato.”
If she so much as had a scratch, I would rip the bulky arms off Davis’s body.
“How else can I change the dressing on your wound, Finny?” she added with a wink and sauntered off. And stars above, I followed her like a dog on a leash.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispered. I shrugged. “A fine gown and jewels would pretty up a pig.” “Taryn,” he said softly, “your beauty was legendary when covered in bog mud.”
Falling stars lit our shared smiles as we danced. And . . . I felt myself falling too. Moon above, I hadn’t felt this happy in an age.
“I only want you, Taryn Hunt.” He bowed, kissing my hand and, while lowered, his gaze slammed into mine. “Only you, love.”
I only want you, Taryn Hunt. Dark skies, how I ached for that to be true. To be genuinely wanted—by him.
Finn started gagging and I burst into laughter. Yeah, Finny, you passionately kissed that.
His mouth crashed onto mine in the next breath. And moon above . . . he consumed me. I lost all thought, all reason.
What was he doing . . . Oh. Stars. He dragged a canine down my neck and, friends, my knees buckled. I was genuinely swooning and I didn’t care if he knew.
I didn’t know a touch could be so poetic. Or confess a thousand longings in just one caress. But I did know this: those fingers claimed ownership with each brush.
Finn lowered his mouth to mine and softly blinked. “In a different life, I think I could fall hard for you.”
A strange thought when we couldn’t escape one another. Yet, here we were, desiring to be even closer. As if the thought of separation would shatter newfound pieces of ourselves.
“Even after our curse is broken, keep stealing kisses from my lips.” “Is this a bargain?” he asked me. “Yes, promise me, Finnan.”
His mouth crushed mine. And I wasn’t sure if I existed anymore. Or wanted to.
I became the night sky, every twinkling star above, the moon, the sun, and every wish made upon the heavens.
Taryn’s entire face twisted into sleepy fury. It was so adorable, I burst into loud laughter. Rising stars, I could happily wake to that every morning. Alas, my wee feisty potato didn’t feel the same.
“You are not a burden to me, lass. Caring for you is an honor I take seriously.”
“When I said I could fall for you, and fall hard, I didn’t mean it literally.”
“I want to take care of you,” I whispered hoarsely. “I want to protect you. And I would even if I didn’t owe Corbie your bride price. I would even if we weren’t bound as mates. You owe me nothing, Taryn Hunt. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. Not a mistake. Not a regret.” A furious tear crested her lashes and rolled down her cheek. “I can ignore my vows and fight our bond same as you. Damn the consequences.” I leaned my forehead against hers and furiously whispered, “But I. Don’t. Want. To.”
The curse wasn’t fifteen feet of freedom, it was a fifteen-foot gap we couldn’t close fast enough. A collision of hearts that intensified as we emotionally drew farther apart.
I wasn’t entirely sure when I began to think of Taryn as my mate truly. The inn perhaps? But when I kissed her and she kissed me back, I forgot that I had nothing, was nothing. That this was all temporary, a fantasy. The moment her lips touched mine, I owned the entire world. She had become everything I had lost—my family, my home, my freedom. And in another few days, I would lose her too.
“When you hear the cow’s haunting moo chasing you in the bootlegger walls and earn seven year’s bad luck, you will rue the time you spurred my keen, irresistibly attractive fae senses.”
Friends, the murder in my eyes traveled straight to my fists in a lightning flash. Do not mourn the lad.
“I think I love you, Taryn Hunt,” he whispered with a humored smile.
I wanted to run far away. I wanted to press in even closer. To hear him say he loved me over and over until his voice grew hoarse. To tell him I loved him too and would until my dying breath. To pull him onto the bed behind us and finish what we started the other night. To shove him away and scream as my heart shattered to dust.
“I have nine hundred and ninety-six more kisses to steal from you.” Finn pressed his lips to mine again, a soft, sweet kiss that ached down to the tip of my toes. “Nine hundred and ninety-five.”
Here’s the lesson, mainlanders . . . don’t throw rocks at unnaturally pretty elven males in front of a witch’s cottage unless you’re willing to marry his arrogant, thieving arse. Bonus emotion: a willingness to eternally ache to be forever attached at his hip while wanting to punch that ridiculously beautiful face for making you fall for a life you can only have with him for a few stolen days. Additional perk: angry pining.
“For your apothecary shop,” he said, kissing my forehead.
