Betrothed by Wanda Wiltshire Read Free Book Online Page B

‘When we—’ he began.
    I held my hand up. ‘Wait—When you say “we”, do you mean me too?’
    ‘Of course . . . Marla, we are one.’
    ‘Then what are we and what is this place? Is it heaven?’
    ‘We are Fae.’
    I knew that word. ‘Fairies!’
    ‘Humans use that word to describe us,’ he agreed. ‘But it’s not one we often use ourselves.’
    ‘I am a fairy!’
    ‘You are a faery,’ he corrected, emphasising the long vowel sound. ‘But most often we refer to ourselves as faeran or simply fae.’
    ‘I am fae,’ I repeated, frozen with shock for a moment before I remembered again that I was only dreaming. ‘Go on, Leif,’ I said, coming back to the disappointing truth.
    ‘This place—my home and yours—is called Faera. It is not heaven, but . . . when you are with me I think it might be even better.’ He smiled, soft and sexy, his dark eyes sparkling into mine.
    Oh my heart! It was racing again. I clasped a hand to my chest and forgot to breathe for a moment. He was watching me and I knew and didn’t care that he was seeing undisguised adoration. Since I’d been with him I’d been fighting that bizarre urge to clutch his hand and cover it with kisses and I could feel myself about to give in. I felt weird about it, I mean, who does that? But after his tender words I no longer cared. Besides, this was just a dream—my dream. I reached for him, smiling, but before I could even make my intentions known, he gave me his hand. He knew what I wanted! How strange. I inclined my head, closed my eyes and pressed my lips to his palm. Sunshine flared beneath my lips and the heat and power of it poured into me. And with it came the most wonderful, shivery euphoria. I kissed and kissed some more, loath to release him. But when finally I managed, he returned my multitude of kisses with one of his own, lifting myhand to his lips and pressing a single kiss to the back of it. I was buzzing, elated, filled to the brim with bliss, but he just continued with the conversation like nothing had changed.
    ‘I don’t know why you were left in the human world, Marla, but I will discover the reason. I know that it must be difficult for you. Conditions are harsh on Earth, harsh enough for a human, let alone mortal Fae.’
    I forced my attention back to the conversation. Leif wasn’t making a big deal of what just happened, so I wouldn’t either. ‘I think if we could find my parents, we could find the answers.’
    ‘But finding your parents will be the challenge,’ Leif said. ‘Tell me, did you discover anything of them?’
    I told Leif of the strange trip to Lena’s office, the pink envelope containing Ruby’s address and the subsequent visit to the old lady. ‘My birth parents told Ruby they would be back for me before I turned eighteen,’ I finished.
    ‘I pray it is so, but I will not depend upon it.’
    ‘Why does it matter?’
    ‘There is a change that takes place when we reach immortality. But if we are outside of Faera at that time, it cannot occur. Marla, if you are not here with me for your eighteenth birthday, you will lose your immortality and be forced to live out your days in the human world. We will be lost to each other.’ He tightened his grip on my hand. ‘I will not allow that to happen. I will discover your secret.’
    We were silent for a while and then a question popped into my head. I smiled up at him. ‘Um . . . Leif, why is it more convenient for you not to wear a shirt?’
    He grinned as he touched the tip of my nose with one finger. ‘I am going to leave you to think on that.’ He kissed my nose where his finger had been and then quickly added, ‘You said you learned the names of your parents?’
    ‘I did.’
    ‘What are they?’
    ‘Tobias and Finelle.’
    I just had time to see a flash of recognition come into his eyes before he said, ‘It’s time for you to wake up now.’
    Sure enough, I woke to the sound of my alarm clock, disappointed but still buzzing from