Part of me wanted to protest, to tell him I didn’t need him to fuss over me. The other part of me, the one that was still on edge about my upcoming confrontation with Fox Aspen, was a little bit relieved by the idea of someone I trusted watching my back.

  I didn’t tell him not to bother, but my pride wouldn’t quite let me tell him yes. So, I shrugged as I opened my driver’s side door. “Suit yourself.”

  From the satisfied way that Maverick smirked as he climbed into his own car, he heard the acceptance for what it was.

  He followed me to Roland’s home, where I managed to get his door unlocked and then dumped him into his bed, telling him that I’d talk to him in the morning, though I doubted he heard me. He was snoring before his head even touched the pillow. I hoped for his sake that Incubus pheromones didn’t involve hangovers.

  Maverick waited outside, and then dutifully followed me back to my house. After I parked, he met me at my cruiser door like he was planning to escort me up the driveway. It was sweet, but also a little irritating. I doubted anyone was going to jump me on my front lawn. The memory of Jonathon’s shocked face as he was blasted through the living room wall was enough for me to be gracious about being escorted, though. I was pretty sure that memory would be buying Maverick a lot of leeway for a while, actually.

  As Maverick fell in step beside me, we made our way up the driveway towards my front porch.

  “I don’t think there’ll be any more trouble out of that group tonight,” I said, twisting my neck to the side, trying to relieve some of the tension coiled there. Jonathon always had that effect on me. One word out of his mouth, and all my muscles jerked tight like piano wires. I felt like Pavlov’s dog. Soon, just his voice over the phone would have me barking at the freaking ceiling. “I’ll be on alert for tonight, but I think they got the fear of God put into them.”

  Maverick’s lips twitched, and he looked far too pleased with himself. “And if they didn’t? If they continue to be a nuisance?”

  I rolled my eyes. “There’s no sense in staying up all night. Fifi will call if they need me to go out there again.”

  We walked up the front steps together, and when we reached my porch, Maverick paused, turning to face me. I stopped, keys in hand, and waited for whatever he was about to say. But even though he looked like he wanted to say something, he didn’t seem like he quite knew how to say it. And that was interesting because usually Maverick didn’t have any trouble at all saying exactly what was on his mind, nevermind how anyone else took it.

  Whatever he’d been thinking, he must have thought better of saying it, because Maverick just nodded and stayed silent. The part of my brain that was sensible told me that I should say goodnight, unlock my door, and get some sleep, because the next day was promising to be a crappy one already. But the rest of me hesitated, turning an impulse over and then over again in my head.

  It was stupid. It could backfire horribly. But in the end, I wanted it enough to risk it.

  I wet my lips with the tip of my tongue, and hoped I wasn’t blushing. “Can I ask a favor?”

  Maverick met my gaze, his dark eyes almost burning in their intensity. “Of course.”

  I wasn’t sure if it was leftover sexual energy, but heat snaked through my body, coiling around the inside of my ribs, and I had to swallow to make sure my voice stayed normal instead of some husky rasp.

  I wasn’t sure how to phrase what I wanted to say, and eventually just blurted out, “I want the taste of him out of my mouth.” Maverick went very still, his eyes searching my face as I felt the need to further explain. My face felt hot. I was sure my cheeks had to be glowing in the dark, but I refused to look away. “You were the first person to kiss me since Jonathon, and I don’t want that track record broken.”

  A slow grin stretched across Maverick’s face, until it turned into a lovely, silent laugh. “If you want a kiss, Tally, you can just say so.”

  I breathed in deeply. “Okay, I want a kiss.”

  Then he stepped closer, and one long arm wrapped around my waist, the other slipping behind my shoulders. He leaned down, and I went up on my tiptoes to help close the distance between us. I wasn’t a short woman by any means, but Maverick was just that freakishly tall.

  The kiss was slower, and sweeter than I expected. I was expecting something harder, quicker, like devouring flames. But instead, the touch of his mouth to mine was almost gentle, his lips like a caress. The hot, sweet brush of his tongue caused me to press closer, as though my body was instinctively trying to get more.

  When Maverick finally drew back, I had to fight the urge to follow him, to keep our lips locked together. It was an addictive kind of kiss, and I already wanted another one.

  But Maverick let me go and stepped away, his hands sliding down my arms, though I didn’t understand why. We stared at each other for a long moment, fighting to get our breath back under control. My pulse was thick and heavy in my throat. It felt like my skin was buzzing and it was all I could do to keep standing there, rather than throwing myself at him.

  That familiar little half smile curled Maverick’s mouth at the corners. “Good night, Taliyah.”

  He was halfway down my steps before I had enough air back to respond, but he actually stopped long enough to glance back over his shoulder.

  “And next time you want a kiss, don’t be shy.”

  I watched as he headed back down my driveway to climb into his car with a chuckle. It was only when I realized that he was pointedly waiting for me to go inside before he drove away that I managed to shake off the dreamy state I’d fallen into. This feeling was just so weird, and so totally unlike me that I had to figure it was just the remnants of all that Incubus energy.

  I closed the door behind me and locked it. Then I watched through the glass as the ghost of his tail lights faded from view.

  Oh, boy, was I in trouble.

  I gave myself a shake. I had plenty on my plate, between my job, my family, worrying about whatever the hell Jonathon was up to, as well as dreading my morning appointment with Fox. I didn’t need to add more to it. I certainly didn’t need to go and start developing feelings for my husband of convenience.

  For just one moment, I slumped back against the door, and allowed myself to feel exactly how tired of everything I was. Then I pulled myself together, put my big girl pants on and turned and headed for the kitchen to see if there was any of that candy cane fudge left, because tonight I’d definitely earned a piece.

  Chapter Eleven

  The next morning started with a sugar hang-over and didn’t get any better.

  You’d think that a surprise supernatural heritage would solve things like cotton mouth, but I wasn’t that lucky.

  A couple cups of coffee was enough to make me feel a little more alive. Unfortunately, there was nothing that was going to make my first meeting of the day anything better than a dumpster fire.

  I unlocked the door to my office and started to put my travel mug on my desk, when a blast of chill wind and a sudden swirl of autumn leaves told me I wasn’t alone any longer. Good thing I hadn’t raised the blinds on my window yet, or I would’ve had to answer some really awkward questions to all the police officers outside my door.

  Something in my gut gave a little twinge. From what I could tell about the prince of the Autumn Court, it wasn’t like Fox to be so sloppy. Not a good sign for the conversation to come.

  Whatever else I could say about him, Fox was careful. He worked with humans regularly, as a member of the Hunter’s Guild of America. If he was bursting into my office, not even sure if there were humans present or not, then it meant he was plenty angry.

  Yay for me.

  I turned around, and sure enough, there he was, all six foot whatever of objectively handsome man, with his long auburn hair pulled back, and an attitude of chilly fury wrapped around him.

  At least he’d put most of his Faerie away. The last time I’d seen him had been without his human glamour, and all his power had been on display. As well as the sharply pointed ears and impressive magic aura. But ‘Fox Aspen’, as Prince Reynard tended to go by when he was slumming it with the mere mortals, was perfectly capable of blending in with humans, when he decided to make the effort, that is.

  “Taliyah,” he said, the word short and almost bitten off.

  It had taken me weeks, but at least I’d finally broken him of calling me ‘Olwen’.

  I leaned back against my desk, my arms folding over my chest as I looked at him. “Fox.”

  Fox’s voice didn’t rise in volume, but his spine was so ramrod straight and stiff, it could have passed as one of the precinct’s support columns.

  “I have tried to be patient,” he said, still icily polite—his tone of voice subdued. “I have tried to give you time. I understand that by the Succubus breaking your seal early, you were left confused, and disoriented. And while I wish that had never happened, it is what it is, and we had to deal with it. But our marriage, Taliyah, our marriage was prophesized and pledged by your parents, the late King and Queen of Winter. Therefore, it must happen.”

  We’d barely even started the conversation, and I was already having to put my temper into a choke hold, and remind myself of all the reasons I couldn’t punch or shoot a man in my office. I don’t know how I managed it, but I locked it all down behind the icy mask that just came so easily to me these days, and raised a single brow into an absolutely scathing arch.

  “You think the only reason I don’t want to marry you is because I’m confused?” It was an effort of will not to hit him with the strongest icy bolt I could manage and the idea crossed my mind too many times for comfort.

  “Perhaps not the only reason,” he ceded.

  I frowned. “It couldn’t have anything to do with the fact that I don’t know you pretty much at all and the part of you I do know, I don’t particularly like.”

  “I grow on people like a fine wine.”

  I frowned deeper. “Or how about the fact that I have a life and a family here, in Haven Hollow, that I have no intention of giving up?” I sighed. “Or, the main fact—that all of this was planned and decided without me even getting a vote in any of it?”

  Fox’s lips pressed into a tight line. “If the Succubus hadn’t interfered—”

  “For shit’s sake will you call her by her name?” I interrupted him with a pointed glare.

  He took a deep breath. “If Fifi hadn’t damaged the seal, then you would have regained your true memories, and none of this would have been an issue.”

  True memories. Nice. I dug my nails into my palms and kept my grip on the fury that was creeping like ice through my veins. “The memories I have of the life I lived are true, thank you very much.” You arrogant pee stain. “And leave Fifi out of this; she was only trying to help me. She didn’t want me to get blindsided which is exactly what would have happened to me.”

  “No, you would have understood what was at stake.”

  “So… you think that the seal would have broken and then you’d just show up and say ‘let’s get hitched’, and I’d just fall into your arms and off we’d ride into the sunset?” Did they even have sunsets in the Fae realm? Hell, if I knew…

  Fox started pacing my small office, making it feel even smaller. “I would expect,” he snarled as he turned back to face me. “That Princess Olwen would know her duty to her people.”

  I didn’t say anything but just watched his hands ball into fists as he reached my desk, turned around and paced back to the other side of the room, leaving a trail of leaves in his wake. Then he turned on his toes and walked back to my desk. If I hadn’t been so furious with him, I might have found it funny—that I had the Fae Prince of Autumn in such a tizzy that he was basically having a minor meltdown in my office. “Stop pacing. You’re driving me nuts.”

  He spun around and his eyes were filled with anger. “Well, you’ve been driving me nuts since I met you—something which you don’t seem to give two shits about!”

  “Right. Maybe I give one,” I said with a little smirk, trying for humor because this conversation was clearly not going to end well. Maybe I was losing my mind, but seeing him so upset was actually making me a little amused. “Or a half of one.”

  “Taliyah, this is serious,” he reprimanded me but luckily he stopped pacing and instead, pulled the chair in front of him (on the opposite side of my desk) out with such force, that I worried he was going to send it busting through the opposite wall.

  “Okay,” I started, taking a deep breath as I thought of the best way to get him to calm down. We weren’t going to get anywhere if we were at each other’s throats and I did want to understand what was apparently at stake here. So, I straightened up, my hands dropping to my lap. “First, why don’t you help me to understand?”

  “Good idea.”

  “I’d like to know how these people I’ve apparently got some duty towards… how are they my people? I’ve spoken to exactly one Winter Fae, I’ve never met any others.”

  I didn’t point out that the Winter Fae in question was on my ex-husband’s lap at the time. It didn’t seem relevant.

  An unnatural light glimmered in Fox’s golden eyes. For a split second, I could have sworn I saw fallen leaves swirling through his irises. “That does not negate your obligation to them, and to the court of Winter.”

  Anger started to spiral inside me again at his curt tone and choice of words and I had to remind myself to keep it together. Even so, sleet started to hammer against the window, and I had to grit my teeth, dig my fingers into my own skin, to try and rein it all back, before it started falling inside my office, too. “My duty is to the people of Haven Hollow, Fox. People who I’ve sworn to serve and protect. Not to some far-off mystical people who tried to decide my future when I was a literal infant, and expected me to just smile and abandon my life because they decided it should be so.”

  “Enough.” The word came out as a hiss, and shadows skittered in the corners of the room while Fox visibly reined himself in. “It was prophesized, Taliyah. There isn’t anything you or I can do to change it.” He swallowed hard. “And have you ever put yourself in my position?”

  “No,” I answered, shaking my head. “I’m too busy trying to defend my own.”

  “Well, you aren’t the only one who would be essentially marrying a stranger, but I’m willing to do so because it’s the right thing to do—for both of our courts.”

  “Well, you win for being the bigger person.”

  He frowned at me again. “I do wish you would take this seriously.”

  “I am taking it seriously.”

  “Then you would understand that this marriage was foretold, and your stubborn need to fight against it isn’t going to do anything but put your court and your people at risk. Our marriage is already days past due, we can’t delay any longer.”

  My heartrate picked up a dancing tempo, because from the sound of it, Fox didn’t know about Maverick. Hadn’t Bea told him when she’d arranged this meeting? I’d sort of assumed she would have but maybe I was wrong. Well, shit. Things were about to get really ugly. A sour taste flooded my mouth, but my voice was calm when I spoke. “It’s too late for that.”

  Fox’s eyes narrowed. “Too late for what?”

  “For us to get married.”

  His eyes narrowed on me. “What does that mean?”

  Well, here went nothing. “The prophecy said I had to get married to come into my full powers, right?”

  “Yes.”

  I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry. “Well, it never said I had to get married to you.”

  Fox went absolutely, deadly still. “What did you do?”

  The winter wind howled outside, like it had been whipped up with all the anxiety I refused to show. I shrugged and played casual. I’m not sure I managed it. “I got married.”

  Fox sucked in a harsh breath, and immediately stood up, as if the chair had just bitten him. He was deadly silent as he took two steps forward to hold his hand up, palm towards me—not like he was going to hit me, more like he was feeling the air around me. I wasn’t sure what he was doing, but whatever it was, it made him jerk his arm back, and for the first time he looked absolutely, completely, wildly furious. Light sparked in his eyes, and a kind of shiver raced through his entire body. Like he was losing control of his human glamour, and the true Prince Reynard was about to come bursting free.

  This probably wasn’t a good sign.

  “What have you done?” he repeated, but this time, his voice didn’t even sound human. It sounded all echoey and like it was occurring all over the room.

  A small, stupid part of me wanted to snark back at him, “what, no congratulations?” But it was small, and easily stepped on. Instead, I just watched him, waiting to see what he’d do and whether I’d need to protect myself against him. I didn’t know what he was capable of when he was incensed and he was pretty much irate, as far as I could tell. I wasn’t sure what would happen if he actually attacked me, but I wouldn’t go down without a fight, that was sure.

  Fox paced two steps away from me. “Of all the short-sighted, foolish…” He whirled back around, his jaw set. “Do you understand that I am within my rights to declare war on the court of Winter after what you’ve done? WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE ALLIES!” He yelled, and I had to wonder if the humans in the rest of the precinct could hear him. I could certainly hear him. Loud and freaking clear.

  “Can’t we still be allies?”

  “The only thing holding our alliance together was the knowledge that we would be married to unite both of our courts! Now, that is no longer an option!”

  My stomach twisted, something a lot like dread spreading poisonous lead fingers through my gut. I didn’t want to be queen, but I also didn’t want people to suffer for my choices either. Was he threatening me? Was he threatening them? Was he threatening anyone? “Are you planning on declaring war against me or them or the Winter Court… or someone?”

  And if he was going to declare war against me or us or them or whatever, the best way to do that was probably to assassinate the would-be queen. If Fox decided to attack me, there wasn’t a whole lot I could do to defend myself. Sure, I was wearing a gun strapped to my waist, but I wasn’t sure what a bullet could do to Fae royalty, someone born and raised with magic, and who knew how long he’d had to learn how to use that magic. Probably all his life. I’d had my full powers for slightly more than two days (and I didn’t feel any different than I had before I came into my full abilities), and three months ago, I hadn’t even known magic existed, much less that I had any of it.