Gossamer (30 page)

“You’re sure?” I nodded. “Okay, a taste won’t hurt.”

He filled my glass not quite half-way. I tentatively raised the goblet and sniffed it. The aroma made my mouth water. I took a sip.

My eyes widened. “Liam, this is like an explosion of deliciousness in my mouth!” He laughed. “I have never tasted anything so good.” I tossed back the rest. “How do you guys not walk around drinking it all day?” I said only half-joking.

“Well, I’m sure some people do, but no more for you. We wouldn’t want you to become one of
those
people.” He teased and moved the carafe off to the side of the table. A delightful trickle ran through my body reaching my fingers and toes. My skin tingled with heightened sensitivity and the sensation reminded me of crossing the portal.

“Are you okay?” He looked a bit nervous. “Your cheeks are turning pink. Please don’t tell me you are having an allergic reaction or something.”

“No, I’m fine. I feel great actually, that stuff is phenomenal. I can’t imagine how a whole glass would make a person feel.” The candle light seemed to have tracers when I moved my head, the colors of the flowers were vivid and I could get lost in Liam’s eyes. “I’m okay, let’s eat. Feel free to tell me about Lexie now,” I said with joy infusing my tone.

He hesitated, then spoke, “Okay.”

A luminous glow surrounded Liam. Did he normally glow? No, I had never seen it before. It astounded me how beautiful he was. I was happy being with him and never wanted the moment to end.

“I’m horrible at keeping secrets anyway, so I will just tell you.”

I smiled, excited to hear what he had to say but more mesmerized by the movement of his lips and the musical sound of his voice. “You’re sure you are okay?”

I waved a dismissive hand. “Fine, couldn’t be better. Tell me already.”

Liam looked concerned. “Well, I have arranged for Lexie to come here.”

“Are you serious?” I thought it impossible for this moment to get any better, but it did. “How? When? Why?”

He laughed. “Well, Conor told me how much you’ve been missing her, and I wanted to do something to make you happy. He said she knows enough and he trusts her and, since she is your best friend, I think I can trust her too. She will be coming after graduation.”

“I can’t believe it. You’re amazing, Liam.” And he was, exceptionally thoughtful and shiny.
Shiny?
What was wrong with me? But he glowed beautifully. I blinked trying to refocus. My skin still prickled and I felt euphoric. One small taste of ambrosia wine couldn’t do that, could it?

“Liam, you’re glowing.”

His face scrunched. “I’m what?”

“Glowing. You’re golden, like the ambrosia wine. Is this normal?”

He leaned back and rubbed his chin. “No, it’s not normal. You might get drunk and forget half the night but only–oh no. I’m such an idiot.” He placed his hand over his eyes and shook his head, “I should have thought about this. You’re half-human.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Haven’t you ever heard the human tales, never eat faery food or drink faery wine?”

“I’ve eaten the food and never felt like this.”

“It’s not just any food, it’s things made with ambrosia. If a human consumes ambrosia, they lose track of time, they lose track of themselves. They become mesmerized by Fae and forget their families, their life–everything. They become trapped, never wanting to leave, and with the way time moves here, when they finally realize what’s going on, years may have passed back home.”

“But I’m already here, so what does it matter?”

“That’s true, but you can’t see or think clearly. I guess since you are half-Fae, the effect isn’t as strong. I honestly didn’t expect you to have any reaction, but I should have known better. I’m sorry, Kylie.”

“It’s okay, really. I feel great!”

He smiled. “I’m sure you do, but I think we are going to have to cut our dinner short. It wouldn’t be fair to you.”

“What do you mean?” I felt the frown already taking possession of my lips.

He chuckled. “Kylie, you said I’m glowing. Doesn’t that strike you as odd? You would do or say anything I asked of you right now. Everything I say would make perfect sense to you no matter what. Even if the effects are minimal, I just don’t feel comfortable with it. I feel like I’m taking advantage of you.”

I smiled coyly. “And you wouldn’t want to do that?”

His cheeks reddened. “Trust me, there are a lot of things I want to do with you, but taking advantage of you is not one.”

I knew that was the right thing for him to say, but it made me sad. I didn’t want to be away from Liam right now. I wanted to stay with him, be surrounded by his beauty and relish in his touch. Then I had an idea. “Okay, I understand. Will you walk me back to my room?”

“Sure,” he said, seemingly happy I understood his reasoning.

We stood, and he held my hand as we walked. Touching him felt better than touching Grant. I refused to be apart from him tonight. We finally arrived at my door. I opened it and faced him.

“Goodnight, Kylie. Sorry I ruined our dinner.”

“You didn’t ruin anything.”

I leaned in to kiss him, and he hesitantly kissed me back. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him harder. His arms went around my waist. I took a step back, jerking him into my room, then kicked the door shut behind him.

When he heard the door close, he attempted to pull away, but I pushed my body against his until his back slammed against the door. He caved and kissed me back. I was in complete bliss. Nothing had ever felt more right. Why had I ever been so hung up on Grant? The kiss enraptured me.

I tugged at Liam’s shirt, getting one hand under it, wanting to feel more of his skin against mine. His hand wrapped around my wrist, gently urging my hand away. He broke our kiss, and my mouth turned down with disappointment. “What’s wrong?”

He looked at the ceiling. “Nothing. Everything.” He sighed, looking back at me. “I can’t do this Kylie. We can’t do this.”

I pouted. “But, I thought you wanted to?”

“Believe me, I want to, but not like this. I could be a stranger off the street, and right now I would be the most attractive thing in the world to you, just because I’m Fae.” He eased me back. “I can’t take advantage of that. I’m sorry. You need to get some rest, and we will talk tomorrow.”

He placed his hand on the door as I stood there still pouting. I crossed my arms in frustration. I didn’t see the problem.

“I will send someone to check on you.” He turned to the door and opened it. He looked back at me one last time, and with what seemed like a fair degree of difficulty, left my room shutting the door behind him.

I threw myself onto the bed. What was his problem? He was the one always kissing me. One sip of some faery wine wasn’t going to affect me that much. I wanted to kiss him. After all, we were supposed to get married
.
I sat sulking for some time until a knock rapped at the door. I jumped up, hoping Liam had changed his mind. With a smile, I flung open the door and there stood Grant.

“Oh, it’s only you.” Unable to hide my disappointment I plopped back down onto my bed, leaving the door open behind me.

“Great to see you too.” He was clearly annoyed with my greeting.

“What are you doing here, anyway?” I didn’t bother masking my feelings.

“Liam told me to come.” He looked as unhappy being here as I was to have him here.

“Why you?” I asked confused and still miffed about not getting my way.

“Because apparently
someone
just had to try the ambrosia wine and now they can’t be around any Fae. Liam’s orders.”

“I don’t want any Fae. I want Liam.”

Grant sighed. “I’m sorry, you get me instead.” He sat on the bed next to me in silence.

Accepting he wasn’t going anywhere, I figured I’d change out of my dress. “Close your eyes.”

“What?”

“I need to change. Close your eyes.”

“Promise me you aren’t going to make a run for the door when I do.”

That hadn’t crossed my mind. I bit my lip wondering if it would work.

“Kylie, it was a joke. Don’t even think about it.”

“I wasn’t,” I lied. “Go stand by the door if you don’t believe me.” He glanced toward the window. “Are you
kidding
me
?
Oh, just forget it then.”

I stood, unzipped the side of my dress and let it drop to the floor. I snatched the folded nightgown, which had been laid out for me, and slipped it on. “Happy?” I tilted my head, narrowed my eyes and smiled with my lips pressed firmly together.

Grant was speechless.

Satisfied to have made my point I flung myself on the bed again. “What are you going to do, just watch me all night?”

He just shook his head. “Kylie, seriously?” Standing, he walked to the other side of the room. He stood with his back to me for a minute, finally turning. “Do you really like Liam that much?”

“What do you mean? Of course I like him. He’s a great guy.”

“But do you like him? As in, you really want to do whatever it is you
think
you want to do with him right now?” I shrugged. “Kylie, you just took your clothes off in front of me. Do you not see any problems with the way you are acting?” He was clearly flustered.

My eyes were unable to resist the urge to roll. “Who cares if I take my clothes off in front of you? It’s not like it matters to you anyway.” I jerked my head in annoyance. “And you could have just shut your eyes.”

“You didn’t give me much of a chance, you know.”

“You’re overreacting. I don’t see what the big deal is. Our friendship is
clearly
platonic. Anyway, I probably have bikinis more revealing than that.”

Disbelief radiated from him. “This isn’t you,” he mumbled. He looked down, took a deep breath then met my eyes and held them. “Do you like Liam?”

“Why do you keep asking me that?”

“I just need to know–do you really like him?”

“I want to be with him right now, so yeah, I guess I like him.”

“Do you love him?”

My jaw clenched. “Why do you care?”

Grant walked back over and sat down. “Do you?” His tone softened.

I turned and looked at myself in the mirror. A faint glow danced around my reflection like it did around Liam, but not quite as bright.
Liam
. I missed him. I wanted to hear his voice and touch his skin, but did I love him? My brain couldn’t make sense of anything. I wanted him, but did I
love
him? And then, as I saw Grant’s reflection in the mirror awaiting my answer, it hit me.

“No. No, I don’t love Liam.” My body shifted toward him. “Because I love you.”

“That’s all I needed to hear.” And with that, Grant kissed me. My muddled mind couldn’t make sense of anything. I didn’t know how to respond. My body felt warm and alive with his touch, but he wasn’t Liam. Wasn’t I supposed to be with Liam right now?

“Kylie, snap out of it,” Grant said between kisses.

Snap out of what? I knew Liam said the wine was why I wanted him so bad, but it didn’t make any sense. I already liked Liam. A tiny bit of wine couldn’t do that. Could it? But then again, why did I say I loved Grant?

He pulled back and held my chin between his thumb and forefinger. “You don’t want Liam. It’s the ambrosia. You said it yourself, you don’t love him.”

I did say that. Grant kissed me again. Electricity pulsed between us, but my mind couldn’t wrap itself around it. He finally gave up and jerked upright to stand. He ran his hand through his hair and mumbled something then strode to the other side of the room, while I just sat there staring at him. Settling in a nearby chair, he put his head in his hands.

Finally, he looked up at me, his blue eyes filled with sadness. Somewhere deep down inside, I knew my actions hurt him and I didn’t want to be the source of his unhappiness. “You have to snap out of this, Kylie, please. I overheard Alastar talking. He wants to announce your engagement at tomorrow night’s dinner.” I just stared at him.

“Do you get what this means Kylie? If you don’t snap out of this you will be married off to Liam. You need to fight this, postpone it and run away. I don’t care. Just don’t marry him.” When I failed to respond he just shook his head and looked back down. He sighed. “How much wine did you drink?”

“Just a small taste. I don’t see why it’s a big deal.”

He stood and walked to the window. He looked out, though it was probably too dark to actually see anything. “You don’t understand. It can take humans days or even weeks to overcome even the tiniest bit of ambrosia, especially the wine as its effects are more concentrated. I have no idea how long it will take you since you are half-Fae, but it might be too late.”

“Too late for what?”

Grant cursed under his breath. “For us.” Anger filled his voice, but then he turned to me and regained his composure. “For me. For everything. I screwed up, and now I’m going to lose you.” He caressed my cheek, his sad eyes gazed down on me. “You should get some sleep. Maybe things will be different in the morning.”

“I’m not tired.”

He chuckled. “Stubborn tonight, aren’t we? Well, can you just try to get some rest?”