feyre

Why does anything cling to something? Maybe they love wherever they're going so much that it's worth it. Maybe they'll keep coming back, until there's only one star left. Maybe that one star will make the trip forever, out of the hope that someday__f it keeps coming back often enough__nother star will find it again.

Rhysand stared at me for long enough that I faced him."Be glad of your human heart, Feyre. Pity those who don't feel anything at all.

I skipped between the dancers, twirling my skirts. The seated, masked musicians didn__ look up at me as I leaped before them, dancing in place. No chains, no boundaries__ust me and the music, dancing and dancing. I wasn__ faerie, but I was a part of this earth, and the earth was a part of me, and I would be content to dance upon it for the rest of my life.One of the musicians looked up from his fiddling, and I halted.Sweat gleamed on the strong column of his neck as he rested his chin upon the dark wood of the fiddle. He__ rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, revealing the cords of muscle along his forearms. He had once mentioned that he would have liked to be a traveling minstrel if not a warrior or a High Lord__ow, hearing him play, I knew he could have made a fortune from it.____ sorry, Tam,_ Lucien panted, appearing from nowhere. __ left her alone for a little at one of the food tables, and when I caught up to her, she was drinking the wine, and___amlin didn__ pause in his playing. His golden hair damp with sweat, he looked marvelously handsome__ven though I couldn__ see most of his face. He gave me a feral smile as I began to dance in place before him. ____l look after her,_ Tamlin murmured above the music, and I glowed, my dancing becoming faster. __o enjoy yourself._ Lucien fled.I shouted over the music, __ don__ need a keeper!_ I wanted to spin and spin and spin.__o, you don__,_ Tamlin said, never once stumbling over his playing. How his bow did dance upon the strings, his fingers sturdy and strong, no signs of those claws that I had come to stop fearing _ __ance, Feyre,_ he whispered.So I did.I was loosened, a top whirling around and around, and I didn__ know who I danced with or what they looked like, only that I had become the music and the fire and the night, and there was nothing that could slow me down.Through it all, Tamlin and his musicians played such joyous music that I didn__ think the world could contain it all. I sashayed over to him, my faerie lord, my protector and warrior, my friend, and danced before him. He grinned at me, and I didn__ break my dancing as he rose from his seat and knelt before me in the grass, offering up a solo on his fiddle to me.

I threw myself into that fire, threw myself into it, into him, and let myself burn.

I__ thinking it would be very easy to love you. And easier to call you my friend.

And I wondered if love was too weak a word for what he felt, what he__ done for me. For what I felt for him.

Females and males watched Rhysand throughout the hall__nd the shadowsinger and I made a game of betting on who, exactly, would work up the nerve to invite the High Lord home.

I love you,_ he whispered, and kissed my brow. __horns and all.

Amren,_ Rhys drawled, __ends her regards. And as for this one _ _ I tried not to flinch away from meeting his stare. __he__ mine,_ he said quietly, but viciously enough that Devlon and his warriors nearby heard. __nd if any of you lay a hand on her, you lose that hand. And then you lose your head._ I tried not to shiver, as Cassian and Mor showed no reaction at all. __nd once Feyre is done killing you,_ Rhys smirked, __hen I__l grind your bones to dust.

A snap of Rhys__ fingers, and my nightclothes__nd some flimsy underthings__ppeared on the bed. __ couldn__ decide which scrap of lace I wanted you to wear, so I brought you a few to choose from._ __ig,_ I barked

Would you like me to grovel with gratitude for bringing me here, High Lord?""Ah. The Suriel told you nothing important, did it?"That smile of his sparked something bold in my chest. "He also said that you liked being brushed, and if I'm a clever girl, I might train you with treats."Tamlin tipped his head to the sky and roared with laughter. Despite myself, I let out a quiet laugh. "I might die of surprise," Lucien said behind me. "You made a joke, Feyre."I turned to look at him with a cool smile. "You don't want to know what the Suriel said about you." I flicked my brows up, and Lucien lifted his hands in defeat."I'd pay good money to hear what the Suriel thinks of Lucien," Tamlin said.A cork popped, followed by the sounds of Lucien chugging the bottle's contents and chuckling with a muttered, "Brushed.

Lucien kept rubbing at his temples as he ate, unusually silent, and I hid my smile as I asked him, __nd where were you last night?__ucien__ metal eye narrowed on me. ____l have you know that while you two were dancing with the spirits, I was stuck on border patrol._ Tamlin gave a pointed cough, and Lucien added, __ith some company._ He gave me a sly grin. __umor has it you two didn__ come back until after dawn.__ glanced at Tamlin, biting my lip. I__ practically floated into my bedroom that morning. But Tamlin__ gaze now roved my face as if searching for any tinge of regret, of fear. Ridiculous.__ou bit my neck on Fire Night,_ I said under my breath. __f I can face you after that, a few kisses are nothing.__e braced his forearms on the table as he leaned closer to me. __othing?_ His eyes flicked to my lips. Lucien shifted in his seat, muttering to the Cauldron to spare him, but I ignored him.__othing,_ I repeated a bit distantly, watching Tamlin__ mouth move, so keenly aware of every movement he made, resenting the table between us. I could almost feel the warmth of his breath.__re you sure?_ he murmured, intent and hungry enough that I was glad I was sitting. He could have had me right there, on top of that table. I wanted his broad hands running over my bare skin, wanted his teeth scraping against my neck, wanted his mouth all over me.____ trying to eat,_ Lucien said.

Rhysand yelled my name again - yelled it as though he cared. I blacked out, but she brought me back, ensuring that I felt everything ensuring that I screamed every time a bone broke.

I saw only a flash of green and gold before the warmth of Tamlin__ body slammed into me and our lips met.I couldn__ kiss him deeply enough, couldn__ hold him tightly enough, couldn__ touch enough of him. Words weren__ necessary.I tore at his shirt, needing to feel the skin beneath one last time, and I had to stifle the moan that rose up in me as he grasped my breast. I didn__ want him to be gentle__ecause what I felt for him wasn__ at all like that. What I felt was wild and hard and burning, and so he was with me.He tore his lips from mine and bit my neck__it it as he had on Fire Night. I had to grind my teeth to keep myself from moaning and giving us away. This might be the last time I touched him, the last time we could be together. I wouldn__ waste it.My fingers grappled with his belt buckle, and his mouth found mine again. Our tongues danced__ot a waltz or a minuet, but a war dance, a death dance of bone drums and screaming fiddles.I wanted him__ere.I hooked a leg around his middle, needing to be closer, and he ground his hips harder against me, crushing me into the icy wall. I pried the belt buckle loose, whipping the leather free, and Tamlin growled his desire in my ear__ low, probing sort of sound that made me see red and white and lightning.

Not forever,_ he said onto my mouth.And though I knew it was a lie, I put my arms around his neck and kissed him.He pulled me onto his lap, holding me tightly against him as his lips parted mine. I became aware of every pore in my body when his tongue entered my mouth.Though the horror of Rhysand__ magic still tore at me, I pushed Tamlin onto the bed, straddling him, pinning him as if it would somehow keep me from leaving, as if it would make time stop entirely.His hands rested on my hips, and their heat singed me through the thin silk of my nightgown. My hair fell around our faces like a curtain. I couldn__ kiss him fast enough, hard enough to express the rushing need within me. He growled softly and deftly flipped us over, spreading me beneath him as he wrenched his lips from my mouth and made a trail of kisses down my neck.My entire world constricted to the touch of his lips on my skin. Everything beyond them, beyond him, was a void of darkness and moonlight. My back arched as he reached the spot he__ once bitten, and I dragged my hands through his hair, savoring the silken smoothness.He traced the arc of my hipbones, lingering at the edge of my undergarments. My nightgown had become hitched around my waist, but I didn__ care. I hooked my bare legs around his, running my feet down the hard muscles of his calves.He breathed my name onto my chest, one of his hands exploring the plane of my torso, rising up to the slope of my breast. I trembled, anticipating the feel of his hand there, and his mouth found mine again as his fingers stopped just below.His kissing was slower this time__entler. The fingertips of his other hand slipped beneath the waist of my undergarment, and I sucked in a breath.He hesitated at the sound, pulling back slightly. But I bit his lip in a silent command that had him growling into my mouth. With one long claw, he shredded through silk and lace, and my undergarment fell away in pieces. The claw retracted, and his kiss deepened as his fingers slid between my legs, coaxing and teasing. I ground against his hand, yielding completely to the writhing wildness that had roared alive inside me, and breathed his name onto his skin.He paused again__is fingers retracting__ut I grabbed him, pulling him farther on top of me. I wanted him now__ wanted the barriers of our clothing to vanish, I wanted to taste his sweat, wanted to become full of him.

There had once been a time when I'd dreaded the end of summer, had prayed it would hold out for as long as possible. Now the thought of endless warmth and sun made me . . . bored. Restless.

It was easier to not have to explain, anyway. To not have to tell him that though I'd freed him, saved his people and all of Prythian from Amarantha... I'd broken myself apart. And I didn't think even eternity would be long enough to fix me.

Where are you going?__e looked over his shoulder at me. __f I stay, you won__ get any sleep.___tay,_ I said. __ promise to keep my hands to myself._ Lie__uch an outright lie.He gave me a half smile that told me he knew it, too, but nestled down, tugging me into his arms. I wrapped an arm around his waist and rested my head in the hollow of his shoulder.He idly stroked my hair. I didn__ want to sleep__idn__ want to lose a minute with him__ut an immense exhaustion was pulling me away from consciousness, until all I knew was the touch of his fingers in my hair and the sounds of his breathing.