Fae Fiefdom - M. Sinclair Page 0,17

was I imagining those as well? My sisters had claimed to not have heard a storm last night…so had I imagined that? Who knew?! No really, who knew? Because I felt like I was losing it over here. I inhaled sharply trying to keep calm.

I think what was really throwing me wasn’t just the men, but the energy they carried with them. It was unreal. Unnatural. Like Oliver…I mean, I couldn’t be the only one that was feeling this, right?

“Hi,” I offered cautiously, rocking up on my toes before walking closer to him and turning towards the opposite shelf from where he was picking from. I didn’t have to talk to him past the ‘hi’ right? I just didn’t know how to interact with humans clearly.

Oh yes, Ophelia, that sounds so normal.

“What sounds normal?” he asked, facing me. My head snapped up in a panic.

“I said that out loud?” I tried not to squeak out my response. I could feel my ears heat but less about talking out loud and more about the eyes looking over my face in a greedy fashion, making me shiver slightly.

“Yes,” he smiled, sculpted lips lifting as if amused by a private joke.

“Oh,” I smiled, looking down while shaking my head, “eh, sorry about that. I suppose now I for sure don’t sound normal. Normal people don’t talk to themselves about not being normal.”

He offered me a relaxed grin. “Is anyone really normal?”

I tilted my head thoughtfully, feeling almost sleepy and oddly not as anxious as I should have been around him. “I’m sort of hoping that I’ve been the normal one this entire time and it’s everyone else that’s lost it.”

His chuckle was deep and had me feeling completely at ease. I swear this man was like a Xanax. I couldn’t even remember why I’d been worried about talking to him to begin with. My hand met his as his name rolled off his lips, “Merrick.”

“Well, Merrick, I’m Ophelia,” I stated softly, but he didn't let go of my hand. A spark jumped between us. The scent of limes surrounded me, causing my vision to go a bit hazy, and making him almost appear shadow-like. It was like an electric storm encased me in a soft blanket of clouds. Raindrops trailed my skin and on my tongue, the water tasted nearly like limes.

“Hey.” He steadied me, both hands going to my shoulders.

My dizziness increased almost tenfold and I found myself gripping onto the bookshelf. It wasn’t a bad feeling, but it was very overwhelming and my eyes almost felt like they were watering.

“You okay? Do you want to sit down?” Concern laced his voice as his hand rubbed lazy circles on my back.

I wanted to curl up with my head on his chest. God, he smelled so good.

“She’s fine, get your fucking hands off her, Merrick.” A familiar accented voice stated in a low growl as a hard arm wrapped around my center, tugging me back.

I coughed at the force of it and scowled up at the person, despite my eyes being watery. The fogginess cleared up and my eyes focused back on Merrick’s narrowed eyes at Kirin, who was behind me. Well, that escalated quickly.

“Sorry,” I shook myself, straightening up as I tried to escape the bastard behind me, but I only got an inch before he plastered me against him once more. “I have no idea what happened there, Merrick, I apologize. You must think that I am a total weirdo.” I was.

His eyes softened on me for a moment, and he shook his head looking back at the man behind me. “No, pretty girl, I think you’re perfect. But I’ll see you around, Ophelia. Kirin, I would say it was good to see you but...”

So they knew each other, but how well? Or was this some weird guy thing I wasn’t understanding?

He was gone then, and it took me a full minute to realize that I was still in Kirin’s arms. Not just that, but my ass was rubbing right against what I knew to be a fucking monster between his legs. I’d watched enough porn to have a scale to sort of base it on.

Blushing, I turned around, realizing that I had made it ten times worse. Now I was right there with him, plastered to his chest with our lips inches apart. I could feel how turned on I was getting and my breathing heighten. Shit, I needed to get out of here.

I was out of my league with