Ravage (Royal Fae Academy #1) - Lacey Carter Andersen Page 0,9

to live our days in heartbreak, without the woman we loved.

Having her here was a blessing and a curse. For the first time, we had a chance with her.

But we weren’t just going to have to compete with other men for her. We also had to keep her safe. Because whoever had killed her brother had wanted something. Something I feared they’d come after Esmeray for.

Slowly, I start to walk again, following her to our dorm. From this moment on, I had two goals: keep Esmeray safe and make her love me.

I was used to being a protector, but charming a woman? Hell, I was in trouble.

5

Esmeray

The light fae named Harold leads me up three flights of stairs to the top floor in a dorm room near the back of campus. I use my new key to unlock the main door that opens into a little living room. To one side is a doorway that opens into a tidy kitchen. Four closed doors line the other side of the room.

“This one is yours.” Harold points to the second door.

I move around the couches, casting a glance to the pool table in one corner, and use my key to open the bedroom. I’m actually surprised by how much I instantly like the room. On the left is a large bed, on the right is a closet next to an open door into a tiny bathroom, and by the huge windows is a desk. Everything is painted white and looks clean, and out the window are trees filled with green leaves. It feels like I’m living inside a garden.

Tossing my bag onto the bed, I move to the window and look out into a small garden. Down below are benches and various plants and flowers.

“What do you think?” he asks, and I can feel nervousness radiating out of him.

I already know that I’m going to make these fae nervous. Most fae don’t hide their emotions. They allow their overwhelming happiness and excitement to radiate off them with a nauseating lack of control. They sample each other’s emotions, feeding themselves, without thought, because happy emotions are almost limitless among their kind.

Someone like me will set them off. They’ll reach out to sample my emotions and find them locked away. Not being able to read me will be like losing one of their senses. They won’t know what I’m feeling, so they won’t quite know how to react.

The smart thing would be to slowly cipher any good emotions I have out to them, to cloud their judgment, but I don’t desire such a thing. It would silence any rumors about my dark fae powers, and I want there to be rumors.

If people fear me, maybe they’ll give me the space I so desperately need to find my brother's killers and destroy them. Anything else is just a distraction.

“I know it’s a little small,” Harold continues.

I cross the room toward him, and I know he watches my fluid movements like prey watching a predator.

Unable to help myself, I put a hand on his chest. His heart races beneath his white, silk shirt. A longing unravels inside me to touch him, to make him come for me, and I hate that I know what’s behind my sudden desire.

Bron. Seeing him had made it even harder to keep my emotions hidden away. He looked so damn good, like a delicious banquet in a sea of nothingness. Bron was unlike most light fae. His difficult childhood meant his emotions raged and varied in ways most light fae couldn’t fathom. And although he too was careful about keeping his emotions hidden, I could taste them in the air. They cloaked the sexy man in a way that made my hunger grow in all ways.

Harold swallows slowly. “So…you like it?”

I tilt my head and lick my lips. “I like you, Harold.”

His gaze moves to my mouth, and I wonder what he’s thinking. His parents no doubt warned him about women like me, about my kind. I know for a fact that most men find me attractive. And I know how to dress myself and work my body to draw them to me. But will his logic win out over his desire?

“I—“ He leans his head down, as if to sample the wares I offer.

Suddenly, I hear a door hit against a wall.

“Damn him,” someone mutters.

Harold springs away from me like he’s been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “I need to go,” he says, then races from the