Zoe's only wish is to be able to run barefoot through grass, but she knows it'll never happen. Ever since she was born, she's been unable to touch anything living without it instantly dying. It's a curse she would do anything to get rid of, but that...
I felt awkward and slightly embarrassed as Felix pulled me to him again. But also intensely relieved. Finally touching him and being close to him in that way, felt better than I could have imagined. It made me all warm and fussy, at the same time as I felt a tingling in my whole body and an extreme desire for more. It made my head into a mess, but not a bad mess. Instead, it was one that I wanted to have more of.
The tiny while when we had not touched, and I had not been able to feel his heat, had made my emotions fall. It had taken away the calmness and happiness and left space for all of the depressing feelings. So, as awkward as I felt about the fact that we were in public, I happily leaned my head to his chest and felt the short-lived tenseness disappear.
"So who are you?" he asked with his eyes on Ash and Pine.
"This is Ash, and that's Pine," I introduced them. "They are... my aunts, I guess."
Both Ash and Pine laughed.
"We would prefer it if you thought of us as sisters. That is more truly what we are," Ash corrected me, then turned to Felix. "We are nymphs, just like Zoe is. Or well, she's half-nymph, half-witch."
I watched as Felix's eyes lit up.
"I read about nymphs. You have healing powers. I thought that nymphs maybe would be able to heal Zoe. Is that what happened?" Felix rambled and then looked excitedly from me to Ash and Pine and back again.
Ash and Pine laughed again.
"No, silly," Pine said.
"Zoe healed herself," Ash continued.
"What?" Felix looked at me with wide eyes.
"Ash and Pine taught me how to counteract the curse using my nymph magic," I explained.
"It's not a curse," Ash pointed out, and it had to have been the millionth time I heard that.
"Faeries don't do curse," I said together with Ash.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. But I've always thought of it as a curse and probably always will," I added with a sigh and Ash chuckled lightly.
"But what was Rheseis up to? She's being so annoying," Pine complained while stomping her feet.
"She must have her reasons," Ash defended in a calm voice, almost like a mother trying to calm her child.
"Like she had her reasons to stop us from talking to Zoe the other day?" Pine rolled her eyes. "She really ought to explain herself more!"
"That was you two!" I exclaimed. Their voices had been familiar, but I hadn't had time to think from where. It had been them the day I had tried on the amulet. They who had told me I had a lot of life within.
Ash nodded. "We wanted to tell you more already then, but Rheseis pulled us away with her magic."
"I wonder why she didn't do the same today," Pine said.
"It's obvious." Ash rolled her eyes. "Rheseis said that Zoe wasn't ready that day, but today she must have been ready. Rheseis just knows more than us. She is a faerie, after all."
"I'm not sure I completely follow," Felix said at my side. I looked at him and saw a confused frown.
I chuckled lightly. "I'm sorry, let me explain properly."
We sat down in the grass. Me in Felix's lap and Ash and Pine opposite us. It almost felt odd how naturally it had felt to sit in his lap instead of next to him. But I was sure he wouldn't have had it any other way. Honestly, I didn't want to sit anywhere else either. To be surrounded by him in that way just felt so amazing.
I tried to explain as briefly as possible about what had happened. About Ash and Pine having known my mother. How it seemed like a faerie named Rheseis had done something when my mother was pregnant to save me, which had resulted in my poisonous skin. How Ash and Pine had explained how I could un-poison my skin with nymph magic. How I had managed and how I had even healed a couple of plants.
Felix listened and asked for clarifications when needed, though he seemed to understand most very quickly. Obviously a result of his upbringing.
"You're so strong. I'm proud of you," he said when I finished talking and kissed my forehead again. I felt a wave of desire wash over me and when I met Felix's eyes, I could see it mirrored there.
"We have some things we need to do," Ash said, but when I looked back at them, Pine's smirk told of other intentions. "If there is something that you want to talk to us about, just call our names. We'll be able to hear it."
"You should be able to hear if we call for you too," Pine said with a wink.
And then they both turned and disappeared deeper into the park.
Excitement but also nervousness grabbed me. I also realized that there was more I had to tell Felix before anything else happened.
"There are some things I have to say, but should we go somewhere private to talk?" I asked.
"Sounds good," he nodded, though I was certain that he thought about what we could do once we were alone, completely uninterested in talking. I knew very well though that I needed to explain more first. He had to know what a mate was, what that entailed, and that he was mine. He deserved all the facts before he made the decision.
"We can go to my hotel room," I continued.
Felix leaned down and kissed me. To my surprise, he bit my lower lip. It was a very gentle bite, but it made me gasp anyway. Mainly because it felt like a promise of what was to come and the thought made my insides clench in anticipation.
"Alright," he whispered by my ear and kissed me right underneath it before taking my hand and pulling me towards his car. It would definitely be hard to get all the explaining done.
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