Faery Kissed Read Online Free PDF Page A

always warned of messing with the Fae, but I didn’t want
to listen. I was mesmerized by the tales of them—always wanting to
know more. Even Fergus had warned me before I left on this
adventure.
    Fergus. It was the first time I’d thought of
him or the rest of my family. I wondered if they were frantic with
worry. Would they be out searching for me?
    I snorted, doubting it. They were all
probably passed out from the honey mead somewhere. Knowing my luck,
they wouldn’t realize I was gone for another whole day.
    Ceridwen—her name came easily to my mind and
with it a wave of memories and feelings that twisted at my heart. I
almost felt panicky, like a prisoner in a cage. The thought of
never seeing her again was excruciating and made me long for
escape. I wanted to run my fingers through her hair, and kiss her
breathless as she clung to me. I couldn’t count the nights I’d lain
awake, dreaming of the time I could finally make her mine and start
our lives together. She was all I ever wanted.
    I wondered if there was a way for me to
leave this place. Eirian said it was impossible while I was bonded.
I believed her, knowing she couldn’t lie about things like that.
Was there a way to break a bond? I’d assumed, because of the magic,
it was infinite. Was it? Or was Eirian withholding something from
me?
    I growled in frustration. Even if I could
flee, what could I say to Ceridwen that could fix this? There was
nothing. She’d hear my story and be repulsed—forever doubting my
honor. I could only imagine how I’d feel if she came and told me
something like this had happened to her. I would be
devastated—unable to recover.
    On second thought, maybe it was best if they
all thought me missing. Wouldn’t it be better for Ceridwen to think
I’d been carried off by some wild animal, or killed in an accident,
than to find out her love had willingly bonded and lain with
another?
    I groaned. Thinking of Eirian brought a
whole new set of problems. I might not know her very well, but
there was an abundance of physical attraction there. I was fairly
certain—given my current state of anger at the situation—that I’d
been released from all enchantment, too. That wasn’t a good thing
considering I could feel my body reacting to even the thought
her.
    What was it about her that seemed so
familiar? Why did I loathe the idea of losing her as much as I did
Ceridwen? It didn’t make any sense.
    I lay back onto the bench, placing an arm
over my eyes. Eirian’s image floated there, and I sighed, realizing
I already knew every part of her, almost as well as I knew myself.
I wanted to be angry, but if I was being truthful, there was a
closeness I felt with her that I’d never experienced with anyone
else. That troubled me. I didn’t want to be in love with someone
who had tricked me.
    Love? I almost choked and openly scoffed at
the idea. There was no way I could ever fall in love with Eirian.
Not after what she did. She betrayed my trust. I wasn’t sure how to
learn to love someone like that. Things of that nature only
happened in faerytales.
    I laughed wryly at the irony. It seemed a
faerytale was exactly what I was stuck in.
    I got up and left the area under the tree,
and walked to where the water from the river lapped the shore. I
searched for a pebble, acquiring several, before I sat down in the
tall grasses and began tossing them one by one into the shimmering
surface. I could barely hear them hit the water though; the sound
being drowned out by the waterfalls that tumbled down the rock
faces farther down the canyon.
    It was beautiful here; something my eyes had
never dreamed of beholding. If I were ever able to go home, I would
be sad to never see this place again. It was magical—part of a
dream come true.
    In all honesty, I wished I could share this
place with my loved ones. My mother would be completely excited to
know this existed. I don’t know what my father would think. His
eyes used to light up when he told his