Faeted Bride

By Britt DeLaney

Cait has been looking forward to finally meeting her online match for weeks. Sparks ignite, chemistry takes over, and one steamy night later she finds herself in a magical new world with a determined and irresistible Fae male. When the secrets of her past are revealed, Cait must decide where the truth lies—and whether her heart will follow.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Britt DeLaney
• Release date: Mar 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005189495

Britt DeLaney

Britt DeLaney lives and writes near Philadelphia. In her spare time she watches too much Netflix, eats too many Pop-Tarts, and is currently writing her ass off.

Book preview

1

FaetedBride_Flourish

You can kiss your elbow?

Cait looked across the table at the sinfully handsome man, watched his long fingers as he stirred the sugar into his tea, followed them up the line of his hands—broad, but not brutish. She gave an inward shudder at the memory of her last Tinder date and the hair on his knuckles. The guy had been a walking carpet with the deepest shag on his back. Which should have tipped her off that he’d be an absolute beast in bed, and not in a good way. More like the rutting, pawing, snuffling sort of way. But this guy—this man—was something else entirely.

His hair reached his collar, so dark that it shone blue where the light hit. The cut was careless, and he probably paid a lot of money to make it look so casually perfect. His jaw was strong, cheekbones high, lower lip slightly fuller than the upper, with a tilt at the corners that made him look as though he were eternally amused by everything going on around him. His eyes were a deep shade of green that made her think of evergreens, for some reason. Maybe a flashback to her youngest days when she and her father lived in Alaska. Why would she think about that now? Cait realized she’d been staring at him entirely too long. Realized that he had been noticing her staring at him entirely too long, and the spark in his eyes clearly showed that her interest was returned.

He’d said something. Yes. He’d said yes. What did she ask him again? Oh yeah, the elbow.

Your own elbow? She clarified.

Yes.

Did you discover this while you were drunk?

He laughed a little. I really don’t remember.

You know, she said, pausing to take a sip of her coffee, when we started tonight with ‘tell me something I don’t already know about you,’ this was definitely not what I expected to hear.

His eyes met hers over the rim of his cup. I like the unexpected, he said before taking a drink of his own. And you are most definitely unexpected.

She felt herself warm at his words, and the way he was looking at her—she felt like fanning herself. Holy God, she felt like dragging him out of the coffee shop and pushing him down in the back seat of her car. She’d met more than a few good looking guys on Tinder, but she’d never had one that struck her like this. He had a magnetism that was just riveting. She only hoped it paid off.

Wouldn’t it be nice if men had a blinking light over their head that only women could see, to let them know in advance if the guy was going to be a complete waste of time in bed? Or in a relationship? Her best friend Holly once said that, and Cait had enthusiastically agreed, clinking her wine glass to Holly’s before they both tossed back the remains of the bottle. This man—his name was River—did not look, or carry himself like a man who would waste her time in bed. Despite his hippie name, he had an Irish accent that had her halfway into his bed already.

Is that an Irish thing? she asked, trying to pull her unruly thoughts back to the small talk. Being able to kiss your own elbow?

He smiled at her wickedly—really, there was no other word for that smile. It lit his eyes in a way that told her he had a secret, and he was letting her in on it. Building them their own little world in this corner of this coffee shop on a quiet street in downtown Chicago.

Why don’t we try it together and see? He whispered conspiratorially.

A quick glance around showed her that no one in the coffee shop was paying any attention to them at all. There was a student bent over her laptop, a pretentious looking writer guy doing the same with his, one harried mother desperately blowing into her young child’s hot chocolate to cool it down before she could drink her own coffee, and the barista who was scrolling through her phone.

This is definitely the strangest thing I’ve ever done on a first date, Cait said, shaking her head. Somehow, as bizarre as this was, she was enjoying herself immensely.

One, two, three . . . River said, lifting his elbow and tilting his head down. She was so mesmerized at the sight of his lips carefully brushing the tip of his elbow, that she forgot to do the same. In fact, she was sitting there like an idiot, her own elbow upraised, staring at him with her mouth open.

His eyes met hers, and again she felt that magnetic pull. Your turn, he gently reminded her.

Here goes nothing, she said. Please don’t hold my American lack of flexibility against me.

He gave a little chuckle that sent a scattering of delicious sensations down her spine. Gripping her elbow with her other hand she leaned her head down and—

Kissed her elbow.

She kissed her own damn elbow!

Her startled eyes flew up and met his again to see that they were shining bright with approval. And something like—triumph?

See? He said smoothly. "You’re a lot more flexible than you thought. I look forward to more