The Fake February Rake by Lane Charlie & Review The Rake

Author:Lane, Charlie & Review, The Rake
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-02-01T00:00:00+00:00

Ophelia was floating, but she did not fear falling. The strong, warm, nice-smelling bands that held her tight would not let her go, and she snuggled closer to them, nuzzling her face against the furnace of her little boat of dreams and listening to the steady beat of a sound it produced.

“Ophelia.” A lovely rumble near her ear.

She nuzzled closer.

The rumble chuckled and nuzzled her back, a nose to her temple. Then a kiss pressed there, too. “Ophelia, wake up, love. You’re home.”

Not a boat. Not a dream. A Devil Doctor.

She startled awake and found herself cradled in his arms. The coach rested silent behind them, and Hades smiled softly down at her through the silky dusk air. A cold wind whipped at them, but he held her tighter, shared his warmth.

“Can I put you down?” he asked.

“Must you?” A response without thought. She popped her hands over her mouth.

His smiled widened into a cheeky grin. “No. I suppose not. But if I put you back in the coach and take you home with me, my mother will have some very strong words for the both of us. Your father might, as well.”

“Not likely. He ordered us. Remember.”

“I remember. You sound awake.”

She nodded, regretting her growing cognizance as he placed her on her feet. So nice to be hazy and warm in his arms, so cold to be… otherwise, the whipping wind cutting between them and at her exposed skin. She wrapped her arms around her to save what she could of his remaining warmth.

He clasped his hands behind his back. “I know today was a test. Have I passed?”

She licked her lips, drew in a shaky breath. She knew what she should say—no. Cold and calm, a simple, one-syllable answer. No. Because she knew better than to trust any man.

But this man… How many ways had he shown her today he could be trusted? He’d seduced her, as he’d said he would, but not in the way he had intended, so her lips formed the shape of “Yes” instead of a no. She rolled her lips between her teeth and squeezed her eyes closed, waiting for the blow that would surely come from trusting a man like this in such a primal way.

No blow came, only the strength of his arms, loose yet supportive, around her and the sweet, soft press of his lips against her forehead. “Shall we marry, Ophelia?”

It was the first time he’d used only her given name, and it sounded entirely right in his deep timbre. And though her father had ordered her to marry him to begin with, Hades had asked, put the choice before her. Another reason to trust him?

She nodded. “Yes, I believe we shall.”

“No more tests?”

“No more tests.”

He rested his forehead against hers. “I’ve never felt like this before. It’s absurd, isn’t it? To meet a soul and know in an instant you want to know every corner of it.”

She shivered, and he held her tighter. He did not speak of love.

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