Faeyra held Gracie to her, holding the back of the little girl's head as if to reassure herself she was honestly real. She was lost in the sound of Gracie's voice, in the feel of her, that she only listened to the actual words with half an ear. Her gaze flickered up to the man again, eyes searching, devouring, memorizing. Gracie was real and so, then, was he. Not only that, but he'd cared for Gracie in her absence... She kissed the top of Gracie's head, getting slowly to her feet. An array of emotions ran rampant on her features before she regained some piece of her signature calm. All the pain, all the anger, it melted away. They'd have to talk about it, of course they would, but for now... Right this second...
She squeezed Gracie's hand in hers, then did what her heart was screaming at her to do. She strode forward, stopping close to him. Their eyes met, hers dropped to his lips for half a second... And then she threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tight. Their brief flirtations had been just that; they hadn't so much as held hands in their time together, both cautious even while their mutual attraction drew them together. She reveled in the feeling of touching him, of holding him, as she'd wanted to but hadn't dared. She clung to him longer than was proper, but just long enough...
She pulled back, arms still around his neck but with some distance between them now. Her gaze flicked down to Gracie, then back up to his, and her voice broke as she spoke.
"Sloane?" she asked softly, and pulled her arms away from him with great difficulty. She couldn't bring herself to stay away, her violet eyes focused on his chest. Numb lips parted, trembled, and she added, though she hated herself for it: "Or should I say your Duchess?"
She lifted her gaze to his, hoping her anxiety didn't show in her face, hoping she sounded controlled... like it wasn't killing her, not knowing. Surely, in the time since she'd been here in Shaman, her best friend and the only man she'd ever cared about to this degree would have been married. No matter how much Sloane had talked of calling it off, of running away to be with that stupid Earl, Sloane loved her family too much to hurt them like that. She would have gone through with it, and she already knew he would, too. What reason could he possibly have to not go through with it? He'd tossed her aside easily enough. Wouldn't it be just as easy for him to go through with it with someone he didn't care about? Perhaps he had cared, and they'd been happy. She had no way of knowing how time had gone back home while she was here, after all. Faeyra swallowed hard, resolve hardening. Calvyn wasn't a cheater, and she would never be the other woman, no matter how much distance there was between the husband and the wife. And besides, for all she knew, Duchess Sloane Dunmark might be just around the corner.
Hating the way her own thoughts gouged at her, Faeyra took a shaky breath and pulled herself a full step back from him. Now that she thought about it, she really didn't want to hear Calvyn's answer. She was doing just fine breaking her own heart, thank you very much. She shot a reassuring smile toward Gracie.
"Are you hungry?" she asked, squeezing Gracie's hand as she slowly but surely tried to put the pieces of her shattered wall back together.
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♥♥ drawing by the AMAZING ALICE ♥♥ |