By the Enchantment of Moonlight (The Forbidden Realm #2.5) by Serena Gilley Page A

watched from a safe distance as Devin got his engineer onto a luxurious boat in the marina, then they found their way to the lighthouse. There had been no sign of Miranda. They were safe and alone here, perched on the catwalk, warmed by the sun and the lake’s breezes.
    Pimma surveyed their surroundings and could finally breathe freely. Fairies were creatures of air, and this felt like heaven. She was happy to lean back and let the wind blow the soot from her hair and the taint of human from her skin. Oddly enough, though, the air felt unfamiliar and strange as it swept over her body and filtered through her lungs.
    She felt different. Something had changed…everything had changed. She had changed.
    She could feel the change in every part of her. It permeated her cells, it gave a brighter glow to her aura, and it filled the atmosphere around her just as tangibly as the smoke from that warehouse had done. Most important, it changed the way her senses reacted to things around her. Especially Swift.
    She was resting several inches away from him, yet she could feel him as if he were touching her. And her fingers practically itched to touch him. This must be desire. She carried it with her now. It was a part of her just as much as her eyes and her skin.
    Swift had tried to tell her that what they’d done—what she’d felt—would change her. He’d said it as if change was a bad thing. She supposed a couple weeks ago she would have agreed, but that was before everything had, well, changed. Her whole world was a different place now and she still wasn’t quite sure how she fit in it. She hoped that somehow he’d fit into it, too.
    Here they were, miles from anything she had known and she had no idea what would happen next. She was filled with emotions, everything from worry to excitement. Mostly desire. Swift had told her the passion they’d felt while trapped in Miranda’s box had been nothing more than the effects of a strange machine running nearby, but clearly he’d been wrong. There was no strange machine here and yet that same desire burned inside her like a fever.
    Her body and soul craved Swift in a way she had never known before. She scooted closer to him and reached to lay her hand on his thigh. She hoped to the Clouds that he wouldn’t push her away.
    He didn’t. He turned to her and met her gaze with his own. Passion roared between them. Words weren’t necessary so she simply smiled into his green eyes. The heat was undeniable.
    “Amarie will be coming to meet us soon,” he said softly.
    “All the more reason to take advantage of alone time while we have it,” she replied.
    “Pimma—” he began.
    “Are you going to tell me you’re not interested?”
    “No, but I was going to remind you that there are rules and the code, and you work for the council and—”
    “The council? You mean the ones who are conspiring with humans and lying to us all the time? I’m pretty sure I quit working for them today.”
    Her fingers traced the firm contours of his taut muscles, trailing over his legs and up to begin working the fastener at his pants.
    “I can’t allow myself to put you in any greater risk.”
    “Where would you like to put me?” she asked, tipping her chin up and hoping for a kiss.
    “Somewhere safe,” he replied. “I want to keep you safe; from the council, from Miranda, and safe from me, too.”
    “You’d never hurt me, Swift. You rescued me.”
    He shook his head. “Did I? I brought you out here and got you involved in all this.”
    “All this what ? Freedom? Truth? Passion? Those are things I’m happy to be involved in.”
    “But they’ll get us exiled from our Realm, Pimma. You know that. I should never have given in to what I feel for you.”
    “And what do you feel for me?”
    “All of the things that I shouldn’t.”
    The desperate tone in his voice just made her laugh. Did he really think he’d done something so terribly wrong? She’d simply have to convince him