The First Secret

by Maya Daniels

  "What changed?" Iris searched his face, holding her breath.

  "I was being stupid and acting like an ass, and yet, you still came for me." His gaze shimmered as he watched her face "After everything I said, you didn't think twice before putting your life in danger to save mine. No one has ever done that for me."

  "That's not a good reason, Fern." Pulling her hand away from his, Iris looked away from his face. "I would've done the same for anyone else." Making a grimace, she shrugged her shoulder. "Okay, I wouldn't do it for Claude, but you get my point."

  "And that is exactly why, little flower." At Fern's softly spoken words, her eyebrows hit her hairline. "You would've done it for almost anyone. There is no evil in you, Iris. You are as far away from Lazarus as day is from night. My fears were just me fighting my own feelings for you. It took both of us almost dying for me to get my head out of my ass, as Darion would say."

  "Thank you." Iris smiled tenderly at him. She had trouble accepting compliments, and an even harder time when they came from him. Fern's face darkened, and hunger replaced his apologetic expression. Before Iris realized what was happening, he had her pinned between his firm chest and the rocky wall of the tunnel.

  Lowering his head, Fern pressed his body harder against Iris. Her soft curves cushioned his hard body, molding to him like clay. His heart rate picked up, his shallow breathing matched hers, fueling her need for him. Her power pulsed around him, igniting his nerve endings and making him more sensitive than ever before. Even the fabric of her corset and his pants felt painful everywhere they contacted his skin. Burying his nose in her hair, he inhaled deeply, her flowery scent filling his lungs.

  “You have no idea what you do to me woman.” His deep, musical voice made Iris tremble.

  “Why don’t you tell me.” Iris cringed internally at the breathless sound of her voice. She was grateful that Fern had her pressed to the wall because her knees gave out, and she would’ve been a puddle at his feet if he hadn’t been holding her up.

  “How about I show you, little flower?” The words rumbled in his chest, reverberating through her body before pooling in her lower belly, making her pants wet.

  Fern’s lips glided gently on her cheek, inching closer to her mouth. Iris slid her hands around his waist and up his back, holding him closer. Everywhere her fingers touched his skin, static made her hands tingle. It all added to the intoxicating feeling Fern invoked whenever he was near.

  Iris became acutely aware that she didn’t have panties under her pants, the fabric she admired not long ago restricted and scratched her skin. Fern’s lips placed a slow, openmouthed kiss at the corner of her mouth. A low desperate moan escaped her lips, and her fingers pressed harder into his skin, making him growl in return.

  “How does this make you feel, little flower?” His words were barely above a whisper, but his heart thundered.

  Iris clutched him to her, turning her head, she sought more. She wanted his lips on hers so badly that her body trembled with the force of her desire. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that they didn’t have time for this. The sleeping Fae could wake up and come after them, or other dangers could meet them in the caves. All that faded in comparison to Fern’s nearness, and what his touch did to her. All the realms could be destroyed, and she’d go along with them wearing a smile if he were holding her like this, and his lips were on her skin.

  Fern pulled his head away to look at her when she almost locked her lips on his. His blue eyes blazed as she struggled to hold back, and not grab his hair to pull him back for a kiss. Panting, Iris allowed him to see her desperate need for him.

  “I am your mate, Iris. I’m yours to do with as you please.” Grinding his hips to her, his hard cock pressed on her lower belly. “Don’t hold back on me, little flower. Never hold back on me. Take what you need…please.”

  It was the please that made something in Iris snap. All her fears about seeming desperate, or clingy, evaporated with that one word, and the vulnerability Fern bared to her. With a whimper, she pushed up on her tiptoes and kissed him so hard her teeth made the inside of her upper lip bleed. It was all the encouragement Fern needed, and his fingers tangled in her hair while he pushed his tongue inside her mouth. Iris opened for him, clawing at his back, her desire making her animalistic.

  One of Fern’s hands moved from her hair, down her neck and shoulder until it stopped at the top of her corset. His fingers pushed under the fabric, taking a good hold on it, before jerking it down and freeing her right breast. Without waiting, his hand grabbed the round mound and molded it firmly before his fingers pinched her nipple and rolled it between them.

  Iris mewled in desperations, which would’ve embarrassed her if she hadn’t been crazed with need. Her hands moved from his back to the firm globes of his ass, and she gripped him as hard as she could, pulling him closer while trying to widen her stance. She needed his hardness at her core, but Fern had her still pinned to the wall.

  He must’ve read her mind because he released her lips and moved his body away, making her whimper. She wanted to protest, but the air whooshed from her lungs when Fern flipped her around, pressing her face and chest to the rocky wall. The skin of her bare breast and the hard nipple scraped on the rock, but the stinging pain only made her desire skyrocket. Her channel pulsed with need, gushing liquid that caused the fabric of her pants to stick to her inner thighs. Fern fumbled with something behind her, but she couldn’t turn around to see what he was doing. He held her firmly pressed to the wall with one large palm between her shoulder blades. Iris was about to demand he do something when he took hold of the waistband of her pants and jerked them down to mid-thigh.

  The cold air on her fevered skin didn’t have time to register before the hand on her back disappeared, and the next second, she felt Fern’s mouth on her lower lips. Taking hold of her hips, he tilted her pelvis back and started eating her from behind like his life depended on it. Iris’s mouth opened in a silent scream, and her fingers grabbed hold of the rocky walls to ground herself. If she didn’t feel the painful bite of the rock on her fingers, she thought she might float away in a world of lust, and never return.

  Fern growled, the sound reverberating in her lower belly and he pushed one thick finger in her channel. Iris pushed back on his face, needing him to do something, anything, to satisfy the hunger overtaking her. She knew she was gushing all over his face, but he didn’t seem to mind. It sounded like it spurred him on because the noises he made got steadily louder without removing his mouth from her pussy. Two more fingers joined the first, and he scissored and curled them up inside her. Stars burst behind her closed lids, and she couldn’t even make a sound. It lasted forever, while she clung to the rocks, her mouth open in a silent scream and her body shaking. The moment that she started coming down from the ecstasy, Fern’s head disappeared from between her legs.

  Not more than a second passed before his hands came to her hips again. His fingers tightened painfully on them, and he shoved his hard cock inside her in one push all the way to the root. A long, deep moan ripped from Iris when he stretched her still pulsing channel to its limits. And then, he started to pound into her like a man possessed. The pain from her skin scraping on the rocks only heightened the pleasure of the thick cock that hit all the way to her uterus. With each push of his hips, her lower belly bulged, her channel doing its best to accommodate him. Fern twisted his fingers in her hair, tilting her head towards his face. When he kissed her hungrily, she tasted herself on his lips, and it drove her insane. Pressing her hands firmer on the rock, she pushed back, matching his pace.

  Fern became more animal than man. Iris would never forget the noises he made as long as she lived. They were raw, animalistic, and so hot that her wetness now coated not just her thighs, but his as well. New pressure built in her belly.

  Fern kept kissing Iris, her whimpers and moans making him crazier with each passing second. Her hot channel kept tightening around his painfully hard cock, and if he didn’t cum
soon, he thought he might die from it. Then Iris lifted up on the tips of her toes and pushed back harder. His cock sunk deeper inside her and tingles intensified at the base of his spine. He kept pounding into her, her soft ass slapping his lower belly, and his sack tightened. Wrapping both his arms around her, one around her waist, one around her chest, Fern lifted her off the ground and held her in the air before he slammed his hips faster. Iris ripped her mouth away from his and screamed his name as her channel tightened and pulsed around his cock so hard that he couldn’t keep moving. Fern roared so loud that his ears rang, and darkness covered the brief burst of light. They were both shaking, and he thanked whoever was looking after them that he managed to stay standing and hold Iris up. After what felt like hours but was probably only minutes, Fern came to himself. Still buried inside Iris, he gently lowered her to the ground before leaning his forehead on her back.

  “Did we die?” Iris’s voice sounded rough.

  “No.” Fern huffed a laugh, but he didn’t have the strength to do anything more as he struggled to catch his breath.

  “Oh, good,” she mumbled and went limp in his arms.

  Chuckling, Fern pulled out of her, and slowly lowered himself to the ground, placing her in his lap. Kissing her forehead, he smiled down at her sleeping face before closing his eyes and leaning the back of his head on the rock. He fell into a light sleep with his lips lifted at the corners.

  “Did you find anything useful?” Fern asked Darion when they finally found him wandering through the tunnels.

  Iris glanced at Darion’s gloomy expression, but quickly looked away as blood rushed to her face. The poor guy had to listen to them have sex again. No wonder he was trying not to look at her. She remembered when she had to listen to Artemis and Raphael back in her realm, and guilt ate at her for giving them a hard time. Karma was a bitch, and she hit when you least expected it.

  “Nothing but more tunnels. I think maybe Ivy made a mistake. There is nothing in this labyrinth but rocks. Not even another lake like the one we found at the first cavern.” Darion avoided looking at Fern too.

  “I’m sorry, Darion,” Iris mumbled, and finally he looked at her. Fern frowned, oblivious to the awkwardness around him.

  “No need, Iris.” Sighing, Darion rubbed his hands over his face. “It’s just difficult to think when you two are very vocal, that’s all.” Shrugging, he gave her a sheepish smile. “I’m starting to think sexual frustration can kill a male.”

  “What?” Fern’s frown deepened as he tried looking at them both without slowing his pace. Iris chuckled at his cluelessness, and Darion grinned, shaking his head.

  “Nothing, elf. Keep moving. Darion and I understood each other. No need to worry your pretty head.” Iris grinned too when Fern turned around and started walking backward, eyeing them both in suspicion.

  “What am I missing?” His question made Iris laugh.

  “Now you understand that him being an ass at the beginning had nothing to do with you, right?” Walking next to her, Darion bumped her gently with his shoulder. “My dear friend is just clueless about most things, living in his own world.”

  “I have to agree.” Iris couldn’t help playing along when Fern squinted at her.

  “I’ll have you know that I’m very perceptive and observant.” Fern kept his gaze narrowed at both of them as if daring them to disagree.

  “Oh, of course.” Blinking up at him, Iris did her best to school her features. “Very observant.” She nodded enthusiastically. Darion snorted and tried to cover it with a cough.

  “Okay, stop. What is this about.” Stopping his backward walking, Fern crossed his arms over his chest.

  Iris felt terrible to keep teasing him, so she walked up to him and placed her hands on his crossed arms. His eyes glowing immediately, and she pulled away. It wasn’t helping that her stomach did an uncomfortable flip whenever he looked at her like that.

  “How would you feel if you were in Darion’s place, and he was here with his mate?” The frown didn’t leave his face, so Iris pressed her fingers to her forehead, massaging it. “If they were doing the things we were doing before we found him”—looking up at him, she smiled— “and you had to listen to it constantly.”

  With a sheepish look, Fern finally gave Darion an apologetic grimace. “You do have a point. I must be clueless.” Darion laughed, making Fern chuckle. “I’m sorry my friend, it’s just difficult to think when I’m around her. Let’s find what we need here so we can get out. I can’t promise to not ravish her if it takes longer.”

  “No need for apologies. I’ve heard stories about mates, although I thought they were bullshit.” Indicating with his hand for them to start moving again, Darion continued. “I’ve heard it’s impossible to resist the pull. You two just confirmed it even when Fern was acting bipolar.”

  “Wha...” Iris burst out laughing, unable to finish her question.

  “I told you, you don’t even know what that means.” Shaking his head, Fern chuckled because Iris was still laughing and gasping for air. Darion joined her for a moment, too.

  “It doesn’t matter. I kind of like calling you that.” Shrugging, he shook his head. “I like the word.”

  They continued through the twisting tunnels, getting deeper and deeper inside the hills. Walking in companionable silence allowed the tightness in Iris’s shoulders to relax for a bit. She knew it wouldn’t last long, so she enjoyed it while she could.

  Her skin prickled from the unidentifiable energy that saturated the air the deeper they went. She kept her mouth closed, not wanting to alarm Fern. His overprotectiveness irked Iris to no end. It was nice to know that he wanted to be protective, but she didn’t like it when he thought that included making decisions for her. She knew she was hot-headed and stubborn. Being honest with herself, she felt a little bad that the poor man didn’t know what he had gotten himself into.

  “Did you feel that?” Iris stopped moving and held her breath when she felt the ground tremble under her feet.

  “Feel what?” Fern was instantly next to her, his fingers wrapped around her upper arm.

  “No one is going to steal me away, elf.” Jerking her arm away from him in irritation, she glared up at him. “The ground shook. Didn’t you feel it?”

  “No,” Darion and Fern answered together.

  “Hmm, maybe I imagined it.” Huffing, she stepped forward again. “The closed-in space is starting to get to me. I don’t like it.” Iris rubbed her hands over her arms, hugging herself.

  Fern stood for long moments, watching her walk away before he followed with a heavy sigh. When he passed Darion, his friend slapped his shoulder as if telling him it would be alright. Fern wasn’t so sure. No matter what he did, he seemed to be making a mess with Iris.

  “Let me know if you feel it again,” Fern said as he caught up to her. “I trust you, Iris.” Glancing at her sideways, he kept looking straight when she turned to him. “I might act strangely because I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m learning how to deal with all the emotions overwhelming me when it comes to you.”

  “Fern.” Looking over her shoulder at Darion, Iris pressed her lips firmly. It’s not that she had something to hide, it just made her uncomfortable to talk about feelings when there was someone else apart from Fern listening.

  “No, let me say this.” Fern stopped whatever she was going to say. “Darion should hear it too, because you and your safety mean more to me than my life.” Fern also looked back at Darion, and his friend nodded a silent understanding. “I know that I’m overprotective, and I come off as an arrogant brute to you. I don’t do it to control you or to prove some dominance over you, little flower. You’ve been in my realm long enough to see that women are equal to men in every way. Some women are much better at many things then we men are. We honor that; it’s who we are. But when it comes to you…I’m not even sure how to say this without you biting my head off.” Fern chuckled awkwardly, giving her a sheepish smile “What I feel…how you make me feel. I wan
t to take you away from everything and everyone. To hide you away so that nothing can harm you in any way. Because if anything happens to you, I will follow you to the pits of hell. There is no life for me without you, Iris. Not anymore.”

  Iris opened and closed her mouth a few times. Fern’s words made her lightheaded and tears prickled her eyes. Never in her life did she think that anyone would love her remotely as much as Fern. His words were so overwhelming that she almost felt sick to her stomach. She wanted to say something but wasn’t sure what. Obviously, Fern wasn’t finished because he kept talking.

  “When things around us happen, like the shadow or even the other Fae being near you. Even just thinking about any danger that might await us wherever we are headed…it makes me crazy. I can’t think straight or objectively as I’ve done my entire life. I act with one thought only, to protect you. So, I act on impulse, and that can be counterproductive. I’m aware of it, so I wanted Darion to know too. No matter what, she needs to be protected.” Looking back at Darion, Fern stopped walking. “No matter what is going on around us, or what is happening with me.” He stared at Darion intently. “You get my mate to safety.”

  “You have my word; it is an oath I give freely.” Placing his fist over his heart, Darion bowed his head.

  Iris felt their power spike as if sealing the words and goosebumps covered her arms. Overwhelmed with happiness, anxiety, fear, and everything else swirling in her chest, she walked faster, putting distance between them and herself. Iris needed to clear her head and think, but she couldn’t do that with Fern so near. He overtook all her senses, and she totally understood everything he said.

  Fern called her name, but that only made her break into a jog in hopes of gaining a little time to process everything he’d said, everything she felt. She heard their thundering footsteps as they began running after her, and like a deer running from a wolf, she bolted through the tunnels. The sounds were getting closer, and Iris knew Fern would catch her soon, but she couldn’t get herself to stop. She didn’t even pay attention to the ground trembling under her running feet.