Unearthing The Fae King; Year 1

by Brenda Trim

  “You’ve changed since I last saw you. You’re even more handsome now. And, you smell like raw power.”

  “Fuck you,” Ryker spat.

  “Only if you’re a good boy this time,” the vampire offered.

  Bored with the fact that he wasn’t reacting to her hold on Maurelle, Corelle released her and walked toward him. Ryker watched Corelle and noticed Maurelle backing away from the corner of his eye.

  He realized his mistake a second too late as Corelle used her ability to mesmerize him. He was under her control. She left him standing there as she prowled toward his position. Helplessness made his anger burn hotter.

  He should have known better, but his concern for Maurelle overrode every other thought. When Maurelle screamed a second later, Ryker felt entirely impotent as he could do nothing but watch from the corner of his eye as one of Corelle’s male companions snared Maurelle.

  The male vampire turned her to face him. When Maurelle didn’t hit him or make any move Ryker knew she was enthralled, as well. The male tore her sweatshirt down the front, exposing her bra underneath.

  Ryker reached deep, searching for any of his powers that might help him at that moment. Another scream made him jerk against Corelle’s hold. “Mmmm,” she murmured with excitement tinging her voice. Her hand ran across his torso and her lips pressed over his. Her cold mouth trailed across his face. When she reached his neck and the pulse pounding there, she raked her fangs over the flesh.

  Maurelle’s screaming died to a wet gurgle and Ryker could no longer hear her. No way was he going to fail the female when she trusted him to get her through the tunnels. Shouting at Corelle while he grabbed every bit of power he felt in his core, Ryker flung his arms out to his side.

  For a second nothing happened. His arms remained inert at his sides, but the second the tingle of his energy reached his limbs they were in motion. Corelle barely managed to pull her head back before Ryker’s forearm hit her across the chest.

  The female vampire went flying and slammed into one of the stone walls. She landed in the water on the floor with a splash. Before her body hit, Ryker was on the move to Maurelle.

  He grabbed hold of the male vampire and pulled him off Maurelle. Rage gripped Ryker as he saw blood spurt from the torn flesh on Maurelle’s neck. With rapid movements, Ryker jumped to the male and stomped his foot on his skull.

  A loud crack echoed through the tunnel, but the male made no move to get up. Ryker heard Corelle behind him and was on her in the next second. He couldn’t allow her to go free or she would bring reinforcements.

  His boot connected with her back. He enjoyed the snapping sound as her spine cracked. That wasn’t enough, he thought. She would heal from that and continue to torment his kind. Grabbing the stick, he stabbed it through her heart with enough force to embed in the stone beneath her.

  The feeling of his skin crackling made him look down. Flames? He was in the air league, not fire. Unsure what it meant, he touched Corelle and the male setting them ablaze.

  With his chest heaving, he returned to Maurelle’s side. One side of her body was covered in crimson blood while her wings were dull beneath her. The chance that she might die chilled his blood and extinguished the flames.

  Picking her up, he raced down the tunnel and growled at the hobs that got in his way. He reached an exit, but it wasn’t fifteenth street. Unwilling to take the time to see if the professor there would help or not, Ryker continued running.

  Maurelle coughed and splattered his chin with her blood. “Hold on, Mari. We’re almost there. The Peridun is close by if the professors can’t help.”

  She blinked and opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Her eyelids lowered and it looked like she might pass out. His heart stuttered and he pushed his feet faster while bile rose into his throat.

  “No,” he croaked out. “Don’t you dare die on me. Look. It’s there. Just a few more feet. Help!” Ryker shouted as loud as he could. “Maurelle is hurt and could be dying. Open the grate.”

  A second later metal scraped across stone and bright light filtered into the sewer. Ryker reached the opening and looked up to see an unfamiliar face. He lifted Maurelle and demanded, “Take her. If you can’t help get Shineah.”

  The male lowered his body halfway through the opening and grabbed hold of Maurelle. Someone Ryker couldn’t see pulled and helped the male lift them both from the sewer. Ryker scrambled up the ladder a second later to see two professors working on Maurelle.

  “Will she be okay?”

  “She’s hurt badly. I’m doing everything I can,” the male teacher replied.

  “Save her dammit. She has to live,” Ryker growled as he stood over them. His chest ached like a vice closed around it, and he could barely breathe. The assholes in charge of the school had sent the students down into the sewers to make their powers manifest faster.

  When he reached his full potential, they better fucking run for the hills. He was going to make them pay for what they’d done. With his heart in pieces, Ryker sent energy to Maurelle willing her to survive.

  Chapter Eight

  Everything hurt, Maurelle thought. It had been a week since the trials when she had almost died, and she ached from head to toe. Rolling over, she scowled at the white walls of the infirmary.

  “I think you’ve spent more time in here than you have in your dorm room.” Maurelle’s head swiveled at the deep masculine voice that rumbled through her. Brokk and Ryker’s visits were the highlight of each day.

  They came on the pretense of sharing what she missed in lectures with her. Brokk didn’t hide his affection and worry for Maurelle while Ryker typically stood there scowling. Today, he arrived alone. Where was Brokk she wondered?

  Scrunching her nose, she pushed herself to a sitting position. “What can I say? The food here is better. Where’s Brokk today?”

  Ryker chuckled and brought a stool over next to her bed. His wings fluttered behind his back as he settled on the seat. For the tenth time she noticed the change in the markings on his blue and black appendages. What had the female vampire done to him that caused this shift?

  Ryker waved a bag in the air in front of him. “He’s off practicing his skills so he can be sure to save you next time. If you like the food here so much, I guess you don’t want this bagel then.”

  Without thought, Maurelle snatched the white paper bag from his hand and opened it up. “How’d you get this from Babel’s Bakery? Let me guess, your charm hard at work once again?”

  Ryker full-out laughed that time and Titania, the nurse at the academy joined him. “There’s no stopping my charm, Braveheart. You’ve missed a lot while cooped up in this place. We can now go into the Edge for short periods of time.”

  “And you brought me back a bagel?” She asked then took a bite of the yeasty, doughy delight.

  “I had to lure you out of here somehow,” he countered.

  Titania shook her head. “You’re ready to go home. And, please stay away longer this time.”

  “That’s going to be difficult. Your company is far better than the bitches in my dorm,” Maurelle told Titania with a smile.

  Ryker stood and motioned for her to get up. “Let’s get you out of here. With the room below mine empty, it makes mine colder.”

  “It’s all these curves. I produce a lot of body heat,” she teased Ryker.

  “Those curves are perfect,” he whispered so low she thought she misheard him. When she looked up she caught him look at her from head to toe. The fire in his eyes made her blood boil and her core tingle with arousal.

  Maurelle got to her feet and pushed her feet into her slippers. She was grimy and needed a shower, but she wasn’t going to waste any more time in the infirmary. “Since you’re just standing there, can you do something useful and grab that bag of clothes for me?”

  “I’m your pack mule now? That wasn’t in the plans this morning,” he replied, but got to his feet anyway. Maurelle wanted to ask what his plans were, but she kept her mouth
shut.

  Ryker wasn’t a gentleman that helped her to her feet. He stood there and held her bag while she climbed out of bed. Ignoring that and the fact that her cheeks were burning with embarrassment over her incorrect assumptions that he wanted to get her alone, she headed out of the medical ward.

  Maurelle took another bite of the bagel and felt better with every step she took. “Don’t you have class soon?”

  “I do. And, so do you, so move that sexy ass of yours.”

  Her steps faltered with awkwardness and she scowled at his orders at the same time. “Why don’t you run along and warm my seat for me with that sexy ass of yours?”

  Ryker stepped so close to her that his chest brushed against hers. His face millimeters from her mouth and his breath heated her skin with each exhalation. She was playing with fire and giving him what he gave her. If he thought that he could flirt with her one second and go cold the next he had another thing coming. She wanted to know exactly what he thought and felt, or she’d go mad with his mixed messages.

  “I’m not leaving your side right now. You scared the shit out of me during those trials. I don’t know what I’d do if you’d died,” he admitted before he seemed to close himself off from her.

  Maurelle’s jaw went slack at his admission. More than anything at that moment she wanted to lift onto her tiptoes and press her lips to his. The kiss he gave her before was brief and only made her want more.

  “I never thanked you for saving me. Titania told me if you hadn’t acted so fast, I wouldn’t have made it,” she murmured. Her hand went to her neck where she still had scabs from where her throat was torn open.

  Fae were a fickle race, and the scar the wound would leave was another mark that would make her stand out. As if it wasn’t bad enough that she wasn’t stick thin like most other Fae females, she now had lovely marks on her neck that no male would want to touch.

  As if he’d heard her thoughts and wanted to prove her wrong, Ryker reached up and moved her hand. His mouth descended and he gently kissed the column of her neck.

  “Go shower before we never make it to class,” he whispered in her ear before he lifted his head.

  Maurelle entered her dorm room while thinking about when she could get Ryker alone so she could explore more of his kisses.

  He’d given her confusing messages, and she doubted he wanted anything lasting with her, but she promised herself she would not turn him away if he ever pressed for more. It would likely be her only chance and the way he dominated her thoughts told her she would regret not getting a better taste if she could.

  ‘You shouldn’t be doing this,’ he told himself. ‘She’s going to reject you.’

  That inner voice was right. He’d been nothing but an asshole to Maurelle since she’d arrived, but he burned for more of her, and couldn’t stop from acting on this impulse. He needed to stay away from her and keep his distance, but ever since she joined him to sneak into the Edge, something between them had changed.

  With that in mind, Ryker opened his window and prayed Maurelle had hers open below him. Classes lasted forever today when all he wanted to do was pull Maurelle into his arms and kiss her senseless. He couldn’t stop thinking about the way she smelled and how her scent intensified the closer he got to her.

  There was no doubt they liked each other, so why he was questioning his sanity as he tossed his legs over the windowsill, he had no idea. Maurelle’s sarcasm didn’t hide her attraction to Ryker. She wanted him as much as he wanted her.

  His wings beat the air loudly, making him cringe and look down to see if any guards spotted him. Slowing his wings, he lowered and then hovered outside Maurelle’s window. The curtain was open, and he could see the moon shining on her face as she lay on her bed.

  Beautiful.

  She wasn’t asleep but was staring at the ceiling instead. A second later he saw her chest rise and fall before she rolled over. He tapped the window, making her scream and jump up.

  With wide eyes, she threw the covers off and crossed to the window. “What are you doing here?” she whispered after she slid the glass out of his way.

  Ryker smiled and flew into her room. They both froze when one of her dormmates knocked on her bedroom door. “Some of us are trying to sleep. Maybe you aren’t ready to be back in the dorms if you’re going to be screaming like that.”

  Ryker scowled and started for the door to tell the female what he thought of her statement. There was no compassion for Maurelle or what she’d been through.

  “Stop,” Maurelle whispered to him. “Sorry,” she called out. “I thought I saw a spider.”

  “Seriously?” The other female grumbled, but the sound was muffled as she presumably walked back to her room.

  “What are you doing here?” Maurelle demanded again. She stood there with one hip cocked and her arms crossed over her chest. She was wearing a tank top and shorts and her pink hair was mussed from lying in bed.

  A shiver racked her body as Ryker ran his gaze up and down her body. Licking his lips, he reached out for her hips. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

  Maurelle’s hands settled on his shoulders as she gazed up at him with open admiration. “And you came here because…”

  “I need a kiss, Braveheart.”

  “And then you’ll go back to your room and go to sleep?”

  “After I ensure you’re able to get a good night’s sleep,” he promised. “I can’t say this will change anything. I’m not promising a relationship or anything. All I know is that I can’t sleep without kissing you.”

  “I never assumed it would,” she murmured and pressed more into him.

  A groan left his throat as Maurelle’s body brushed against his. Her breasts pressed into his chest as she stood on her toes. Ryker lowered his head and claimed her mouth in a searing kiss.

  Maurelle’s lips were soft and pliant as they grazed over his. They parted when his tongue ran over her bottom lip. He delved inside immediately and tangled his tongue with hers. The way their mouths slid together drove him mad.

  With a low growl, Ryker picked Maurelle up and crossed to the bed. Fae were a passionate species and they reveled in sex. He might be young, but he knew what he felt for Maurelle wasn’t typical. It was so much more.

  Before he knew what was happening, Maurelle tugged her tank top over her head, revealing bare breasts. Her nipples hardened as his gaze landed on the dark pink tips. Ryker lost his balance as his mouth watered and they fell to the bed.

  His eyes remained glued to her plush breasts and he saw them bounce when they hit the mattress. He didn’t even feel the pain of the landing in his wings he was so focused on her body. Maurelle chuckled under her breath and smiled at him. Ryker looked up and met her grey eyes. Her mirth and desire were present in equal measure, and it spurred him on.

  Groaning his surrender, Ryker cupped her face and closed the gap. Electricity sparked the moment their lips touched again. There were no gentle movements this time as his mouth moved across hers.

  His body demanded he fall on her like a starving animal. He scrambled for his shirt then paused, not wanting things to go farther than she was comfortable with. He had no idea how he was going to keep his desire in check. One thing he had to do was stop kissing her lush mouth.

  He pulled away as he sucked in a calming breath. He licked his lips, and Maurelle’s heavenly flavor threatened to steal his remaining willpower. He fought the urge to ravage her seductive curves. He’d heard the snide comments about how she looked more like a human than a Fae, but he didn’t give a shit. He loved every inch of her figure.

  “Is this okay?” He asked as he ran his hands up her sides, pausing at the edge of her breasts.

  “For now. I’ll let you know when I want more,” she informed him as she tugged his shirt over his head. He felt her gaze on him, and it was nearly his undoing. He wasn’t a practiced male with tons of experience to temper what his body wanted so badly.

  To distract himself, Ryker lowered his h
ead and he kissed across her collar. One hand trailed over and teased her breast. When Maurelle sucked in a breath and arched her back, he knew he’d done something right.

  Ryker continued making his way down her chest and ran his tongue over one nipple. Maurelle was anything but tentative, and her fingers immediately tangled in his hair while her panting filled the room with lust and desire.

  Standing up, Ryker lifted her in his arms then turned and laid her across the bed, careful with her wings. Her pink hair flayed around her head like a colorful halo. He lowered his body over hers and placed a quick kiss on her lips.

  Before they got lost in another heated kiss, Ryker broke away and returned his attentions to her breasts. While he kissed and sucked her flesh, their limbs tangled together. Maurelle’s smaller hand lowered and was suddenly everywhere he wanted her.

  Of course, his shaft jerked painfully when she hooked her leg around his hip and then squeezed him through his pants. His hands fisted the sheets where they held him up. His wings fluttered at his back with his arousal.

  “Oh, my Gods,” she murmured as she thrashed her head back and forth on the mattress. “That feels so good. I need more,” she panted.

  There wasn’t one part of him that wasn’t happy to oblige. He rolled onto his back, taking her with him. Her legs straddled his thighs as his fingers found her taut tips again and tugged. Maurelle was trying to be quiet so her roommates didn’t hear them, but her mewls were music to his ears, and her hips began moving against his aching cock.

  Letting go of one breast, he latched onto her ass and pulled her core against his straining shaft. She increased her speed and ground with a fervor that had his control wavering. He devoured her mouth hungrily as he continued his assault on her luscious body.

  He wanted to give her something he’d never given another female before. Lifting his head, he gazed down at her. He hooked a finger in the side of her shorts encouraging her to lower them. Her hot breath puffed against his face, as she lifted her hips and pushed her shorts off. His gaze traveled from her bright grey eyes to her red, swollen lips, and it almost made him lose his seed.