“And there’s more. Seriously. You could spend all night reading this. There’s no way these are all some wild delusions that spanned decades.”
I let Ren read for a few minutes. He stopped every so often, as if he was reading things more than once. When he finally looked up at me, his expression was adorably confounded.
“Most of the Order members from that time have retired and moved out of the city or didn’t make it to retirement age,” I said. “But there is one who is still kicking and is accessible. Jerome.”
Ren’s brows flew up.
“But there’s something else.” I pushed off the bed and stood. “Before Merle left, she told Brighton to contact you. That you would know what to do.”
“What?” His response was immediate.
“That’s what she was told.” I folded my arms. “To contact you.”
He shook his head as he looked down at the book. “I have no idea what to say.”
“So you didn’t know about this? That there could be fae that were . . . good?”
“I have honestly never heard of this, and as a member of the Elite, we know everything. That’s why this is impossible.”
“You know nothing is impossible,” I said, repeating what Brighton had said earlier. “If it’s true, the Order and the Elite hide it well, practically erasing all evidence, and those who are still alive obviously don’t speak of it.”
He turned back to the journal. “This . . . I honestly don’t know what to think or believe, but I’m telling you for real, I have no idea why Merle would tell her daughter to come to me. No idea whatsoever, because I’ve never heard of this before.”
Staring at him, I knew, just knew, that he was telling me the truth. Unlike me, who was lying.
“If this is true . . .” His gaze flicked up to mine again. “Then we need to find one of these good-natured, non-human-eating fae, and we need to do it quickly.”
“Yeah.” I watched him skim the pages. “You make that sound like it’s something easy.”
“Hell.” He laughed dryly. “I think we’ve learned nothing is easy.”
“So true,” I murmured.
I tugged my socks off and stretched out, dipping my feet under the covers while Ren was nose-deep in the journals. I kept quiet, knowing his head had to be spinning much like mine had been when I first read them. Hell, my head was still whirling around.
Surprisingly, I fell asleep while he read, stirring awake sometime after he’d climbed under the covers. Something about his warm, hard body must’ve reached deep into the recesses of slumber, because I was wide awake. I had no idea how much time had passed, but I was curled against his side and he was on his back. He’d left the nightstand lamp on, and as my gaze traveled over the surface, I saw one of the journals lying on the edge of the bed. He’d fallen asleep reading, and for some reason I found that incredibly adorable.
And sexy.
There was a lot of skin pressed against mine. Ren had undressed, and as I drew my leg up over his bare one, I quickly discovered that he’d stripped down to his briefs. The hair on his legs tickled mine as I slid my calf over his.
Ren shifted, and his hand, once lax against my waist, tensed. He fisted my shirt, and my heart stuttered. I placed my hand on his chest, tracing the chiseled definition of his pecs. His body was amazing.
And as I lay there, pressed against his side, I wasn’t thinking about everything that had happened. I wasn’t thinking at all, and it was blissfully perfect. It felt like it had been forever since my thoughts weren’t occupied and my body wasn’t aching.
Well, parts of my body were aching but for a whole different reason.
Biting my lower lip, I slid my hand down his flat stomach, over the taut ab muscles there. He tensed as I went lower. Ren was awake.
“Ivy,” he said, voice guttural and deep. “What are you doing?”
Instead of answering, I pushing the covers down our legs, then I shucked off my bottoms. I reached for the band on his boxer briefs, and when he didn’t stop me, I carefully tugged at them. He lifted his hips and I slid them off.
“Ivy.” He groaned my name again as his hand trailed down my back. I flushed.
I lifted myself up and straddled him. My heart pounded in my chest as I stared down. One side of his mouth curled up as his hands landed on my bare thighs. I leaned my head down, pressing my lips to his. I followed the path of his mouth and then my tongue, working the seam of his mouth until he parted. His hands moved, sliding up my thighs and under the loose shirt I was wearing, to my hips. I slid my body down, gasping at the friction and the deep, achy pulse between my thighs.
I knew he wanted this as badly as me. His erection pressed against my center, and I could feel it in his heady gaze and the way he clutched my hips. I pushed down with my hips again, reveling when he let out a sexy as hell groan. Moving slowly, I rubbed against him until my breaths were coming out in shallow pants. His hips lifted, and it was like we were dancing.
“Ren,” I murmured against his mouth, only able to force out one more word. “Please.”
“You don’t have to beg, sweetness. His hands slid over my hips, gripping my butt. “Grab my wallet out of my pants. There’s a condom in there.”
Throat dry, I nodded and then scampered off of him, quickly finding his pants on the floor. I pulled out his wallet and fished out the condom. “So cliché,” I murmured.
“I wanted to be prepared. I planned on using it as soon as I got here, but I ended up distracted.” He sat up and took the condom from me. I placed a knee on the bed and watched him roll it onto an impressive erection. When he was done, those green eyes burned. “Get back here,” he said.
Hot all over, I did just that, and I was back where I began, my knees on either side of his hips.
“Damn.” One hand lifted and curled around my neck. He dragged my head back down. His mouth was on mine again, and this kiss went deeper and longer than the last. Our tongues tangled, and when I pulled away again, he nipped at my lip, causing me to gasp.
I reached down and curled my fingers under the hem of my shirt before I lifted it and tossed it aside. Completely nude, I resisted the urge to shy away as he looked his fill.
His gaze moved over my chest and then his hands followed. He caught my nipples between his fingers, plucking at them until they stung with pleasure, and all the wonderful feelings pooled between my legs. My chest so did not feel abandoned now, especially when he curled up and closed his mouth around my breast, sucking deep and wrenching a cry out of me. My head dropped as he moved to my other breast, every pulse in my body pounding.
“I need you inside me now,” I whispered
“Fuck,” he groaned. “Keep talking like that and I don’t know if I’m going to make it to that point.”
Empowered and feeling a little crazy, I laughed. “I have faith in you.”
“Yeah?” His voice was husky as he gripped the base of his cock.
I slid my knees down slightly. “Yeah.”
A low moan parted my lips as I lowered myself onto him, inch by inch. Both of his hands flew up to my hips. “Oh God,” I whispered.
“Damn,” he said, sliding his hands up my sides. He held me in place for a moment. “I could keep you right here.” He lifted his hips, wrenching a gasp out of me. “Right like this.”
At this moment, with all these wonderful feelings building inside me, I totally agreed. I sat up, rocking my hips as I planted my hands on his chest. It was so much fuller this way, so much more intense. My toes curled as pleasure spiked throughout my body.
“Am I . . . I doing this right?” I asked. “I’ve never done it this way before.”
“Sweetness . . .” He cupped my breast with a hand, his thumb sweeping over the tip. “You couldn’t possibly do this wrong. Ever.”
My pace picked up and his followed. He went deep, then somehow even deeper. The angle made it feel like he was touching every part of me. He lowered his hand to where we were joined together and that thumb got
busy swirling around. “You feel so amazing,” I said, grinding down as tension coiled tight. “I think I’m gonna . . . oh God.”
Ren said something, but it was lost in the rush of sensations pouring into my body. I threw my head back, welcoming the powerful release surging throughout me. It was like every nerve ending decided to fire at once, and they kept exploding.
I was still coming when he shifted, rolling me onto my back and thrusting fast and hard. His hips pounded into mine, and all I could do was hold on. My legs curled around his waist, and I clutched his arms. His hips plunged once more and then he stilled, his face buried into my neck as he let out a ragged groan.
Still swimming in the aftershocks, I ran my hand through his silky hair. God, this . . . he was amazing. Everything about him.
Ren held me tight as he pulled out and rolled onto his side, pressing me to his body. I could feel his heart racing against mine as I pressed my lips to his throat and kissed him.
I love you.
Those words whispered through me. I wanted to say them, but I couldn’t speak them out loud, so I said them over and over again in my head.
I love you.
~
A pounding on the front door woke us both at the same time. Sluggish, I sat up as I pushed the mass of curls out of my face. Ren was already looking at the clock on the nightstand. “It’s after three in the morning. Who is at your door?”
I glanced over at him. “I have no idea.”
“I seriously doubt that’s Amazon delivering.” Ren was on his feet, pulling his pants on. He left them unbuttoned, and my mouth watered a bit at the sight.
I jumped out of bed, pulling my shorts and shirt back on. As Ren opened my bedroom door, a horrible thought filled my mind. What if it—
From where we stood, I could see the knob turning on the front door. My gaze flew to the deadbolt. Ren hadn’t thrown it. Cursing, I shot forward, snatching an iron dagger off my dresser just as my front door swung open.
A knight stood in the entryway.
Chapter Nine
The fae walking into my apartment was most definitely a knight—an ancient fae who’d come through the gate with the prince. He was tall and broad, with the same deep olive skin tone. His dark hair was buzzed close to the skull. He had no weapons in his hands, but I’d seen an ancient manifest a gun out of thin air before.
He was kind of dressed like a badass biker, wearing a dark shirt and leather pants, and Ren took one look at him and laughed. He actually laughed as he stood there, shirtless, his pants zipped but unbuttoned. “Oh, you just busted into the wrong house,” he growled.
The knight’s response was a tight-lipped smile, and then he strode forward, chin dipped down. There was no time to question why the knight was at my place. Fae didn’t typically seek Order members out. We were the hunters, not the hunted.
Ren was in front of me, becoming a living, breathing obstacle, and while I appreciated his protective nature, I could hold my own. My fingers tightened on the handle of the dagger as Ren brandished the thorn stake.
The knight took a swing with his meaty fist, but Ren was wicked fast. He dipped under the knight’s outstretched arm and sprung up behind him. Planting one leg, he spun halfway, landing a brutal kick in the back of the knight.
Stumbling forward a step, the knight easily caught himself and pivoted around. Taking the advantage, I sprang forward as Ren swiped the business end of the stake at the knight’s throat. That was the only way to take down an ancient. The head had to come off, and I was really hoping and praying it wouldn’t be messy.
The knight sidestepped Ren’s throat-jab, then lifted a hand in my direction. He didn’t touch me, didn’t come anywhere close to me. All he did was lift his hand, and suddenly my sock-covered feet were slipping backward across the hardwood floors. I hit the wall.
“What the hell?” I yelled, my eyes wide, staring at the knight.
Ren swung out with his other fist, landing a blow on the fae’s jaw. The knight turned his cheek and laughed. “That was funny?” muttered Ren. He flipped the stake, then lunged forward, slamming it into the knight’s chest. The knight grunted as Ren dragged it in a downward motion that would not end pretty.
“Whatever,” the knight replied, and then swung out with one arm, backhanding Ren across the face and knocking him aside. Ren crashed into the end table. The lamp fell to the floor, shattering into several large shards.
Oh hell to the no, he did not just hit Ren.
Seeing red, I pushed off the wall and launched myself forward as Ren got back up and kicked out, catching the ancient in the knee. The knight went down on one leg just as I reached him. I grabbed him by the top of his head and jerked his head back, my arm arcing—
The knight flung his hand out, and a second later, I was scooting across the room, bumping into a plant stand. The fern went over, spilling dirt all over the floor. This time I ended up over by the balcony doors.
“What the hell!” I shouted again.
Ren sprang forward, swinging out, but the knight dodged the attack. He caught Ren’s arm and spun him around, drawing his back to the knight’s chest. I pushed away from the doors, racing across the small distance. Shoving the dagger into the knight’s back, I yanked the blade out as I was then thrown across the floor once more, back toward the bedroom as the knight let go of Ren.
A cold, harsh reality set in as I caught myself by grabbing the doorframe. The knight was purposely keeping me out of the fight while going toe to toe with Ren.
Ren caught the knight by the shoulder with one hand and lifted his leg, thrusting his knee into the fae’s gut. The knight exhaled roughly as he shoved Ren back into my chair. The little footstool Tink used went flying.
Then they were going at each other, fists flying, with a lot of dodging and dipping. I shot forward again, this time determined to not get shoved aside like a piece of clothing. I was a foot away when movement to my right caught my attention.
Tink appeared in the hallway, just beyond the bathroom, his wings moving lazily as he yawned. He was wearing a . . . tiny nightcap? What in the holy fuck? He was even wearing miniature pajama bottoms, blue and white striped, and I had no idea where he’d gotten them from. No idea at all.
He was in the process of stretching his little arms out when he looked around the room. “What kind of tomfoolery is this?”
Tomfoolery?
The knight was distracted for a moment, eyeing Tink with surprise. A second later, the brownie’s eyes widened as all sleep vanished from his face. Tink shot into the living room as he ripped off his dainty nightcap and tossed it aside, the pale blue cap floating to the floor.
“Thou shall not pass!” Tink shouted, throwing out his hand in the direction of the knight and Ren.
I stopped.
Ren halted mid-swing.
The knight caught Ren’s arm, blocking the jab as he turned and cocked his head to the side, staring at the brownie.
Tink blinked slowly. “Well, shit. That worked in The Lord of the Rings.”
Oh my God.
Ignoring Tink and hoping he managed to stay out of the way and make it out of this alive, I darted toward the knight.
“This needs to stop right now. You’re cutting into my sleep time,” Tink announced, lowering his arms to his sides as he hovered near the coffee table. “And you don’t want to mess with my sleep time. I give you one more chance, sir. Leave, or else.”
“Jesus,” muttered Ren, ducking as the knight lunged for him. “What are you going to do, Tink? Annoy him to death? Because that might actually work.”
“You have no idea what I am capable of,” Tink shot back.
I shot forward, grabbing the knight’s arm and trying to flip him, but the knight turned suddenly. Lifting his arm and me, he tossed me over the back of the couch and dumped me onto the cushions. I started to scramble away when I saw Tink move toward where Ren and the knight were brawling.
“Stay back, Tink!” I shouted. Dammit, this was getting ou
t of hand.
“I got this.” Tink looked at me, then drew in a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Ivy.”
I frowned as I rose from the couch. “You’re . . .”
A fine shimmer surrounded Tink, like a misty cloud of golden dust. He was completely covered, body and wings. The dust expanded, forming a cyclone that swirled down to the floor and halfway to the ceiling. It moved so fast and was so thick that I couldn’t see Tink inside of it.
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