Fierce Enchantment

by Carrie Ann Ryan

  She glared at him over her cup then winked. Strange woman. “True. I don’t like the taste of coffee, but I like the buzz. Want to tell me why you’re here?”

  “You know why I’m here.”

  “Enlighten me anyway.”

  “You like to be in control, don’t you?” he asked, unsure where that question came from.

  She set her cup down, her mouth thinning to a straight line. “Yes. I do. I’m not going to lie about that. I live my life on my terms, so if you’re going to be an ass about it, you can walk right back outside and leave. I don’t actually need you anymore. Thank you for saving my life, but we don’t need to talk after that.”

  He blinked slowly. If he hadn’t had the cup of coffee in his hand, he’d have given her a slow clap for her performance.

  “Are you done randomly lashing out?” he asked, his voice cool, composed.

  She narrowed her eyes. “Are you done acting like lord of the manor?”

  He smiled then, setting his cup down. “I am lord of the manor actually.”

  “Excuse me? You think because I’m now apparently your mate you’re going to walk in here and claim my home? Fuck you, buddy.”

  He closed his eyes and prayed for patience. It seemed he would be forever doing that with Faith. No worries, he liked it when she went off. Her body relaxed a bit more each time so subtly he wasn’t sure anyone else would notice it. It was as though she didn’t know what to do with her pent up aggression. If he had to put a reason on it, he figured it was because of whatever supernatural DNA she had. Humans didn’t know it, but their mannerisms and actions were somewhat controlled by the most dominant paranormal DNA they held. In Faith’s case, she seemed to lash out when she felt cornered, yet protected those she cared for. It would be interesting to see what she turned into once they made love. He was part of the Conclave, but even he didn’t know what she’d turn into. It wasn’t as if she gave off a certain presence. Even if she had some of the personality traits of particular paranormals, it didn’t mean she’d turn into one she resembled. It all depended on the person in most cases.

  His cock filled, but he ignored the damn thing.

  He’d been ignoring it for over a year, so this was nothing new.

  “I’m the lord of my manor, Faith. I am Levi Hughes, Prince of the Wizards. So yes, I’m a lord. But no, Faith, I am not the lord of this manor. This is your home and my first time taking a step inside.”

  Faith blinked quickly. “Prince? You’re a fucking prince?”

  He had no idea why he told her that, considering he wanted to go slowly and not just drop her feet first into the deep end of the life he’d lived, but now that cat was out of the bag. He had a few other big things in his life that he’d need to share, but first, he needed to get her to calm down—if that was possible.

  “Yes, but that’s not all I am. The same as you aren’t only the woman who was in a coma for a year.”

  She snorted. “Nice way to bring the conversation back into focus.”

  “I’ll tell you anything you want to know about me, Faith, but first, can I ask you a question?”

  “What makes you think I want to know anything about you?”

  “Don’t lie to me, Faith. Don’t lie to yourself.”

  “You sure are arrogant,” she replied, her eyes sparkling.

  “No, well, yes. It comes from years of practice,” he said truthfully. “But from what I can tell about you, you need to have all the facts, all the answers. And since the world crashed and your life is now irrevocably changed, I’m here to answer the questions you have. But please, answer me this: Why did you leave the bar so early?”

  Her face went blank, and she let out a shaky breath. “Why? Because…”

  “You can tell me,” he whispered when her voice trailed off. “I’m not going to judge you for leaving. I only want to know your reason.” He had a feeling he knew why, but he needed to hear it from her. After all, he was a fixer. He wanted to help her and, at the same time, help himself. He was forever tied to her, and now, he wanted to know her.

  He just plain wanted her.

  She ran a hand through her hair and cursed. “You know what? Fine. I left because I don’t feel like I belong there anymore.”

  He knew it was something like that, so he nodded, not wanting to interrupt.

  “I hate the fact that I feel this way. I hate that I can’t be happy to just be alive. To just be. But how can I? How can I when I missed so much? They let me go, Levi. They moved on. I know it’s not rational, but I don’t know them anymore. And I feel like shit for even thinking that. You saved me. Saved me. And yet, all I can feel is that I’m a selfish bitch for wanting that year back.” She closed her eyes tight, her hands fisted at her sides. “I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this. I don’t know why I’m feeling all of this. I hate it.”

  He took a deep breath, forcing himself not to touch her. “You have a right to all those feelings, Faith.”

  She opened her eyes and her mouth dropped open.

  He continued. “You can’t hold yourself back. You shouldn’t have to.”

  She licked her lips, looking so lost that all he wanted to do was make it better for her, but he knew this was something she would have to do for herself.

  “But what am I going to do, huh? I don’t know if I can just slide into my place because that place doesn’t exist anymore. I lost it all, and now I don’t know where I stand.”

  “Then stand with me,” he blurted out.

  Her eyes widened. “What?”

  He let out a breath. There was no backing down now. “Then stand with me. I know it’s crazy, but you didn’t know me beforehand, so you don’t have to find your old place. You can find a new place.”

  “I...I have no idea what to say to that.”

  “Then don’t think. Not yet. Just be. Like you said. You and I can’t ignore what happened on the battlefield, and you can’t ignore what happened when you weren’t there to live it. So get to know me and let me get to know you. One thing at a time, and when you feel like you’re ready, you know your friends will be there for you. They understand, Faith, even if it hurts them to let you go. They understand.” That much he knew was true. “They want you to be whole and safe again.”

  “What if I can’t be whole again?” she whispered, and he knew she’d just told him the truth behind her pain and the front she put on.

  He took a risk and gripped her chin, gently forcing her gaze to his. “Then be who you are now. They’ll always be there for you, Faith.” As will I.

  He didn’t say that last part, didn’t know why he even thought it.

  “What if I say yes? What if I say I want to get to know you?”

  “Then get to know me.”

  Faith tilted her head, her eyes narrowing. “Okay then.”

  Okay then.

  Not the most romantic way to start a new life, a new mating, but he’d take it. Levi would have accepted just about anything right then.

  He just prayed she didn’t run away from him once she knew everything about him.

  Chapter Five

  Faith honestly had no idea what the heck she was doing. One minute she was pouting over her life like some teenage girl, and the next, she was gazing into a wizard’s eyes, his fingers gripping her chin.

  What the hell?

  “Okay then,” he said, repeating her words back to her. He cleared his throat and pulled away from her.

  She felt annoyed at the cold from the loss of his touch. It must have been that damn mating bond because Faith Sanders did not want a man in her life, despite what she’d just agreed to not two minutes ago.

  “So, what do you want to do?” she asked, trying to push back the doubts creeping in. She’d said she’d find out more about him and try to figure out what she wanted in life now that she, once again, had one to live. She couldn’t turn back on her word, even if it scared the hell out of her to think about what she could be getting herself into.

  Levi bru
shed her hair back from her face, sending shivers down her back. They were doing this backwards, mating, getting to know one another, finding out each other’s last names, but she would do this…because she had to.

  Because, if she was honest, she wanted to.

  “Would you like to visit the wizard realm?” he asked, his voice that low, husky tone that made her body ache in all the right places.

  Wrong places, Faith. Those are all the wrong places.

  She licked her lips. “I’ve only been to a couple other realms besides the human one,” she said. “Ambrose and everyone else said it would be too dangerous for those of us who hadn’t changed yet.”

  Levi nodded. “That makes sense. Most realms do not like outsiders, let alone someone they don’t understand.”

  “You mean me being human or lightning-struck?”

  “The latter.” His mouth thinned as though he was holding himself back from saying something. She’d get it out of him later, though. It was enough that they were starting over, and she didn’t want to be her typical self and overreact.

  “So, let me get this straight. Most realms don’t like people like me, but you want to go to the wizard realm with me by your side.”

  He snorted then brushed her cheek with his thumb. Again, she shivered, and his eyes darkened. Well, it seemed they had chemistry after all. A lock of chestnut hair fell over his forehead and she had to hold herself back from pushing it away.

  “You’re my mate, Faith. The bond we share will protect you from that. Though most wizards like humans just fine. Actually, many humans live in our realm. We don’t truly look much different than humans except during times of great magic.”

  “Will you explain that to me sometime? Show me?”

  “Of course. Does that mean you want to see my realm?”

  She nodded. One step at a time. She ran her hands through her hair, still surprised the black strands were so long. “I’d like that.”

  He smiled then, which changed his entire face. Where before he was merely handsome, now he was fucking gorgeous with striking cheekbones and stunning blue eyes.

  And he was all hers.

  If she let herself, she’d have rubbed her hands together in manic glee, but Faith had some standards at least.

  “So…is it like with the angels and you have to fly through a pocket? Or the wolves where their realm is technically inside the human one, just hidden?”

  Levi shook his head that smile still on his face. “It’s more like Becca and the leprechauns, if I had to compare it. Or even Nadie with the succubi. You need to open a portal or have someone do it for you. As a wizard, I can get us through.” He frowned for a moment.

  “What is it?”

  “I’m thinking of what I’ll have to do in order to get you a way to open a portal on your own. In case you want to come to the wizard realm without me by your side.”

  “Is there a way? I don’t have magic.”

  He met her gaze. “There’s a way, and Faith, one day…” He cleared his throat, his ears pinking. Cute as hell. “You might just have magic.”

  “Oh,” she breathed.

  Right. If they had sex, she would change into her paranormal creature.

  This wasn’t awkward at all.

  “Well, either way, that’s something for later.” He took a step back. “For now, I can get us in easily, and I’ll show you the realm and my home. One step at a time.”

  “Sounds like a plan. I do like learning about everything around us. I mean, it was only a few years ago that I had no idea any of this existed. I still feel lost every time someone brings up another realm or something I’ve never heard of before, but I’m learning.”

  “I’ll tell you whatever you want to know. Better yet, if you want, I can get you the materials you need to find out on your own.”

  She smiled then. It seemed that Levi was getting to know her just fine. Yes, she wanted to know everything she could, but if she could find out on her own, it would make her feel as though she’d accomplished something.

  “Hold my hand. I’m going to open a portal.”

  “Uh, in my kitchen?”

  He grinned at her, and her heart stuttered. Damn it. “Yep. It’s not going to disrupt anything in here. Of course, if you want to put up wards around your home, and want it done by someone else other than a wizard, then I might not be able to do this.”

  “Why would I want to put up wards?”

  He shrugged, but she saw the anger in his eyes. “You were almost killed by now dead Conclave members. The inn was warded when you were unable to fight for yourself, but we didn’t ward your home because that was an invasion of privacy since we couldn’t key it to you as you weren’t living here at the time. And we didn’t know what kind you’d want. Any one of us could have done it, but…”

  “But you wanted to do it yourself because of the bond.” She held back a snide remark because, honestly, she didn’t know what else to say. This wasn’t easy on either of them and she had to remember that.

  He nodded. “And as you’d never spoken to me, I thought I’d wait.”

  She swallowed hard. “If I do turn into…something…”

  His nostrils flared. “Then you will be able to do it yourself. Until then, I can put up some for you whenever we get back, if you’d like.”

  “Do you really think I’ll be in danger?”

  “I don’t know, but I do know it would make your friends, and me, feel better if we could ward your home.”

  She nodded, knowing she was, yet again, about to trust someone she still needed to understand. “Okay then. For peace of mind, and because I’m not an idiot, I’ll take your wards. But if I change my mind and want Dante or someone else do it, you’ll have to let me.”

  He gave a curt nod, and her anger warred with something much warmer, something she didn’t understand, in his eyes. “Once we return, I’ll do it. You can watch if you’d like.”

  “I would.”

  “Good. Now hold my hand and don’t let go.”

  She did, his palm warm against hers.

  He waved his hand in the air, and the hair on her arms rose. A swirling vortex of what could only be magic opened in her kitchen, and her mouth dropped open. Sure, she’d seen all types of truly inspiring magic since she’d found the truth about herself and her friends, but she’d never get used to it. At least she hoped she never would.

  He looked over his shoulder, that devastating grin in place, and then tugged her with him. The vortex swallowed her, and the warmth and tingles of a magic she truly didn’t understand embraced her. She kept her eyes open, desperate to see everything she could. Sparkles of light and flashes of color sped by so fast she wasn’t sure what she’d seen, and as suddenly as they appeared, they burst into nothingness.

  Faith found herself standing on a street corner, her hand in Levi’s and a whole new world surrounding her.

  People nodded as they walked by, some even bowing their heads at Levi. Others gave her curious looks but didn’t stop to talk. While some wore robes and capes, most were in normal clothing like she’d see in her own world.

  “Welcome to my realm,” Levi said, and she squeezed his hand.

  “It looks…well, I guess it looks like London.” Or at least as much as she could remember of the city she’d never been to but had seen in photos. It actually reminded her a little of the Regency romances she secretly read. Brick buildings lined the road where people drove in normal looking cars or, to her delight, zipped overhead on broomsticks.

  Broomsticks.

  How fun was that?

  Interspersed in the older brick buildings were new ones made of steel and glass that reminded her of cities in America. Up in the distance, she saw a road leading to a giant castle.

  A freaking castle.

  Yes, apparently she was a teenage girl who couldn’t stop saying the word ‘freaking’. As much as she’d wanted to, she’d hadn’t had the chance to visit many paranormal worlds, so being able to study any of them m
ade her ecstatic.

  The castle was made of dark stone and had turrets and battlements. She couldn’t tell, but she kind of hoped it had a moat. Because what castle was complete without a moat?

  Okay, she needed to calm down or she’d freak herself out or Levi.

  Levi grinned and pulled her along the sidewalk. She fell into step with him, taking in as much as she could. “London is actually fashioned after our realm, not the other way around. Many wizards tend to live there since the barriers between our realm and the human realm tend to be the thinnest there.”

  “That makes sense, I guess,” she said and stared off in the distance. “Is that a really castle?”

  Levi let out an annoyed breath. “Yes. That’s home.”

  She stopped in her tracks. “Home? As in… Dear God, you are a prince. Should I be kneeling or something?” He’d said before that he was a prince, and she’d even reacted, but with so much going on, it hadn’t really hit her.

  Levi ran a hand over his face, his other hand still clutching hers. “For the love of God, don’t kneel. Yes, I’m a prince here,” he whispered, bowing a bit so he was close to her. “That’s my family home. I actually live outside of it now, though I did grow up there. I’m still the same man I was before, Faith.”

  “I didn’t know you before,” she replied, her mind reeling.

  “Then get to know me without the title.”

  “If you’re a prince, what does that make me?” she squeaked.

  Hell, she squeaked. Like a freaking idiot.

  Levi grimaced. “Right now, that makes you Faith,” he said. “But once you meet my parents and are presented at court—if that’s something you want to do—then, well, you’d be a princess. It’s not like the human realm with a marriage or mating ceremony that’s needed for you to be crowned. The bond between us made that step happen, and my parents are the ones who approve of the crown anyway. They won’t be able to refute it like they could have if we’d been merely married rather than mated.”

  Marriage.

  Princess Faith.

  Well, wasn’t that just a bitch.

  “I’m just not going to think about that right now. Okay?”