“Hmm. Well this is very interesting. Can you read my mind then?” She asked, hoping he couldn’t, or he’d find out about the dream she was still trying to forget. It had consisted of them both jumping into the pool by the portal. This was followed them removing each slick piece of clothing underwater, and him licking every inch of her as she sunbathed on a rock that jutted out of the water. Unfortunately, she woke up just as he was getting to the good part. Just the memory of it made her shiver.
“Only if I try really hard,” he said.
“Would I know it?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I tried to erase your memory of Genevieve and I laughing at the barbecue, and that’s when you felt dizzy,” he told her. Now it all made sense. Well, somewhat.
“So I might feel you in my brain. Please don’t do it,” she said. The last thing she wanted was him reading her thoughts. Her bad, totally inappropriate thoughts. She felt his body heat emanating into the ground and enveloping her. Was he doing something with his mind now? She pictured him being drawn to her, unable to resist her, kissing her all over. “You’re not doing it now are you?”
He laughed, “No I’m not. But I don’t think we’ll be getting much more sleep. Do you want to keep moving?”
She saw a tinge of lighter purple in the far sky, a sign that dawn was on the way. “Sure,” she said, stepping out of the ground. She was intrigued with the way he touched the earth with both hands and how it seemed to transform back into the original patch of grass he’d started with.
“Amazing,” she said. She noticed him smiling at her, and she walked forward, avoiding his gaze.
The moment they reached his home, Jane knew. There was a large collection of what she would call cottages etched into the grassy hillsides. It looked like a fairy village, and then inspiration struck her.
“Are you fairies?” she asked excitedly.
Axel wrinkled his nose. “Fairies? They’re tiny and have wings, right?”
“Maybe we’re a different proportion in this realm? And maybe you have wings hidden somewhere?” She peeked around to his back, touching the skin around his shoulder blades. The muscles there jumped under her fingers, and she quickly lifted them off.
“Definitely no wings,” he said, but what she’d experienced so far in this world made her think they were in fact the fairies of legends—sans wings, of course.
As they neared the village (that’s what it seemed like to her) she saw people (fairies?) milling about. The first thing she noticed was their clothing, or lack thereof. They were practically in tatters. The only things covered were their private bits. She felt overdressed in her long pants. The next thing she noticed was that everyone was staring, but no one approached them. Wouldn’t such a small community come speak to a returning member? She stayed close at Axel’s side.
“Why are they looking at us like that?” she whispered. She saw that most were barefoot, and the women adorned their hair with flowers.
“I think I forgot to tell you something else.” He looked at her apologetically. “I’m the prince, and heir to the throne.”
8
Axel
He wished he’d told her sooner, but he thought maybe it was too much information too soon. Plus, now he’d lied to her by erasing her memory of the shooting, and it was getting difficult for him to keep the story straight. He’d always been known as a truth-teller, and now he’d forsaken that... for what? Was it really to protect her from pointless worry? Or did he have an ulterior motive? He wasn’t that sleazy, was he?
He wondered how she’d behave if he erased Andrew entirely from her mind. From the vibes she was giving him— and the way she called his name in her dream last night— Axel didn’t think she’d need much prodding to get her in his bed. He shook the idea from his head. That would be taking it too far.
She laughed when he told her he was the prince. Then she kept laughing. He watched her, confused. He was afraid she’d really lost it now. No amount of memory fading would work on this. What had Genevieve called her? Suburban. Polite and proper, he added mentally. Maybe she couldn’t handle all the differences between their worlds. He pulled her forward, not wanting to cause a scene.
“You’re the freaking prince? You?” she whispered the word freaking.
“What’s wrong with me?” he demanded to know.
She sobered up. “Nothing. I just… can’t believe I’m in the presence of a fairy prince.” The next giggle of hers infuriated him, and he walked along without checking to see if she followed.
“Don’t be a baby,” she said, her giggles now under control, “I’m just still in this strange dream I can’t seem to wake up from.”
“Well, Jane, this dream of yours is my life. I’d appreciated it if you took it seriously.” He noticed then that maybe his tone had been too harsh, and he looked away from her, wondering why this damned woman had such strange effects on him.
“I felt your anger just then,” she said. “It felt like a flame under my skin.” He looked back at her, at her sympathetic eyes.
“I’m sorry,” he said. Maybe he couldn’t control himself around her anymore here than back in her land. In fact, he was getting tired of it. He’d never had this problem with any of the other human women. None had been able to sense him the way she could when he entered her mind. In fact, they’d all been so obtuse even words hadn’t communicated to them how he felt.
Maybe he’d made a mistake in agreeing to wed and bed a human woman. He should just find a woman of his kind, and have a full-blood child, though that decreased the child’s chance of having sharpened powers. Maybe he should have accepted one of the many girls from home that had made it clear they wanted to be his bride.
Axel found that he was nervous returning to his parents’ place. He led Jane to the edge of the forest, and they climbed stairs carved out of the trunk of the tree. They spiraled upwards until, finally, they saw it.
“This is incredible,” she said of the large house built into the massive tree branches. For him, it was home.
“It is kind of cool, isn’t it?” he said, proud of the work his grandfather had done in building it years before Axel had been born.
“Very cool,” she said, her smile as bright as the day. He couldn’t stay angry with her. Strangely, he had a vision of her standing there, holding their child on her hip, smiling up at him just as she was now. He blinked a few times, took a deep breath, and charged up the steps.
Entering the house unceremoniously, Axel searched the lower rooms but found no one. He yelled for his family.
“Halloo!” An echo of halloo’s sounded throughout the house and down came Ralf, Axel’s younger brother, a boy of about eight or nine. Axel couldn’t remember the age accurately. Then came his younger sister, Dori, a flaxen haired beauty in her teenage years. She was carrying his youngest brother, Coren, who must have been not even two years old and whom Axel had not seen since his birth.
After greeting them all with long hugs, Axel introduced them to Jane. She was all “How do you do” and “Lovely to meet you”. The children, finding her peculiar, poked and prodded her.
“What are you all doing to poor Jane here? You act like you’ve never seen a human.” He crossed his arms.
“Yes, we have, but they’re always dressed so funny when they first come. And they act funny too,” Ralf pointed out.
“Well, they’re not used to this place you know. One day you’ll go through the portal and see a whole new world. You’ll find you’re the funny looking one there.” Axel wrestled his little brother to the floor. He was getting stronger, that kid.
“Where are Mother and Father?” Axel asked. He looked at Dori, who’d been standing by quietly.
“Mother’s with Father in his room. He’s not doing well, Axel. I’ve been trying to send you and Genevieve messages, but I suppose it was too far,” she said. Dori had never been through the portal, and like many of the women of her kind, she probably never would. Genevieve, however, liked to do things differently than the res
t. That was her rebel nature.
Axel knew Dori was not at all like Genevieve. His youngest sister’s soft-spoken ways would not do well in Jane’s world. Here, however, Dori was revered as the princess she was.
Axel bounded up the stairs to see his father. Upon entering the room he felt their sorrow. Most times he did not speak to his father out loud, but now he did so that his father would not exert his mind.
The king lifted his hand to his son’s face, “I’ve heard news you’ve brought back a wife.”
“Is it true?” the queen asked her son. “Your father tells me that the people are all sending the news of her arrival to each other.” Axel had not considered what bringing a human woman into the village would look like to his people. He was afraid he’d done more damage by bringing Jane through the mirror than he’d thought.
“My concern now is you, Father. What can I do for you?” Axel asked.
9
Jane
Jane tried to answer all of Ralf’s questions about technology, and all of Dori’s about the different ways people dress in her world. She was quite exhausted from the interrogation when Dori asked, “And now that you will marry Axel, does it mean you should never return home, like mother?”
“Excuse me?” Jane asked. Just then Axel returned, a sense of urgency about him.
“I think you’ve all had enough of Jane for now. We’re exhausted so we’re off to sleep, and we’ll see you all in the morning. Good night.” He said, grabbing her by the shoulders and leading her away.
They heard Ralf call after them “But it’s still daylight out!” Ralf was right. It was still very early.
“Axel I’m starving,” Jane said, realizing she hadn’t eaten a thing since landing in this place. He continued to take her down a winding hallway and then they were outside again.
“My quarters are this way,” he said, then taking the lead. She wondered if he’d heard about her hunger. When they entered his “quarters” she immediately saw a table with all kinds of fruits, breads, fish, and desserts laid out. Jane fell upon the feast, not caring if she looked uncivilized, though after she’d taken a few bites she noticed there were, in fact, no plates or utensils.
“You fit right in,” Axel noted.
“About that,” she said, sucking on a slice of melon. “What’s this rumor about me being your wife?”
“Oh, you heard it too. Yes, I heard it from my parents. News travels fast around here, what with the mind thing.”
“But it’s not true.”
“No, it’s not. But would it be so bad if we could pretend for a bit?” he asked. His eyes shone like never before. She wanted to slap sense into him, but since she’d never slapped anyone before, she instead asked him why they should pretend such a thing.
“My father is dying. It’s his life’s wish to see me married and with children. I can’t give him his wish, but if I can at least let him think it will happen after he’s gone…. If anyone were to think it wasn’t true they’d let it slip, even involuntarily.” He pointed to his head.
Jane stuffed her face with a cream puff. “You’re asking a lot of me, and I don’t even know you except for the past couple of days. And what about Andrew who’s home sick right now with worry over me?”
“We won’t really get married. It’s just a bit of a show for now. Afterwards we can say you changed your mind or whatever.” Axel dug into the fish, but she saw he was truly concerned. She didn’t think she could fool anyone. This would end disastrously. Besides, her main goal was to find a way home, and if Axel’s father was dying, she now had to find another creator of portals.
“I’ll create the portal for you myself on the Night of Eternal Light,” he offered.
“Did you just read my mind?” she asked.
“No, why?”
She took a few moments to consider. “OK, fine I’ll play along if you promise to create the portal the first chance you get. And, obviously, no funny business.” He crossed his heart. She thought the smile on his face said otherwise.
Jane was starting to feel full, and sat down on a chair by the fire. “How is it that all of this food and the fire were waiting for us?
“Like I said, news travels fast.”
Seeing as how his quarters had no other bed but his, Jane insisted on having her own room. Sleeping next to him last night had not been very restful.
“It would seem strange to them if you are not in my bed,” he insisted.
“But we are not married yet, remember?”
“It’s not the same here. Sleeping with another person has nothing to do with marriage here, but they would find it odd that my future wife won’t be in my bed.”
She wondered if this were true or if he was making it up to get her to bed with him. He had admitted to sending her sexy visions. She gave in and sat on the bed, a wooden frame filled with the same soft grass they’d slept in the night before. Touching the bouncy bedding, Jane lifted an eyebrow, wondering what other strange things she might encounter in this land.
Exhausted, she fell right to sleep. Dreams evaded her that evening, and when she woke in the early morning hours, Axel was still sleeping soundly beside her. Walking out of the bedroom and out onto the boardwalk, she wandered around the tree branches, looking out far beyond the hills. This was not a land she recognized from any travel book. Hard as it was to believe, she was in fairyland.
Jane ran into Dori who seemed lost in a daydream.
“Hi,” Jane said, taking the young girl out of her reverie.
“Oh, halloo,” she said. “I was passing messages to my friends. We are all going to the picnic later. You’ll be there?”
“I don’t know if Axel knows about the picnic. But, um, I was wondering something. Is there somewhere I could take a bath?” Jane was afraid that another day in those clothes would lead to some embarrassing and smelly situations. She was dying to feel clean again.
“Yes, I’ll get you some of Genevieve’s things and show you our bath,” Dori said excitedly. Jane was grateful to have run into her. And grateful that this place believed in baths. When Dori returned with a small pile of material, Jane looked at it suspiciously but took it in her arms.
She followed Dori around and down to the ground where the girl opened a door that seemed to lead inside the large tree trunk. They descended several steps by firelight, which seemed to have been lit ahead of their arrival. Then Jane saw a pool of water with soaps sitting by the entrance.
“Use whatever you want. No one will disturb you here. The servants are aware.” She seemed to float away with her agility of movement. Jane sat by the pool, admiring the large room. It was like a cave, with torches all around. All she needed was soft music and this would be the perfect spa day. As she took off her clothes, Jane wondered if she would have use of them again and tossed them aside. She walked into the pool, letting the delicious warm water swallow her.
10
Axel
Axel received his sister’s message when he woke up. Jane was taking a bath. He groaned. The thought of her naked body underground made him punch the pillow next to him. How was he going to get through the next few months like this? He was literally aching to touch her, to hold her, and, dammit, to fuck her.
If he could pick a human woman to marry, it would be Jane, he finally admitted to himself. Something about her was overpowering, and he knew sexually they’d be magic together. He felt it in his very being. If only Andrew… He pushed his mind away from such dark thoughts. He wished no evil on anyone.
Footsteps outside his door alerted Axel to Jane’s return. He sensed her before she walked in, barefoot, on tiptoes, and… wearing practically nothing. He wanted to comment on it because she looked uneasy, her face expressing her discomfort, but his voice caught on his throat. She didn’t want to hear what he really thought anyways. A low V on the front down to her belly button revealed almost everything he’d been wanting to see since the day he saw her in the shower. And the cut of the fabric exposed her thighs up to her
hips on the sides.
He stayed in the bed so she would not see the erection he was trying to will away. Her perky breasts teased him with every step she took. He should be used to this form of dress since all of his people walk around like this. But there was something about seeing Jane like this for the first time.
“Well? What do you think? Do I fit in?” she asked nervously.
“Yes,” was all he said, his throat dry.
She shrugged her shoulders and put her old clothes folded in the corner of his room. “Dori said something about a picnic?”
“The spring picnic. Everyone goes. I’m hoping I can get my father there,” he said, his face suddenly downcast. It was difficult to think his father might not be around forever like he used to think as a child.
“I’m sorry he’s not doing well,” she said sitting on the edge of the bed. Axel looked at the soft skin on her back, wet with the water dripping from her hair. He jumped out of bed and away from her.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said. She left the room, and he changed into his regular clothing— a rather small strip of material that was just a covering. When he emerged, he saw she was shocked though she’d seen him in his underwear at the pool the day before.
“Like what you see?” he winked at her.
“You wish!” She left his quarters in a huff. Yes, he did wish. Very much. He followed her through the branches, wishing every time her skirt swayed it would give him a peek at what was underneath. His restraint wouldn’t hold, he knew it. She was impossibly beautiful, and he was afraid he’d do something stupid if he didn’t figure out how to get her out of his mind.
When they arrived at the gathering place, a large meadow beyond his father’s house, most of his people were already there. He walked around greeting them all, introducing them to his future wife. She acted the part to perfection, and Axel almost thought it could be real if it weren’t for Andrew holding her back. She held on to his arm, apparently not afraid of his mind powers, and talked and laughed with those that came to have a good look at the prince’s bride.
A Touch of Spring: Spellbound Series Book 1 (The Spellbound Series) Page 3