by Marie Hall
He laughed and the sound was rich and deep. “I’m small.”
She nodded, as her large wings unfurled behind her back. And where before he’d thought them just white, he now saw the pearlescent veins running through the gauzy ivory.
“My gods,” he breathed, “you are so beautiful.”
Her entire body seemed to quiver at his words, and then she was pulling him into her embrace. “I’m going to take us someplace quiet and sheltered, you must hang on to me, okay?”
Wrapping a fat curl of her hair around his finger, he beamed. “Forever, Calanthe.”
~*~
Calanthe tried to quiet the frantic beating of her heart, but it was a pointless endeavor. She didn’t look at him as she sailed through the crystal caves. A brilliant blue glow grew from just a mere pinprick of light to a sea of color the closer she drew to her treasured and most private sanctuary in the glen.
Her magic made it so that holding on to Jericho was like holding onto a feather. She marveled in the wonder of his warm hand gliding along her neck and jaw. Her stomach twisted in a marvelously stomach churning way.
And when they arrived, Jericho breathed an audible sigh. The blue glow came from the crystals growing out of the rock face. Landing on what appeared to be an endless sea of inky black water, she watched his face as he studied the cave.
Glowworms tunneled overhead, leaving a shimmering trail of sparkling white along the ceiling, giving the effect that they were not only outdoors, but sailing through a blanket of stars deep in space.
He tapped on the water beneath them. “Fascinating,” he whispered. “It looks like it goes down for miles, and yet it’s barely higher than my ankle.”
She smiled. “I found it not long after my birth, when I was but a wee fairy child.” Blushing at the hint of the accent that always crept out when she was nervous, she wrung her hands together.
“It’s beautiful. You’re beautiful, Calanthe. I want you to know that. To truly understand that you are, you mean…”
Deep in her heart, she had the sense that tonight, for whatever reason, would be all they had. It was in the way he touched her, the quiet yearning and desperation imprinted in his dark brown eyes. But she also felt his truth.
She’d always been good at that. Even though she was young—she was still a baby by fairy standards—he saw her as a woman and it made her want him all the more.
“Ssh.” She pressed her finger to his lips. “Let there be no sadness and no expectations this night. We are together, and that is all that matters.”
And though this place was only lit by the glow of crystal, she had no problem making out his expression. The sadness that tinged his features and tightened his lips.
“Did you know this cave has a name?” she asked.
“No.”
“It does. It’s known as the Cave of Song.” She looked up, at the tiny hole that dug from the ceiling up through the top of the cave. “It’s because of that hole, the way sound plays through it. If you sing, it sings back.”
“Can you make it sing for me?” he asked.
Unlike June, Calanthe had never really considered herself much of a singer. But the beauty of the cave, was that it didn’t take much. Just a single note. Forming her lips into a tiny “o” she hummed a melody.
The almost quiet whisper traveled from her lips, toward the hole and then it was more than a thread of sound. The melody bounced back to them—vibrant and rich, full of resonance and made her skin tingle as her ear canals danced.
His eyes widened as the sound continued to morph and grow. It became a haunting, lyrical wind song, wrapping itself around her head and making her dizzy with joy.
“Do you like it?” she asked.
“I’ve never heard anything so beautiful,” he laughed. “Does it ever stop?”
“Thank you, cave, that was lovely,” she clipped her head and suddenly all the sound stopped. The silence was deafening.
“I’ve got magic too,” he said, “do you want to see it?”
Tonight Jericho looked so youthful. So different than the man she’d met a month ago. He was bursting with life, with verve and she found his energy infectious and contagious. “Yes, of course!” She bobbed her head.
Raising his hands, he began pulling at the air and at first she wasn’t sure what she was supposed to be seeing, or if he was even doing anything.
But then suddenly all the light that came from the glowworms began to spiral toward them, drawing into a tight, glistening band.
Laughing, she covered her mouth and watched as he then began to wave his fingers through the air and the light that’d been bolted together, was now turning into glimmers of glitter and he was forming something.
She cocked her head, unsure of what that something was, but as the glow began to take shape she realized it was a bed. Calanthe inhaled, as her nerves strung taut. There was only one reason why he’d be creating a bed.
She knew nothing of a man’s body or his needs, so in this past month she’d gone and spied on humans. More importantly on what they did at night. Her cheeks had flamed when she’d seen her very first naked man, but eventually the embarrassment had turned to raging curiosity, until the curiosity had turned to a violent aching. Because she’d desperately wanted what she’d seen them doing.
Hands shaking, she grabbed hold of his arm as the last bit of light slid into place. Their glittering, golden mattress awaited.
She wet her lips and counted the heavy rise and falls of his chest.
“I do not know if—”
Calanthe was never sure what he’d meant to say after that. She threw her arms around his neck. “Yes!” And with strength born of desire, she yanked him on top of her as they fell upon the bed.
All she wanted now was to lose herself in the delirium of this delicious madness. Tomorrow her heart would shatter and ache and she’d never be the same again, but that was for tomorrow.
Crawling on top of him, she yanked at his jacket.
“My love,” he chuckled, “we do not need to do this quickly. There is time.”
“Not enough, Jericho.” Her mouth tipped into a quick frown as the truth threatened to weaken her resolve to not think about his leaving. “Never enough with you.”
Laughing, he sat up trying to help her get his clothing off, but she was so clumsy in her attempts that she was only making matters worse. At one point smacking her forehead against his as they both bent over to undo a button.
“Ow!” she growled, rubbing her forehead. “Damn, damn, damn…” she wrinkled her nose. “This is taking too bloody long. Off now.” And with that, she yanked her wand out of her hair and tapped it to their chests.
Why hadn’t she thought of that first? She rolled her eyes with laughter, and then stilled as it finally dawned on her that they were naked and she was straddling him.
“Calanthe,” he held her face in his, “you have never done this before, have you?”
“No.” Her nostrils flared with the admission. Her skin prickled because she felt something quite stiff and hard pressing against her thigh and she was certain it was not his leg. She’d seen those manly parts before. Through windows and had seen the excitement the woman evinced when said male part slipped into the female part. But right now, she was feeling more than just a little trepidation. Intimidated would be the proper word for it.
Cheeks flaming because her breasts were free and hanging and good gods, what had she been thinking? But then his warm hands were sliding up her back and she couldn’t help but sink into his touch and where there’d been shame, now there was heat.
A slow curling of it heating her bloodstream and making her whimper.
“Look at me, Calanthe,” he ordered.
And though she was still mortified, she did it. His smile was huge and then he was withdrawing from her, leaning back against the pillows and crossing his arms behind his head and she bit her lip because she wanted to beg him to touch her some more.
“I’m right here, love
,” he whispered. “I’m not going anywhere. I want you to look at me while I look at you.”
Fingers of fire curled through her stomach and she fought the crippling shyness inherent in her, and stared at him. Her mouth dropped at the glory that was his nude body.
Jericho hadn’t seen sun in years, his skin was pale. But not sickly pale, luminescent. The moonlight that’d flown from his body into hers back at the glen, was right there beneath the surface of his flesh, highlighting the sculpted beauty of his chiseled stomach.
Unable to resist, she ran her finger along the sharp demarcations and felt a heady thrill when he hissed.
“Slowly, love, or I might not last,” he chuckled.
She licked her lips. His chest wasn’t massive as some of the lumberjacks she’d seen, but it didn’t need to be. She preferred him the way he was, lean and hard.
His arms were nice and thick, the biceps stretched tight as he flexed them behind his head. A light dusting of hair along his jawline beckoned her to touch again, but she wanted him to last. She wanted this to last.
“Gods, when you look at me like that,” he breathed.
“Like what?” she asked, confused.
“Like you’ve been drowning and I’m your raft.”
Stomach tickling, she squeezed her eyes shut. “I want to see you, Jericho.”
He chuckled. “You have been, love.”
Wiggling on his legs, reminded again of that hard male flesh scraping along her upper thigh, she shook her head. “No, I want to see all of you.”
At her words, he sucked in a sharp breath. “Then crawl back just a little,” he ordered with a voice grown suddenly husky.
Calanthe was shaking, and she wasn’t really sure why, all she knew was that he made her feel confusing, wonderful, deliciously wicked things. Leaning back, she stopped when he moaned.
“What? Did I do something?” she asked, not wanting to hurt him.
Panting, he squeezed his eyes shut. “No, love. You didn’t hurt me.”
Frowning, because his moan had definitely sounded in pain, she nodded softly and proceeded to lean back more slowly and with more gentleness this time.
Again he moaned, but she figured if it hadn’t hurt the last time than likely it wasn’t hurting this time.
The length of his male bits slid against her backside and it was so soft. Softer than her beloved rose petals. She’d seen them before, she kept reminding herself. But maybe it was the thought that she was seeing Jericho’s that made her nerves so strung out she felt she might throw up from the nerves. When it came into view, she couldn’t speak, couldn’t even blink.
It was long and seemed impossibly thick and covered in thick veins that almost seemed to throb in front of her eyes. She frowned, wondering if it was hurting him. None of the other men had acted as if they’d been in pain, but maybe they had been. Maybe the cries that’d spilled through the windows hadn’t been pleasure at all.
A shiny drop of liquid gathered at the tip of it. Not thinking, she reached out and swiped at it, eliciting a powerful groan from him. But not just a groan, his thighs trembled so hard they shook her rump.
Gasping, she righted herself by palming his thighs. “Jericho? Did I hurt you, goddess, I’m sorry, it just looked like it was weeping and I didn’t know—”
Laughing so hard, it did make her tumble off him, he sat up so quick she hardly had time to gasp, before he was wrapping her up in his arms. “I love you, Calanthe, you beautiful, innocent fairy. I wasn’t weeping, love. It’s called desire.”
Shoving the hair from her eyes, she cocked her head and took in a heady drag of his wonderful male scent of fresh clean soap and man.
“That is desire? It was throbbing and looks so large.”
He moaned again and that’s when she was aware that her breasts were mashed against his chest and the friction was wonderful.
“Oh,” she squeaked and rubbed against him, doing that also caused her center to rub against his hairy thigh. “Ohh!” she was the one to moan this time and began sawing her body back and forth on his leg as a spiraling but pleasant pressure began to build.
“Calanthe,” he drawled, settling his hands on her hips. Tipping his forehead to hers, he forced her to stop. “You’re killing me.”
“What?” She cried and tried to jump back. “I didn’t know, I didn’t…”
Shaking his head, he pulled her back. “I don’t mean that figuratively. But the way you keep rubbing your body on me and touching me, I want this to last, Calanthe. So much. But I’m not sure I will.”
“What can I do?”
Pressing a kiss to her lips, he let her go again and leaned back, but this time he lifted his leg just slightly so that it was firmly wedged between her thighs.
His smile was wicked as he said, “it’s what I can do for you, love. Use my body. I want to see you bloom like one of your flowers.”
She knew what she wanted to do. She wanted to move on him as she had been before, but she wasn’t sure if that was what he wanted her to do.
His nostrils flared and his eyes filled with heat. “Do whatever you want to me. Whatever. You. Want.”
Gulping with fear, excitement, she nodded. His look was so… so… forceful, full and sure and hot, and she knew the shyness would grip her if she looked at him. So she turned her eyes to the side and gave into her desire.
Holding onto his thigh, she wiggled back until her legs were spread wide enough that her wetness came in direct contact with him. She hissed and his groan was so loud that the cave responded by filling their world with song.
Tossing her head back, she closed her eyes and rode back and forth on him. Going slowly at first, not wanting to hurt him. But as the pleasure increased, so did her pace. His grunts and hers mingled into a choir and the pleasure built, grew and grew. Twisting her insides around, making her head hurt from grinding her teeth so hard.
In moments she felt like she was on the cusp of something overpowering and terrifying. A darkness that beckoned and thrilled. Snapping her eyes open, skin flushed with sweat, his gaze trapped hers and he wasn’t just looking at her. He was branding.
“Jericho?” She whimpered, afraid to fall and afraid not to.
So quickly she could barely process it, he yanked his leg out from under her and then his body was sprawled on top of her, pressing into her in a most delicious way. His hardness touched the very tip of her swollen, throbbing center and she cried out.
“Will this hurt?” she whimpered.
“Only a little, and just at the beginning, but I’ll be so careful, love.” He pressed a kiss to her temple. “So careful.”
Prepared for the pain, she bit her lip and nodded, because to stop now was unthinkable.
He was as thick as she’d feared and the stretch of his entering burned, heart thumping madly in her ears, she didn’t move as he oh so slowly, moved deeper and deeper into her.
“I love you, Calanthe,” he murmured deliriously in her ear and she nodded, because as mad as it was for a fairy to love a man, she did. She loved him desperately.
“In a land born of forever and always, I have found mine,” she brushed her knuckles against his cheek, feeling more at ease now. Because the burning was no longer there, the stretching made her feel full, but in a most delicious way. Brave, she moved, just a little. The way she’d seen the women do to their men.
His entire body quaked and a rumble tore from his lips. “Just like that,” he whispered. “Keep doing that.”
More than happy to oblige, she moved again and this time when she did, she knew it wouldn’t hurt. Shifting her hips upward, she pulled him in as deep into her body as she possibly could.
He hissed and when he shifted his hips backward, nearly causing him to slip from her, she hissed.
Together they moved, back and forth. Meeting and retreating, moving faster and faster and the spiraling that had started when she’d played upon his leg was rushing back and she was frantically clawing at his back.
“J
ericho,” she pleaded, but for what she wasn’t sure.
“Let go, Calanthe,” he murmured against her ear. “Let go and take me with you.” His words seemed forced through his teeth, as if he was in pain and she knew she should worry, but she was skating on a razors edge of pain and pleasure herself and could hardly focus on anything except the pressure building between her thighs. On her swollen nub that rubbed back and forth, back and forth.
“That’s it, Calanthe,” he licked her lower lip and a grating sound spilled from her throat, “surrender to me.”
And then she wasn’t just at the edge, she was there and tumbling over and she was going to die she just knew it. Her body was a fragment of stars and space. And he was hanging onto her, grinding his body harder into hers, and then he was shouting, crying out her name, and there was nothing else but darkness.
Chapter 6
Genevieve’s mouth hung open, her eyes were impossibly wide in her pale face and then she was clearing her throat and tittering and blushing furiously. “Oh my,” she breathed.
Danika sighed. “Yes. Oh my, indeed.”
A second later several sets of eyes were blinking and then with loud yawns, they stretched arms high above their hands.
“What’d we miss?” The tiger lily asked.
“Nothing at all,” Genevieve winked and then covered her mouth with the back of her hand.
Making certain the images above showed nothing of what Jericho and Calanthe had been doing, Danika pointed. “You’ve missed nothing children, Jericho and Calanthe are simply getting to know one another.”
Genevieve snorted, and then checking herself, adjusted the lilac sprigs in her hair. “Yes, just getting to know one another.”
The children didn’t for a moment look deceived, but that was neither here nor there so far as Danika was concerned.
“Where were we at again?” Danika grinned.
The primrose huffed. “Dani, the betrayal.” She rolled her eyes. “We’ve been waiting forever to hear that part, don’t you remember?”