by Bonnie Lamer
I laugh. “Just like the Fairy tales say.” With a swoop, he lifts me into his arms causing me to laugh harder. “What are you doing?”
He doesn’t answer. Instead, he carries me into my bedroom and pushes back the netting around the canopy. Laying me down gently on the bed, he stretches his body out over mine, supporting himself on his elbows. He grins down at me. “This is a Fairy tale you may believe in.”
His lips capture mine again, and this is a kiss filled with passion. Settling himself into the curves of my body, his hands begin to wander. My breath catches as he slips his hand into the bodice of my dress and I arch my back as his fingers gently knead this new territory. I run my fingernails firmly down his back under his shirt. Not hard enough to leave a mark, but enough to make him groan and deepen the already maddening kiss.
Something about the sea air and being relatively safe at the moment allows us to get carried away like we never have before. Kallen’s shirt has disappeared and as we’ve moved our tangled legs, my dress has inched up my thighs, barely functioning as a barrier now. I moan softly as our skin touches, but I want more and I grasp him tighter to me. Both straps to my dress have been pushed down to my waist now and I’m eager to feel his lips on my tender skin. Kallen is kissing a trail down my neck, driving me wild with desire, when there’s a knock on the door, startling us both.
Uttering the strongest oath I have ever heard him use, Kallen helps me quickly put myself back to rights. The two of us have never ventured quite this far in our discovery of each other before, and I have to admit, I’m also disappointed to have it end so abruptly. Though, I can’t help giggling at the annoyed look on Kallen’s face at the moment. The giggling may also have something to do with the fact that I’m a little self-conscious being this exposed now that the heat of the moment has passed. But, it’s probably a good thing that we stopped before things got too far out of control.
In the back of my mind, as I stand up from the bed, I can’t help wondering why we did let things go this far. Kallen usually puts the brakes on long before things get so…passionate. Maybe magic isn’t the only thing more potent in the Fae realm. Maybe love is, too.
After a quick kiss, Kallen rises from the bed, as well. He reaches the door in three long strides, which is impressive considering how big the room is, and yanks it open. A grinning Kegan is standing there with his arms crossed, leaning against the far wall of the hallway. “What,” Kallen growls. He can sense other Fairies when they are near, so he must have known who he would find before opening the door.
Grin not wavering, Kegan pushes against the wall and walks past Kallen into my room. His brows rise slightly as he takes in my flushed face and mussed hair, but he doesn’t say anything. Turning back to look at my glowering boyfriend, he smirks. “Grandmother suggested that I invite Xandra for a swim. Fancy finding you here, as well.” I’m pretty sure he knew exactly where Kallen was. And what we were doing; which causes me to blush harder.
Kallen looks like he’s going to punch him again, but Kegan ignores him. “Would you care for a swim?” he asks me.
“Um, I don’t have a bathing suit, so I don’t’ think so,” I say, thinking back to what Kallen said about swimming sky-clad. I don’t care how warm the water is, I am definitely not going swimming naked.
Kegan has a somewhat confused look on his face. “Certainly after the demonstration of your magic earlier, you are able to create a simple bathing suit.”
Now, I’m blushing for a whole different reason. I suspect I’m going to get a lot of this from other Fairies. It’s so frustrating that I can cause avalanches and tear holes in the seams of the realms, but I can’t do the most basic magic. “No, I can’t.”
Kallen closes the door. Harder than he needed to, I can’t help but notice. “She is still learning to control her magic.”
Now Kegan looks even more confused but he lets it drop. Smart Fairy. “Surely, then, my gracious cousin could assist in providing you with the appropriate attire.”
“I see the place for young men to be is sniffing around our new guest’s room. I am sure Isla would be thrilled to know that.” Startled yet again, I turn to find an older, plump woman with gray hair and a teasing glint in her green eyes walking into my room. She has a stern look on her wrinkled face, but I have the impression she’s more bark than bite. Her gray hair is pulled into an elaborate braid similar to Isla’s at the back of her neck. Wiping her hands on the apron she’s wearing over her clothes, she walks towards me, and when she smiles, her whole face lights up. She is exactly the image of what I always thought a grandmother would look like when I was young. I like her immediately. “I am Tabitha,” she says, holding her hand out to me. “I have been waiting anxiously to meet you. Now, you let me know if these boys are bothering you and I will chase them off like the nasty little gnats they are, alright, dear?”
I laugh. “They’re okay for now, but I’ll keep that in mind.”
Kallen gives me an eyebrow raise as he walks to Tabitha and wraps his arm around her shoulder. He plants a kiss on her cheek. “No greeting for me? After all I have sacrificed to save the realms?”
Tabitha swats at him with affection written all over her face. “Yes, I can see what a terrible hardship it was for you in the other realm. However did you manage being forced into the company of such a lovely and charming young woman?” She winks at me, causing me to laugh again.
Kallen shakes his head and puts his lips in a grim line. “You have not spent much time with her, dear Tabitha. You will soon see what a handful keeping her safe and out of trouble can be.”
I’m tempted to stick my tongue out at him, but instead, I smile sweetly. “Yes, Kallen’s my hero. Weak little me could never have survived without his big, bad magic to protect me.”
Kegan laughs at my sarcasm but he tries to cover it with a cough. Not Tabitha. She lets out a hardy laugh and slaps Kallen on the back causing him to step forward slightly. “Oh, I am going to like her just fine. Now, you boys run along and see if you can stay out of mischief for five minutes. I have seen the downstairs, and I am assuming you are eager to put everything as it was an hour ago - before the caretaker of this house decides that young men who act like animals should be sleeping with the animals tonight. I will assist this lovely young woman in preparing for a dip in the briny. She will be down shortly.” She literally shoos them out the door before they can say anything else and then she closes it behind them.
“Now, then,” Tabitha says as she turns back to me. “Isla has explained to me that you have trouble toning down your magic. She thought maybe I could be of assistance.”
“Oh, okay.” What am I supposed to say to that? Something along the lines of, ‘hey, good luck with that, and I hope I don’t blow up the house?’
“Come here, now,” Tabitha says as she walks towards the small bench in front of the dressing table. "You have a seat and we will see about a bathing suit and putting that lovely hair of yours into a style more appropriate for swimming.”
I should be nervous if she’s going to make me try magic inside the house, but there’s something about her that makes me feel calm and comfortable. Sitting down on the bench facing the mirror, I look up at her. “What do you want me to do?”
Moving behind me and picking up a brush from the dressing table, she begins to brush my hair. “At the moment, I would just like you to sit and relax while I put your hair up. It will take only a moment.”
True to her word, in the blink of an eye, my hair is in one large braid at the back of my head and a couple of small braids around the front, framing my face perfectly. It’s a great look, very flattering for my oval face and strong, but not severe, bone structure. “I like it,” I say as I move my head around to try to see more of the back. “Thank you.”
Tabitha smiles. “You are welcome, my dear. Now, on to the trickier business of your magic. I would like you to close your eyes and relax.”
Easy for her to say. Kallen was right when he said she has no idea wha
t she’s dealing with when it comes to my magic. But, I close my eyes and try to do what she said, and surprisingly, I am able to relax as she massages my temples. Strange, I haven’t been this relaxed in ages.
“You need to clear your mind of the clutter. Imagine yourself sweeping the unnecessary thoughts and worry to the far corners of your mind. When you have done that, let your mind float in the abyss where your magic will reside when you call upon it.”
The calming effect of her words and her massaging fingers soaks into me, making me feel as if I have been worrying for nothing. All mishaps from the past are forgotten. I am finally able to relax and revel in the fact that I am a magical being, and I can do with my magic whatever I desire.
“Xandra, I would like you to imagine the swimming attire you would like to wear. Do not do anything with the image yet, just ponder it for a moment. Do you have an image?”
I nod my head. Instead of imaging the old navy blue one piece from back home that I rarely had a chance to wear, I’m imaging a black bikini. I saw it recently in a magazine and I fell in love with it. The top has thick, satiny straps that tie at the neck and around my back. The bottom of it has the same satiny strips that tie on each side. I really want this suit because I think it’ll look great on me; it’ll compliment my curves. I bet Kallen will agree. And Kegan, for that matter. I wonder if Isla and Tabitha will like it. It might be too revealing. Hmm, no room for those doubts. Of course they will like it. Especially, if I create it myself.
“Now, I would like you to pull gently on the magic from the earth. Let it swirl inside of you for several heartbeats as you allow it to form around the image in your mind.”
I try to pull gently, I really do. But I’m not used to this purer stuff. Magic rushes into me, filling me, and then explodes out of me before I even have a chance to try to control it. Though, I’m pretty sure it did what I wanted it to do. I can tell I’m in different clothes. There’s a cool breeze from the ocean that’s caressing my newly exposed skin.
A hearty laugh from behind me has my eyes flying open. Did I get it wrong? Am I naked or something? Looking in the mirror, I smile as I see the perfect black bikini I had been imagining. And then Tabitha moves out from behind me. She’s wearing the same bikini. And she’s still laughing.
“Oh, my dear, I see Isla was not exaggerating. Neither about your need for delicacy nor about the power you wield. This is priceless.”
I’m glad she’s amused. It takes the sting out of getting it wrong on my first try. I can already tell I’m going to appreciate Tabitha the most during this whole experience. I’m about to tell her that when the door to my room whips inward and slams hard against the wall because of the great amount of force used to open it. Kallen’s back. And, he’s in a black bikini. Just like the one I have on. And, he looks really mad about it.
I have to put both hands over my mouth not to laugh. Even then, it’s nearly impossible to avoid it. Especially with the very amused Tabitha pointing and laughing as she doubles over shaking her head. I think I’ve just made her entire year.
Close on Kallen’s angry heels is Kegan. Also in a black bikini. The funny thing is – they both have such muscular bodies that it doesn’t look half bad on them. I think I’ll keep that opinion to myself, though. Kegan doesn’t look angry, at least. He just looks very, very confused. With a frown, he asks Tabitha, “Is this some strange punishment for our sword fight from earlier? We were in the process of making reparations.”
Tabitha would answer him, if only she could stop laughing long enough to pull in enough oxygen to form words. She’s wiping tears from her eyes now, and all she can manage in response to Kegan’s question is a shake of her head.
“Tabitha did not do this,” Kallen growls.
Kegan looks at him like he’s crazy. “If not Tabitha, then whom? Whoever did this obviously wields a great deal more magic than most, but I am assuming it was not you.”
“No, it was not him. Nor was it me or Tabitha. It was Xandra.” Isla strides into the room in her new black bikini. For a grandma, she’s in really great shape. “Apparently, your first lesson in subtle magic has gone slightly awry,” she says to me.
“Slightly awry?” Tabitha manages and then is lost to laughter again.
“I’m so sorry,” I say, mostly to Kallen. “I swear, I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“Of course you did not,” Isla says. She follows my gaze to Kallen and gives him a stern look. Turning back to me, she says, “Now, we will need you to reverse this.”
“I’m not sure I can.”
The stricken look on my face seems to elicit pity from Kegan. “Grandmother, perhaps you or Kallen could assist in the process if Xandra needs time to rest after using so much magic?” I’m not the least bit tired, but I’ll go with that idea if it gets me out of trying to undo what I did and making things worse.
Isla gives him a tight smile. “If I was able to reverse this, I would not be strolling around the house in a black bikini. I suspect, neither would Kallen.”
The pity is gone from Kegan’s eyes as he looks back at me in shock. “You can create magic that Isla cannot reverse?” I shrug uncomfortably. I didn’t know that either until she said it. There are so many things on my ‘I didn’t know I could do that’ list that it would probably rival the novel War and Peace for length.
“Tabitha, if your mirth subsides sometime soon, we would all appreciate your assistance in guiding Xandra’s reversal magic.”
“Of course,” Tabitha says, still wiping tears from her eyes and gasping for oxygen between words. With a last look at Kallen and Kegan, she shakes her head and turns around. She grins at me in the mirror for a second and then her hands are back on my temples. I can still feel her shaking with laughter, but the second her hands touch me, I am instantly calm. “Alright, dear, I need you to focus now. Though, I must admit that I have not had such fun in a very long time.”
“Tabitha, if we could move this along, I have a meeting at the palace in an hour.” Impatience seeps out of every one of Isla’s words.
“Fine, fine. Xandra, this is very simple. All you need to do is imagine the bathing wear disappearing from everyone but you. Return us all to our previous state of dress.”
Sounds easy enough. Pulling magic again, I try to control it better than last time. It doesn’t work. It shoots out of me like there’s a rocket launcher in my head. And, apparently, something has gone awry again if Tabitha’s merriment is any indication of what I’ve done. She has suddenly broken out into loud, raucous laughter again. I don’t even want to open my eyes. I really don’t. But I do.
Okay, maybe my imaginings of their previous state of dress didn’t quite hit the mark. I was apparently, probably way in the back of my mind, imagining the images of Fairies from my books on magic back home. Not real Fairies. Because I don’t remember any of them wearing giant fig leafs before this debacle began. But, they are now. “Oops,” is all I can manage.
Kegan looks almost as amused as Tabitha now as he looks down at his fig leaf loin cloth. I have to admit, he looks almost as good in his as Kallen does. Isla looks like she’s trying to be patient but the look is quickly coming apart at the seams. Kallen still looks mad.
“Perhaps it would be easier for you to simply imagine us sky-clad. Then we will attire ourselves as we see fit,” Isla says.
I nod in embarrassment and close my eyes again. This time, I imagine them all naked, and I can feel the blood rushing to my cheeks in a wild blush of color. When I tentatively open my eyes this time, they are all sky-clad.
Isla inclines her head in acknowledgement of me finally getting it right. Immediately, she is back in the dress she had been wearing earlier. Without a word, she turns on her heels and walks out.
Chapter 7
Tabitha and Kallen are not far behind in getting dressed. But Kegan doesn’t seem to be in a hurry. I avert my eyes the best I can, trying not to show how much it bothers me. This is their realm, after all. Kallen has told me that being sky-cl
ad is not unusual for Fairies.
Maybe that’s not true, because Kallen slaps Kegan on the chest. “Clothes,” he growls.
Kegan’s eyes swing from my embarrassed face, to Kallen’s angry one. There’s a glint in his eyes and for a moment, I think he’s going to ignore Kallen’s demand. With a final grin in my direction, he dons a pair of shorts. He leaves his muscular chest that definitely rivals Kallen’s deliciously bare. I still try to avert my eyes and I’m pretty sure Kallen notices because he narrows his eyes at me.
I have no idea what to say, so I go with the obvious. “Um, do you guys want to go swimming now?”
“I will leave you young ones to your day,” Tabitha says. “Xandra, we will try again later, and next time, we will try to find something to do that will not get Kallen’s feathers ruffled as they are now.” She gives him a pointed look and then laughs again as she shakes her head. I’m pretty sure she’s imagining him in the bikini again because her shoulders are shaking as she walks out the door.