Hunter: Faction 10: The Isa Fae Collection

by Angela Fristoe

  A gnawing ache in his gut reminded him of who she was, or rather who she wasn’t, but before he had time to reconsider what he was about to do, the flashing of his cuff caught his eye and he made his decision. There were moments when soft words and time could pave an easy path, and then there were times like that when his life teetered on the edge, and he had to do what it took to survive. The heat of her breath fanned across his mouth, and he licked his lips as his desire to live was overcome by a more primal need.

  Garrett swooped in and pressed his lips to Thora’s. A jolt shuddered through her body, and a gasp escaped her. With his fingers burrowed in her silky hair, his thumbs massaged her jaw at the spot right before her ears. He nipped at her lower lip, then brushed his tongue across it to soothe the slight sting it was sure to produce.

  Her mouth softened, and he took advantage, letting his tongue slip through the seam of her lips. His tongue danced across hers, and he savored the fruity nectar as her glands responded to him.

  A delicious shock coursed through him. He'd expected peaches. Every breed he ever kissed had tasted of peaches. Yet the woman had a distinctly different taste.

  Raspberries. And he'd never tasted anything so luscious before. Garrett deepened the kiss, drawing Thora’s sweetness in to him.

  Her tongue flicked over his, and he realized his concerns over her inexperience were misplaced. Surrendering to the passion stirring within him, a moan escaped him. He gripped her hips and drew her closer until the length of her was pressed entirely against him.

  He tried to remain disconnected, to remind himself that it was merely an act of survival, yet with each little moan and sigh she gave, he was pulled deeper into her spell.

  The curve of her hips enticed him to broaden his hold, and he spread his fingers lower, until they teased the delicate arch of her lower back. She shifted closer, rubbing against him, and a deep groan rumbled through him.

  He slipped one hand even lower, cupping the swell of her ass, and let his other hand drift upwards along her ribs. As he reached the underside of her breast, he paused for a moment, trying to read her response. With the subtle arching of her body against him, he cupped the soft flesh, letting his thumb skim over its rigid tip.

  Thora gave a sharp gasp and her fingers scored his back, dragging the material of his shirt along his skin. The sting pulled him back, and he tore his mouth from hers, leaving both of them panting. He stared at her swollen lips. The perfect pink bow of them tempted him to take more of her.

  Then a shade of green passed over her face before disappearing and reappearing again.

  His cuff.

  He twisted his wrist to see he'd reached over ten percent atern. Enough for him to comfortably make it a few more days before needing a recharge, and more than he'd anticipated from only a few minutes of kissing. He glanced down at Thora’s elfin features, and the annoying gut clenching he'd experienced earlier returned. It was only made worse when she smiled and leaned in to him.

  “See?” he said. “Just a kiss.”

  She let go of his shirt and lifted her fingers to her mouth, tracing the delicate flesh. Passion filled her eyes, and he held himself still, refusing to let himself fall in to the trap of desire. Her emotions would be on a high from her first Fae kiss. He’d been told that the production of atern could stimulate such a response, though, strangely enough, he’d never witnessed it. His Fae nature prodded him to press forward, to delve deeper into the desire and find mutual satisfaction, but his conscience held him back.

  He tried to form the words that would gently bring her down. But before he had time to find the right words, the forest was filled with a loud crackling that echoed around them. Both of them looked up.

  The blanket of tree branches shifted, their leaves tickling the top of the dome as the trees retreated. Moonlight shone around them, faintly lighting their dome, breaking what remained of the trance they had been trapped in.

  “What’s happening?” Thora asked, her voice hushed as if she expected the trees to hear her and come back.

  He held a finger to his lips, silencing her, and hawk-eyed, he watched until, in the distance between the thick trunks of the oaks and elm trees still surrounding them, he caught sight of the clearing.

  “They’re letting us go,” he finally answered.

  “Why?”

  “You’ve been found.”

  She spun around, searching through the thinning foliage for anyone who might have stumbled upon them. Garrett chuckled at her confused expression as no one appeared.

  “Not by the Bascadors,” he said. “In these woods, found can mean many things. In your case, I suspect you have found yourself. You know where you are going.”

  “I do?” Her surprise was so genuine.

  “Perhaps not consciously, but somewhere deep inside you, you know where you belong.”

  “Where?”

  He took her shoulders in his hands and turned her to face the clearing. Even for a Fae, it was hard to see what lay before them, so as she squinted in to the darkness, he stepped behind her and placed his fingers to her temples. A silver light shimmered around the spot he touched.

  Thora gasped as the towering palace became visible. “Is that it? Is that The Sanctuary?”

  “It is.”

  Nervous energy spiraled from her, engulfing him in the heady mix of emotions. Excitement, relief, and sadness all flowed in a funnel around her, swirling into a ferocious whirlwind that threatened to unbalance his own emotions and drag him in to the tumultuous fray.

  Quickly, Garrett dropped his hands and gazed down at Thora. She seemed utterly unaware of what she was feeling and the effect it might have had on him. Instead, she stared into the darkness to where The Sanctuary stood as if she could still see it.

  “We should get some rest,” Garrett said.

  Thora glanced up at him, her forehead creased in confusion.

  “We’re not going now?”

  “You may be found, but the woods are still a dangerous place. Especially at night. That’s when the pixies come out.”

  “I’ve never seen a pixie,” Thora said. “Do they truly live in here?”

  “They do. You’ve seen them plenty of times the past few weeks. You just didn’t know what they were.”

  “Garrett, it’s not nice to tease.” She poked him in the chest with a slender finger. “I think I would know a pixie if I saw one.”

  “Really?” He crossed his arms and rocked back on his heels. “And what is it that a pixie looks like?”

  “They look like tiny people with wings, wearing clothes made of leaves and moss.”

  He couldn’t hold back the laugh that burst forth. “That sounds like one of the humans’ fairy tales.”

  Instantly, he regretted his comment as a scowl wrinkled her face and moisture glistened in her eyes. It probably was a human fairy tale ,told to her by her witch mother. Besides, he supposed they did resemble people in a way. They had the basic form, with legs, arms, a torso, and head. But the composition of their features made them look more like little monsters than people.

  “Come here.” He grasped her hand and led her to the edge of the dome.

  He squatted in front of a small thorny bush and reached his hand through the barrier. There was a suctioning sound as the cool air outside rushed in to their warm space. He gripped a branch, letting the thorn puncture his skin, and gave it a firm shake.

  Within seconds, a group of small lights appeared around the base of the bush. He swiftly scooped his hand down and grabbed one in his hand, then yanked his arm back in. The rest of the lights shot toward him, hitting the barrier and bouncing back. After a few tries, the lights flickered out.

  In his hand, a series of sharp pricks made him wince.

  “Play is done. Find peace in sleep, and let us be,” he said, and projected a calming force on the pixie. Due to its small size, it took only a fraction of the spell he'd used on Thora, and after a moment, he felt the pixie relax and lay down in his palm. Slowly, he
opened his hands and held it up for Thora to see.

  Pixies existed around the realm, and while he'd seen some from neighboring Factions, the ones in the Neraida Faction were among the most hideous.

  “It’s disgusting.” Thora hesitantly poked the creature.

  No longer than his thumb, the pixie’s wrinkled body withered as the light of the fire fell on it. Jagged teeth hung from its mouth, and three beady red eyes stared up at them sightlessly, as it had no lids to shield them in sleep.

  A mewing sound came from the pixie, and Thora’s expression softened. He'd never understood how women could find the ugliest things adorable, and he had no interest in learning. He thrust his hand back through the barrier and released the creature.

  The moment it was free, the pixie lit up, zipping around as it attempted to figure out what had happened.

  “So, it didn’t look precisely like I'd imagined, but it was harmless enough.” Her gaze fixated on the growing cloud of glowing pixies outside the dome.

  “A single one can be harmless when sleeping, but together, the mischief they create can be horrifying.”

  She turned from the pixies, her eyes going to the ground. Garrett wondered if she realized that pixies had been involved in the death of her friend.

  “We’ll leave in the morning.” He wandered over to the spot he'd chosen for his sheet. He lay down and folded his arms beneath his head.

  Thora puttered around for a few minutes before settling on her own blanket on the other side of the fire. Her unsteady breathing told him that sleep wasn’t on her mind.

  “Britta loved sleeping under the stars,” she said, a sad and pensive note to her words.

  “I know,” he replied. “You told me.”

  A slight chuckle escaped her. “My father always said I'd make the worst liar. I can never remember what stories I’ve told.”

  He didn’t say anything; just lay there waiting, knowing she wasn’t done yet. It was one of many quirks he'd learned about Thora over the past weeks. Anytime she wanted to ask him a question she thought was personal either to himself or her, she'd start with a story and then lapse in to an awkward pause before jumping right in.

  “The kiss—Is it always like that with a Fae?”

  He smiled at the hesitation in her voice. “No. Every kiss is different.”

  “Every one?”

  He paused before answering, because while his response had been automatic, he realized he actually meant it. Whether he was kissing a woman for the first time or the hundredth, no kiss was the same. Sometimes it was so subtle he almost missed it in his memories, yet as he swept his tongue over his lips and caught the tangy flavor of Thora that lingered there, he was amazed at how he could ever have thought they were all the same.

  “Garrett?” she prodded when his pause dragged on too long.

  “Every one. Surely Frederick had kissed you?”

  “Frederick was my friend.”

  “Then, another?”

  Her lips tipped into a soft smile of remembrance. “There was a boy who grew up with us. We… kissed many times, but it didn’t feel like that.”

  “There’s always something different about each kiss,” he said. “The taste, smell, feel. All of your senses pick up minute differences.”

  “Have you kissed many women?” She shot up to a sitting position, and her blonde curls wafted around her as she stared at him with wide eyes. “Never mind. I don’t want to know that. I mean… just… just pretend I didn’t ask.”

  “It’s forgotten.”

  “Because it’s not any of my business even if I was curious, which I’m not. It was only a question.”

  He struggled to hold in a chuckle as she stumbled over her words. “Thora, it’s fine.”

  “Good. Excellent. So, we’ll go in the morning?”

  “We will.”

  “How long will it take to get there, do you think?”

  “It’s hard to say. Once we’re out of the woods, it will be easier to determine that. Until then, we’re at the mercy of the forest.”

  “Do you have enough atern? Do we need to kiss again?”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said, regret lowering his voice.

  “Oh. I just thought…”

  Tension crept up his spine and tightened his neck. He had his reasons for not kissing her again, and it had nothing to do with not wanting to. Telling Thora would only put them in jeopardy again. He rolled on to his side and met her eyes across the fire.

  “You’re a beautiful woman, and I enjoyed our kiss, but there are many reasons why we shouldn’t do that again. Tomorrow, everything will make sense. I promise.

  She gave a slight nod, and he relaxed as she appeared to accept his reasoning, but it was short lived as thoughts of who and what awaited them at The Sanctuary took over. He'd only known her a few weeks, but he was reluctant to hurt her, and if he allowed the kiss to turn into anything more than a recharge of his atern that was exactly what would happen.

  Chapter 5

  The bright rays of the morning sun brought Thora from her sleep. Her eyes cracked open, and then blinked rapidly until they'd adjusted to the harsh glare. What she saw left her gasping.

  Around her, the dew that had settled on the grass and rocks overnight crystallized into minute particles of mist that softly swirled upward. Mesmerized by the evaporating dew, she watched as the light hit the particles, causing them to glow and illuminate the dome with a subtle green that floated to the top of the shield, briefly blanketing the translucent ceiling until the droplets pressed through and vanished in to the blue sky.

  When the last of the particles disappeared, a sigh escaped her, and she looked to Garrett, only to find him watching her from the other side of the fire.

  His eyes held a smoky gaze that caused warmth to spread through her body and tingles to run along her arms. She understood desire and attraction, had enjoyed the pleasure of both, but nothing like that.

  Fae were highly affectionate, and the witches they'd mated with were only too willing to fall under their spell. They didn’t bother to hide their desires behind closed doors. Seeing couples kiss and exchange tender touches had been a natural way of life when Thora was growing up. She didn’t notice it until she grew older. Then, seeing those displays of emotion stirred a longing in her to have the same depth of love for another.

  It had been that longing that had brought her together with Darrian. Her options had been limited in the village, but even then, he would have been her choice. He’d been sweet and tender, and they had fumbled their way through kisses and eventually sex. She’d found pleasure and satisfaction with him, but never the soul churning love she knew existed. When he left the village, she’d been sad, knowing he would never return, but she hadn’t tried to stop him.

  Thora wanted someone who made her giggle and blush with secret words, and who would tuck her hair behind her ear while she gazed up at him in awe. Her mother had hoped she would find that with Frederick, and perhaps he would have whispered in her ear and played with her hair, but she always knew she would never have felt desire for him.

  The kiss with Garrett only showed how right she'd been to doubt that future. Long after his deep breathing signaled his slumber, she'd lain awake with the memory of his lips on hers. She'd tried focusing on the sounds of the woods around them, tried thinking of The Sanctuary, and even of her mother and sister.

  Yet, she kept going back to those too brief moments when nothing else mattered except Garrett and the sensations that spread through her at the taste and feel of him. Her breaths turned shallow, and her tongue peeked out, sliding across her lower lip.

  “You need to stop looking at me like that,” Garrett said.

  Thora flushed. She hadn’t meant for him to notice her. She hadn’t meant for him to realize that she was hoping for something from him that went beyond the friendship that had grown between them.

  “Like what?” She tried putting as much innocence in to her voice as she could conj
ure.

  “Thora… I told you last night, there can’t be anything between us.”

  “Because you’re Fae, and I’m a breed?”

  He shook his head. He sat up, crossing his legs in front of him, and ran a hand through his hair, smoothing down the bed head curls that framed his face.

  “That’s just one part of it. There’s…" Garrett sighed. “It doesn’t matter why. It can’t happen.”

  Thora swallowed thickly around the lump in her throat. It didn’t matter why. Or maybe there was no reason why. Maybe he just wasn’t interested. For her, she never had choices. Her future had been Frederick. He was it. Garrett, though… He had those options.

  She'd never considered her looks much. When the only man around to attract held no interest, there was little to worry about. But Garrett had seen hundreds, maybe thousands, of women graced with the ethereal beauty of the Fae that Thora knew she could never match.

  “It’s not about you,” Garrett said.

  “I understand.” Thora sat up, throwing off the sheet. Despite the thinness of the material, it had captured her body heat and cocooned her in warmth, and she shivered at her sudden exposure to the cool morning air. “How long will it take to get there?”

  Garrett rested his forearms on his knees and gazed out toward The Sanctuary. “A few hours.”

  She hadn’t thought it possible that she'd have to feign excitement at the thought of finally leaving the woods, but disappointment settled in her chest. In the trees, she could pretend that when she left them behind her, she'd go home.

  But reality couldn’t be held at bay anymore. When they reached their destination, it would be over. Garrett would go back to his life, and she would begin a new one.

  “You’ll like it there,” Garrett said, as if he sensed her sudden hesitation.

  Thora nodded and forced a smile. She stood and rolled up the blanket, passing it back to Garrett to place in his bag. She tried acting as normal as possible. A snort burst from her. Normal. Nothing about her life for the past three weeks had been normal. According to Garrett and his knowledge of the faction outside her village, she'd never lived a normal life.