by Lori Foster
“Is she all right?ְ” Wolf moved and knelt beside them both, his nearness causing Summer’s pulse to jump. He traced his fingers down Honeysuckle’s arm, gentle and full of true affection.
He would make a wonderful father, Summer realized, the thought cutting hard into her chest. A wonderful father of beautiful winged children who he would teach to fly while his equally beautiful wife soared gracefully by his side.
She banished the picture with a sigh and gathered Honeysuckle into her arms. “I’ll put her to bed. Your wings won’t fit,” she added with a nod to the low doorway that led into the back of the house.
Wolf rolled his shoulders, his jaw clenching as pain radiated through his muscles. “I don’t think I planned this as well as I should have,” he said, his mouth thinning to a grimace.
“Probably not, but you made a frightened little girl very happy today.”
She quickly tucked Honeysuckle into the mass of pillows Blister provided, checking to be certain a thick pile of rugs was on the floor beside the bed in case the princess woke up in the middle of the night and fell, forgetting in her sleep that she could no longer fly.
Taking a deep breath, she returned to the main room to face Wolf … alone. Blister was already snoring from his bed by the kitchen stove. Wolf was standing in the middle of the floor, circling his arms as he lowered his head from shoulder to shoulder, trying to work the pain away.
“Let me release your wings.” Summer motioned him to sit. “They need to be stretched out at least once a day,” she added, dropping to the thick pile of furs Blister had gathered for his bed. “There should be enough room.”
He grimaced and turned around, plopping down in front of her. “I really had planned to go without them the whole time.”
“I don’t intend for you to fly around the chamber.” She smiled when he glanced at her over his shoulder, his eyes dark and enigmatic.
“Will it make you uncomfortable?”
“No.”
In truth, she wanted to see his wings, smooth her hands across the beautiful membranes, run her fingers over his skin to feel the tightly bunched muscles beneath.
She wanted to touch him, however she could.
He sighed as she unlaced the silk thread and one wing unfurled. He moaned when she released the other, stretching them out cautiously. His wings were perfect. The indigo blue design swirled across the center, fading to the color of a noon-day sky, shot through with streaks of gold and banded by inky-black.
They expanded to fill the space, fluttering softly, shifting the air in rhythmic beats. The sight of them gave her an unexpected sense of pride as their glow mottled the walls with shimmering light.
Summer reached to unsnap his shirt at the shoulders, tugging the material down until it pooled around his hips, her fingers itching to smooth across his body.
In the light his skin gleamed a rich and burnished gold. He’d grown broader these past few years, his body filling out in all the right places, no longer the thin boy she’d adored. Despite the difference, her flesh remembered the feel of his, her hands moving of their own accord to rub the knots from the aching muscles.
But Wolf remained stiff and hesitant beneath her palms as if afraid he’d taken too many liberties already.
“Relax, my king,” she chided, kneading her hands down his spine. “I promise not to hurt you.”
“Too bad for me.”
His voice was rough, thick, and Summer shivered at the emotion that laced his words. He’d always been unabashedly seductive, wooing her with a steadfastness that took her breath away.
But now she knew better. Whatever he said, however he said it, nothing would happen between them. He was king, and she was crippled.
Simple as that, no more to the tale.
Comforted by the turn of her thoughts, she grew bolder, digging deeper into the muscle, finding the knotted tissue and massaging it free. Wolf melted in her hands as she worked, and Summer scooted close enough she could use her elbows on a particularly stubborn spot. His head fell back to rest against her shoulder, his hair soft where it brushed her cheek.
She’d always loved his too long hair. While the other boys had poked fun and ranted on about his girlish appearance, Wolf had smiled and refused to take the bait.
“Women like it,” he’d replied, proving his point when a row of fairy lasses flittered past, giggling and blushing and throwing him coquettish glances beneath their lashes.
Summer had been one of those girls fluttering by. It was the spring before the first trace of blight had appeared on her wings, and Wolf had asked her to dance with him at the next Full Moon Ball.
She agreed and spent the next few days digging frantically through her wardrobe for the perfect dress. She needed to look her best … especially since his mother was rumored to be looking for a suitable future daughter-in-law.
In those days she had never dreamed her life would turn out the way it had. That she would lose everything in a few short weeks.
Pain lanced into her stomach. What was she doing reliving the past? A past she could never hope to regain?
If she had any sense, she would send him packing on the morrow, back to the upper kingdom where he belonged. Already her heart was splintering back into pieces, the scars ripping open to release a longing so strong it took her breath away.
Her hands trembled against his skin. She pulled them away, startled when he shook his head and turned his face into her throat.
Need and loss and forbidden desire saturated the air between them. He reached back and circled his arms around her waist, dragging her tight against him. Her breasts tingled where they scraped against his back, another ache of want settling hard between her legs, a hunger long buried flying from its sleep.
She’d never taken another man to her bed. What other man could have compared?
“Please,” he whispered. “Stay with me.”
“I can’t.” Her voice was coarse, broken, ugly like her malformed body. Only her pride remained strong and perfect—for what good it did when every other emotion she possessed urged her to surrender.
“I would have given it all up for you,” he continued in the same strangled tone, “if you’d asked me.”
“Then you are a bigger fool than I give you credit for.”
She pushed him away and stood at last, brushing imaginary creases from her breeches to hide how much it hurt to let him go. He didn’t turn to look at her, keeping his gaze firmly rooted to the wall before him.
“I will have Blister redo the laces in the morning before Honeysuckle wakes up,” she said, refusing to acknowledge how bad her voice was shaking. “You will sleep much better this way,” she added lamely before ducking into her own bedchamber without a formal good-night.
A broken heart trumped protocol every time, she thought bitterly, tossing and turning as the night wore slowly on. Even a king knew that much.
Dawn found her exhausted, dry-eyed, and determined. She had work to do, and Honeysuckle needed her, whether Wolf was here or not. Still, she braved a glance at herself in the mirror, trying not to notice the empty space behind her shoulders as she brushed her hair and got ready to face them both.
four
They spent the next few days exploring the world around them. With the resiliency only a child possessed, Honeysuckle hiked and climbed and crawled with abandon.
She was fascinated by this new land beneath the trees, and after the very first day never once complained about her feet or legs hurting. If she occasionally forgot and fell while trying to jump for things too high for her to reach, she hid her awkwardness and moved on to some new sport.
Wolf, to Summer’s continued surprise, managed to keep up with them fairly well, despite the bulk and dead weight of his tightly bound wings. He greeted the ground-siders with joviality and warmth, gaining their friendship along with their respect.
The time flew by so quickly, Summer was stunned when Tiger-lily and Stag-fern flew down to announce their chambers would b
e finished in two days and they would be taking Honeysuckle home.
They even presented their daughter with a pair of finely crafted wings exactly like her real ones. She could wear them in public and not feel outcast or ashamed. The child was delighted with the gift, and Summer had to admit there was some merit to the idea.
But she froze when Wolf whispered lightly in her ear. “I could have a pair made for you. I remember exactly what your wings looked like, down to the last flecks of silver that shimmered along their edges.”
Her throat tightened at his words, grief and fury threatening to cut off all her breath. She had thought he’d come to care for her exactly as she was, but his offer cut deep, insecurities she’d thought conquered now screaming at the edges of her mind.
“I am not a child. I have learned not to care how I look or to worry that others might think me less than whole.”
She lowered her eyes so he couldn’t see her tears. She’d known better than to fall in love with him again, that letting him back into her heart was a mistake that would cost her dearly. All her self-respect and discipline went flying in the breeze, swept away on the wings she’d lost and the knowledge her world would never be his.
“Honeysuckle, you look beautiful,” she said, bending down to give the little fairy a hug. “If I didn’t know better, I would swear they were real. But you must remember the difference,” she added in a cautionary tone. “Especially when you are way … up … there.”
They both craned their necks back to look, falling giggling into a heap when they lost their balance and toppled over.
“Will you come visit me sometime? She can come, right?” Honeysuckle gave her parents a pleading look.
Tiger-lily nodded and held her arms out for her child. “Summer is welcome to stay with us whenever she likes.”
Trying to keep her smile in place, Summer said, “Next time I get very brave and climb all those stairs, I promise to see you. But in the meantime, I have a brand-new fairy who needs to learn to walk like you.”
It was a sad truth. Blight couldn’t be prevented or cured, and several fairy children a year were forced to lose their wings. They came to Summer from every household, but while most had been forced to remain grounded before, she had high hopes that more and more would return to their families and friends.
Wolf questioned his brother. “How much work is left to be done?”
“Very little. The public balconies are all in place, and the last set of stairs will be completed next week. After that, every fairy in the kingdom will have full access high and low.”
Wolf clapped him on the shoulder. “Excellent. I knew I could count on you.”
“Will you be returning with Honeysuckle?” The prince’s gaze bounced from Wolf to Summer, although his tone remained neutral enough. “People are talking, wondering if you have had some accident, or caught blight and lost your wings. They need to see for themselves you are whole and healthy. What should I tell them?”
“Tell them to mind their own damned business.” Wolf frowned, his mouth thinning in irritation.
Stag-fern matched his brother look for surly look. “You have been away too long, Your Majesty. You have obligations—”
“Duties. Commitments. I am aware of my responsibilities.”
“Then I suggest you get back to them.”
The prince bowed before turning to give Honeysuckle another hug. “Your mother and I will see you soon, little one. We have missed you terribly. Thank you, Summer.” His voice lowered as he faced her, his expression stern when he stepped in front of her to block his brother’s view. “I trust your loyalty to your people and your king remains intact.”
Meaning she knew her place and would do the right thing, staying below when Wolf returned to his world in the sky. “My loyalty has never faltered,” she answered, making a light curtsy.
Stag-fern’s look was genuinely respectful when he replied. “So it hasn’t.”
Taking Tiger-lily’s hand, the two soared high, soon lost amid the leaves that talked in the afternoon breeze.
LATER that night, after her charge was safely tucked into bed, Summer came face-to-face with Wolf for the first time all day. Trying her best to remain indifferent, she sat on the couch and plucked at the pussy willow, shredding the tufts between her fingers until she’d torn an entire chunk off one side.
“If you keep that up, you’ll be sitting on the floor by winter.” Wolf watched her from the shadows. Blister had freed his wings, and they spread around him like indigo fire, all his power and grace on display for her to see.
She felt naked in comparison, a ghost of the woman she should have been, the beautiful fairy who could fly to the heavens. Unnerved by his appraisal, she stood and moved to the door, needing to put some space between them.
“I am sorry,” he said, his voice like silk along her skin, “for the stupid suggestion about the wings. I think you are as beautiful now as you ever were.”
She shook her head, unwilling to listen. If she was angry, it would be easier when he left. She clutched the emotion close, using it as a shield between them.
“I don’t need your pity or your empty flattery.”
Rushing through the door and out into the night, Summer willed him not to follow. But Wolf had always been a determined man. Bellowing for Blister, he had the brownie help shove him through the door, both of them cursing as they fought his unruly wings.
“This is much better,” he said when he finally made it outside, pinning her against the tree. With his fully spread wings standing guard behind him, Summer found herself well and truly captured.
“Come fly with me.” Before she could say no, he hauled her into his arms. “Put your feet on mine, and hold very tight,” he ordered, snugging his arms completely around her waist.
“Honeysuckle—”
“Is safe and sound in Blister’s care.” Wolf pressed his lips against her cheek and pulled her hips tight to his.
Flames of desire licked between her legs, the insistent ache drowning out all rational thought. He nudged her chin up with his until he claimed her mouth with a groan of triumph, his tongue demanding she open and surrender to his kiss.
Despite her best intentions, Summer couldn’t resist the feel of his mouth on hers. With a shudder and a sigh, she gave in, granting him access, sanity and reason vanishing like mist beneath the heat of Wolf’s glorious presence.
“I actually think I have a better idea,” he said at last, spinning her deftly around until her back was pressed against his chest. “I could never do this before,” he added in a seriously gloating tone. “This is better than I imagined.”
His hands curled around her breasts, strumming their tips into stiff and needy peaks. She trembled, trying desperately to hide her hunger, but Wolf’s chuckle of satisfaction proved he wasn’t fooled. He pinched harder, drawing the first whimper from her lips, continuing to seduce her as he slowly lifted off the ground.
Sudden fear made her stiffen as the world she was used to slipped away, but his arms were sturdy as oak branches, keeping her locked in his embrace with no chance he would let her fall.
The moon was a chunk along the horizon, its silvered light an ethereal glow. Stars blinked madly as if welcoming her home while the wind sang ancient songs of freedom that resonated in her soul.
But all of it paled beside the way Wolf made her feel, his teeth scraping a path along her neck while one hand dropped to burrow beneath the waistband of her pants.
When he spread his legs, he spread hers with them, giving him better access to stroke and tease the heart of desire nestled at the juncture of her thighs. He slid a finger into her, thrusting deep, biting harder on her neck when she lifted her arms to tangle in his hair.
The sky spun around them in a whirl of sparks as Summer gave in to the power of Wolf’s touch. She was home, brought to a place she thought she’d never see again, lifted by the splendor of being held in his arms as her body hummed with growing hunger.
He sur
ged his fingers high into her flesh, forcing a whimper from her throat as her body stretched to take him farther. “Come for me, my love,” he demanded, rasping his thumb along the bud of sensitive flesh that ached and begged for more.
As she arched and cried his name, he flew them into a secluded bower, cupping her body against the tree as she trembled in his arms.
This was what she dreamt of when she was alone in the dark. This was the man whose face filled her every waking hour. This was the man she loved, now and forever, no matter that she might not ever have the chance to be with him again.
Tugging her pants farther open, he splayed his other hand on her stomach, sliding beneath her shirt to find her nipple and roll it between his fingers. And all the while he stroked between her legs, burrowing deep and releasing the pressure, only to thrust in hard once more.
Her legs shook as the sensation grew unbearable. “Harder,” she urged him, her breath catching on the word. “I … uh … please, Wolf”. If she begged for his touch, she was beyond caring as the slick of his hand gave her all she wanted.
She came in a rush of heat and abandon, her flesh clamping tight around his hand as she scraped her fingers through his hair and buried her face in the thick black strands.
But he hadn’t finished with her yet.
In the time it took for her to snatch a breath, he spun her around to face him, letting her pants fall to her feet.
“Take them off and wrap your legs around me.”
There was no denying his order. Without a second thought, Summer stepped out of her clothes before smoothing her hands up his thighs to trace the line of his swollen flesh.
A rip of material set him free, and he grabbed her hips when she snugged her legs around his waist.
He was hard and thick, more than ready to take her as he bore her back against the branch. She tensed when he entered, whispering her discomfort as he thrust into her body. It had been so long, so long since he’d loved her.
Wolf swore, stopping his advance, but Summer refused to let him pull away, keeping her heels locked behind his back. A growl of need rumbled against her chest as he bent his head and kissed her, his tongue sliding between her lips, causing another arc of desire to burn between her legs. She relaxed and he plunged deeper, his tongue mimicking the action, over and over until he had settled himself completely inside her, rocking them both against the tree.