The warm sensation of his hand running up my thigh caused my body to lift towards his out of habit. He’d been my lover for many years. I could navigate around him with my eyes closed. Thoughts of the way things used to be came flooding into my head. I remembered all the ways our bodies had joined. How Cedric had left no hole undiscovered, and how he’d seemed to cherish every moment of being with me.
Everything had been so simple, so pure, before Cedric went off to war. Everyone had thought that we would one day marry. Whenever he heard these remarks he laughed. The idea of marrying his very dearest friend seemed absurd. He had never stopped to ask if I thought it as silly as him, because I didn’t. The day I had been informed of his death, I was devastated. At that very moment I wanted nothing more than to be holding him in my arms, I would have welcomed the chance to hear him laugh again about taking me as his wife. Now that I had him back, everything should have been right. It was far from it, now there were so many other factors to contend with.
I pushed on Cedric’s shoulders gently, signaling him to stop. A low throaty laugh came from him. It sent goose bumps all down my body. This new and aggressive Cedric was exciting and refreshing. His kisses came harder. I lost myself in them.
Cedric’s head snapped back. "What was that?"
I looked around. All I could see were the edges of the river and the surrounding trees. It was hours until dawn would break. The forest was so thick that even then it would still be difficult to see. I was about to tell him that I heard nothing when the sound of snapping twigs echoed around me.
Cedric was crouched next to me in an instant. They would not be taking him back alive, that much was clear. He was a fool, and in no condition to take on the Unblessed Court’s guards. They would tear him to pieces before he knew what hit him. I wouldn’t watch him be slaughtered. I crawled around and positioned myself in front of him. He tried to push me out of the way, but I held my ground. I left him no choice but to use force to get me to move and I knew he’d never do that.
I stood slowly, listening for more evidence that someone was near. My skin tingled. It was that feeling I got when I was near something magical. Cedric mirrored my every move. He had given up trying to get me to let him lead, which was a good sign that his mind wasn’t completely gone. I concentrated hard on the scent of the earth. The dampness of the forest floor and the smell of bark helped me to call upon the power I needed to help us. I was no warrior, so my hand-to-hand combat skills lacked severely. My magic on the other hand, went way beyond my years. Being royalty equaled being powerful. Calling on power gives the same sensation as when a limb falls asleep. It’s like that numbness followed by a prickling feeling that you cannot escape. My only exit from it is to release it, how it manifests itself is dependant upon my state of mind. I heard another noise off to my left and turned to face that direction. My hand instinctively rose up in the event that it would be needed. A quick sudden burst of movement came charging out at us. I was about to flay it when Cedric grabbed me by the waist and yanked me to the ground.
"What are you doing?" I tried to get back on my feet, but his grip was too tight.
"Look," he whispered.
I followed his gaze to the edge of the river. There stood a large horse-like creature. Its skin was a medium green and its mane looked matted. I could make out tiny bumps that looked to be warts all over it. My eyes scanned down its massive legs. There was webbing between the v-shape of its hooves. I had no clue what it was. All I did know was that it had come very close to being incinerated. I looked at Cedric, who was still bear-hugging me.
"What is it?"
"I really thought that you were paying attention when we studied the creatures from this side of the mountain. Were you too preoccupied by my presence to bother?" His voice was steady. He sounded like his old self again.
"Seriously, it looks like a horse, but I’m sure it’s not."
"It’s a Kelpie. Remember, they haunt the riverbeds here." His grip loosened on me as his hands slid down my arms. I shivered slightly. "Are you cold?"
I nodded my head and felt him snuggle in close to me. The heat from his naked body began to warm me. Cedric’s fingers danced along my ribcage. I let out a small laugh. That sent the Kelpie splashing out and into the water. It disappeared within seconds of breaking the surface.
I was happy that I didn’t have to face the guards from the Unblessed Court. I had lost my interest in finding the Prince. After talking with Cedric, I had no intention of honoring my end of the agreement. No, I would not agree to be his wife. I let my hand slide up and dance along the scar on Cedric’s neck. His jaw stiffened. He was still every bit as gorgeous to me, even with this minor imperfection.
As we lay there, we began to discuss what our next move would be. I wanted to go back to the Blessed Court to have my mother straighten things out for us. Cedric balked at the idea of letting me walk back into my mother’s venomous reach. He did have a good point, she had basically made a deal with devil.
I drifted off to sleep with Cedric’s arms enclosing my body. No decision had been reached as to where we were headed. The only thing we’d been able to agree on was that Cedric was right. My mother was not to be trusted.
Chapter 5
"You’re a hard one to find."
My eyes opened quickly. I looked up. The sun was blocked by a figure standing directly above me. My stomach tightened, and I turned to roll away. Strong hands grabbed me by the back of the arms.
"Hey, hold on. It’s me."
I stopped trying to flee and turned around. The sun was still at his back, but now that I was not flat on the ground, I could clearly make out Rowan. I turned and looked next to me. Cedric was gone. I scanned the edges of the river. He was nowhere to be seen.
"Well, I thought you would at least want to apologize after yesterday," Rowan said. He put his hand out to me. I reached up and took it. He helped me to my feet.
"I must say, I do like your choice of sleepwear."
I looked down. I was still completely nude. Rowan came closer to me. His hand brushed the side of my cheek. I waited for him to strike me. After all, I had knocked the man out cold the day before. Instead, he leaned forward and planted a kiss on my lips. "Please, do not feel the need to make such dramatic exits all the time."
This made me laugh. I lifted my face to his and kissed his cheek. "I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to try and stop me. I had to try to speak with the Prince myself."
He put his hand on my shoulder and eased my body back against the tree. "Well, I take it that you were not successful in finding the castle."
"No, I found it alright," I said. He took a quick step towards me. Worry flashed over his face. "Well actually, it sort of found me."
"What happened?"
"Something dark, like a moving shadow, jumped out at me. I tried to fight it, but it was too powerful for me. I awoke in a cell in the dungeon."
Anger ripped through his chiseled features. He tightened his grip on my shoulder. Already pressed tightly against the tree, I had nowhere else to go. "They put you in that rat infested filth hole?" I nodded my head slightly. He let out a strange sort of grunt. "Tell me that they let you go when you announced who you are."
I didn’t know what to say. He looked like he was ready to rip someone’s head off. Mine was the closest and I really didn’t have that on my to-do list.
"Not exactly," I said.
An enormous rising wave of his power pushed against my skin. He was ready to blow. "What happened?"
"I umm, I sort of let myself out." I tried to swallow, my throat tight. "I attacked Dermot, then Duane, and left."
Rowan’s gaze flickered down my body. He snatched up my left arm. My wrist had a perfect, huge bruise, in the shape of Dermot’s hand on it. He looked at my other wrist -- it was identical. His head dropped slowly. I was still being pinned to the tree by his hand. "By the looks of it, they attacked you first."
I just stood there silently. This must have said everything because
he let out a howl. "It was foolish to go off on your own. You’re lucky that you’re still alive."
Now I was the one getting angry. "Foolish? I’m foolish? I was trying to save your life! You’re welcome. I can’t believe that…."
He cut me off in mid-protest by shoving his tongue into my mouth. I didn’t fight back. No part of me wanted to harm him for loving me. I closed my eyes and let his mouth pull at mine. Each kiss made my body buck against his.
His thick fingers found their way to my silk binding and he pushed them into me, never stopping to ask my permission. He was one who took what he wanted, and now he wanted me. I clenched my opening around his fingers and felt myself creaming. He fingered me with a fury matched by his mouth. I cried out and swayed my hips against the tree. Rowan pulled his fingers from me and untied the front of his pants.
Thinking I was going to get to take him in my mouth, I edged my way down. He grabbed hold of me and lifted me off the ground. He slammed my body against the tree, impaling me with his erect cock without notice. I screamed out and pulled at his hair. It seemed only to encourage him.
Rowan crammed himself into my tight channel until full hilt and then stopped, leaving me pinned to the tree by his invasion. He looked me in the eye and moved his hand to my face. "I love you and you could have been killed by your foolish actions. Never do that again!" His lips came down on mine and the pain I was feeling subsided, giving way to the pleasure he was more than capable of inducing.
I bit at his lip while he moved himself in and out of me. Panting and unable to form any sort of words, I just clung tightly to him as he proved to me who was the dominant one in our relationship.
"Mackenzie, you’re so tight … you feel so good … ah!" he shouted, spilling his seed deep within me.
My body seized hold of him, milking him, as my orgasm coincided with his. Rowan slid out of me slowly, easing my feet to the ground, and putting his now sated cock back in his pants. He pressed himself against me and pulled my chin up.
"Never do anything that foolish again. Promise me."
"Let go of her!" Cedric’s voice came booming from my right.
Rowan and I turned quickly and saw Cedric standing about fifteen feet away from us. He held berries and fruits from the forest, and he was still very naked. Rowan’s energy surrounded me so much that I could barely breathe. He turned and looked at me then back to Cedric. I could only guess what went through his mind, and I was positive that it wasn’t good.
"It’s not what you think," I said quickly.
Cedric took a step closer to me, letting the fruit fall to the forest floor. Mackenzie, get away from him. I heard his deep voice in my head. I looked over at him and raised my eyebrow.
Rowan turned his attention back to me. His jaw was tight. He was enraged. "Please tell me what this is then, I am all ears."
Run, Mackenzie! Go, I will hold him off. Go! Cedric’s voice crowded the thoughts in my head. I had to push out at him with all my might to block him out.
"He’s my friend. I ran into him. He, we had to clean up. Our clothes were soaked." I turned and pointed at the limb were my dress still hung. "We fell asleep, that’s all."
Rowan turned and looked at Cedric. "Do you often wander this far from the Blessed Court?"
Cedric’s blue eyes squinted slightly. He was close to his breaking point with Rowan too. Cedric, no. It’s okay, I pushed this out at him without actually saying the words. His tall frame and long auburn hair looked magnificent in the morning sunlight, but his eyes looked horrified. I couldn’t worry about that right now. Rowan was a hell of a lot stronger than Cedric was at the moment. I was pretty sure that one strong strike of power on the part of Rowan would leave Cedric seriously injured or dead.
"Have we met before?" Rowan asked.
Cedric took another step towards Rowan and I. The look on his face told me that he was a little shocked. His lips curved into a tiny smile. "No … no I don’t believe that we’ve met before. I’m James."
I opened my mouth a bit to object to Cedric lying to Rowan about his name when I felt Cedric inside my head again. Do not breathe my name Mackenzie. It could cost me my life. The threat of losing him scared me so, and I did as he wished.
"Yes, James, this is Rowan." It felt awkward using Cedric’s middle name.
Rowan turned his attention back to me. He looked me over and then did something quite unexpected. He leaned down and kissed me. My body gave way to the pleasure of having him near me. The butterflies in my stomach returned and I felt sure that I’d let him take me right there if he wanted me. He pulled back quickly and left me standing there with my eyelids droopy with the need for sex.
"Mackenzie, did you have sex with James last night?" he asked.
Being under the influence of his passionate kiss left me in a state of complete disclosure, and he’d planned it that way, I was sure of it. I was happy that Cedric and I had not had sex last night. Had Rowan asked me if I’d ever had sex with James and not specified a timeline then I’m sure I would have said yes. As it stood I was able to answer "no" with complete honesty.
Rowan let out his breath and pulled me close to him. "That is good. I’m not sure I could bear the thought of my soul-mate sharing her body with another man."
"Soul-mate?" Cedric asked, sounding appalled.
I turned my attention to him and had to look away when I saw the hurt in his eyes. Rowan stepped forward and stared at Cedric. I felt Cedric in my head again. Are you still able to perform glamour? he asked. Glamour was another way of saying faerie magic, and was often used when referring to one Fay using magic of deception against another. I had always been good at it. I nodded my head. Good, make my scar disappear.
I did what he asked of me with little to no effort. All I had really done was make it impossible to see. His scar would always be there. I had just hid it from the eyes of others. Rowan moved in closer to Cedric and looked him over. He nodded, satisfied that he truly didn’t know Cedric. This made me feel relieved and I wasn’t even sure why.
Rowan turned his attentions back on me. "We should get you back to your mother. She is worried sick over your well-being."
The thought of my mother worrying about anyone other than herself was amusing. She never shed a single tear the day that the news of my father’s death reached us. He had been on the battlefield during one of the many fights between the Courts and never returned. My mother never so much as lit a candle for him, let alone shed a tear. I, however, had spent a month locked away in my room. Cedric had been the one to help me through it. Without him, I wasn’t sure I could have made it.
Rowan pulled on my arm and led me over to my now dry dress. He handed it to me and looked at Cedric with a watchful eye. "Let’s be on our way. I want to get you home before your mother sends out another regiment of guards to find you."
I pulled my dress over my head and looked up into Rowan’s brown eyes. "Actually, I was thinking that I would not be going home."
Both Cedric and Rowan’s mouth’s dropped open. "What do you mean?" Rowan asked.
I shrugged my shoulders. "I have no intention on marrying Prince Elwyn and my mother is hell bent on it, so I see no reason to return home."
It was Cedric who made an odd sound. I looked over at him and he looked away. He couldn’t hide his feelings from me if I saw his eyes and he knew it. "You, James, have you ever had the honor of meeting the Prince?" Rowan asked.
Cedric’s eyes narrowed and his jaw tightened. I knew him well enough to know that he fought the urge to speak back to Rowan. I’d seen him make the same exact face to his father on more than one occasion. I searched his face for a sign that it was okay to end this charade. I found none. "No, I can’t say I’ve ever had the honor of meeting Prince Elwyn. I have heard many things about him."
Rowan tilted his head to the side and gave Cedric an odd look. I knew that he tried to judge Cedric’s character. It was something most faerie men did upon meeting another. In many ways, they were sizing the other up. I
was overcome with a strong desire to put an end to this madness.
"Yes, I do say…I will not marry this Prince. I do not care what comes of this. I will send word back to the Unblessed Court of my change of heart. They will no doubt find me in breech of contract. I do not remember a death clause. I fear that another war may break out, but it is a risk I must take. I will say it again. I refuse to marry that monster."
"That’s absurd. I have told you that the Prince is not the monster he’s portrayed to be. Even if he was, where is it that you plan on going?"
I hadn’t really given it much thought. The first thing I blurted out caught me off guard as well. "To the human realm."
Cedric and Rowan spun around and looked at me. It was unheard of for a faerie to go willingly to live among humans. Few had done it over the years and they had become the stuff of stories. Humans had spent centuries blaming us for their mishaps when in reality we had nothing at all to do with them. We never stole their children and replaced them with changelings. What on earth would we want with a human child? They took years to grow up, possessed no magical abilities, and had a life expectancy of only seventy-five years. No, we really had no use for them. As for mischief-causing faeries, they did exist, but were distant cousins to us. We would never bother with causing mayhem amongst the humans. To most faeries, humans were disgusting creatures that continued to threaten the delicate balance that we’d created. To me, humans were magnificent creatures I longed to learn more about. Cedric had lived among them for several months during his training. It was required that certain levels of the royal guards be trained in all warfare. This often left a select few to go and train with the human military. I looked over at Cedric and winked.
Peace Offerings Page 4