by Trina Bates
“Alright. So we have a Blood Fae that Ebbin works for. She owes him a favor. Not only will she take care of any of my needs for the entire pregnancy, she is also willing to do any tests we ask,” I want to reassure them. I thought that's all I’m doing but I’m so wrong. I didn't think they would react so angry.
Rhett and Ebbin are standing quietly behind me, while the other two jump from their seats, and star hollering. I can barely understand them with how loud they are being.
“Shut up! One at a dang time!” I yelled, getting their attention and their silence. I can finally think again!
“Merrick, you first,” I say, as I rub my temples and close my eyes. I can feel a headache coming on.
“I know we need this, but using a Blood Fae is still dangerous. You can't, under any circumstances give them your blood. I am not trying to tell you what to do. I swear, but they are notorious liars and take without consent,” his rigid posture, crossed arms and anger filled eyes has me wanting to laugh at him. I feel bad, but he didn’t let me finish.
I’m getting annoyed with him until he said he isn't trying to demand things of me. I understand where he's coming from. Ebbin already has this covered.
Clasping my hands in front of me, I wait for Ebbin to reply, this is his deal, he made it and can explain the debt better and why this won't be an issue.
“It is dangerous, but all of you, all of us, will be there. Mira won't be using her blood, neither will any of us as payment. The Fae is Lyra. I'm guessing a few of you know her.” It’s a statement, not a question. Rhett is the only to acknowledge, nodding his dead slowly. Rhydian, stoic as ever, just listens with a blank stare on his gorgeous face. His bright blue eyes staring ahead at nothing.
“I got hit in the face while protecting her a while back. She didn't know I saw her but, she took the rag I used to wipe the blood away and kept it. We made a deal after that when I confronted her. She could keep the blood, with no ill use towards me, or I would get the Hounds on her. She owes me and this is how she is going to pay it back. She knows the consequences if she fucks up.”
While he lets it all sink in with the guys, I get up and walk towards him, putting my arms around his waist, it’s a simple gesture and one that I love. We stand there and hold each other, not saying a word. Just relaxing into one another. I believe in him, we would be fine.
Everyone’s comfortable with the situation, now that Ebbin cleared everything up with Lyra.
“What is going to happen now, Mira, what do you want from us?” Rhydian asks with worried eyes, they were open wide and pleading with me. I didn’t want him to think I wouldn't involve them in anything. That’s the furthest thing from my mind.
“I want you around as much as all of you would like. You’re welcome here anytime. I just want to take things slow, see how things progress, in their own time.” My answer is the right one. The corners of his eyes crinkle and the panty dropping smile he is aiming my way brings a smile to my own face, I wink at him once and turn to see if anyone else might have some questions.
We’re all attracted to each other, there’s no doubt about that, but a relationship? With four men. That seems like a lot of work. Someone would feel left out at some point. I sure as hell won't split up my days with them. I want time to be spent together, with each other. I found myself looking forward to the future. More so with them now by my side.
Mira:
With Merrick leaving, so too does Ebbin and the rest of his team. I know they heard a lot of what has happened, but I’m fine with it and they seem to be okay with it too. None of them judged, they each simply give me a hug and caring smile as the leave, and it’s final they don’t care, they just give silent support. I love them.
Rhett is intent on staying behind and explaining more to me about who, and what he is. I can’t wait to have a little one-on-on time with him. Rhydian the last to go; he pulls me tight into his chest and inhales my scent one more time. With his hand trailing down my backside, he squeezes once, kisses the top of my head, and is gone before I can move.
A saying from years ago I had heard in a movie pops into my head, ‘I hate to see you go, but I love to watch you leave.’ That about sums it up! Long legs, tight round ass, I want to slap it, just once.
Finding Rhett outside, I walk over to where he is. He isn't moving at all, just standing there like a statue. Eyes closed and his body is rigid. He must have heard me coming, I’m never quiet, yet he gives no indication that he knows I’m there, by his side.
Going to touch his arm, I hit some kind of a barrier, an inch away from his skin and I can’t touch him. I pull my head back and my eyebrows pull down in confusion. “What the hell?” I say more to myself, but my words make him come out of his little trance. Opening his eyes, he smiles sweetly down at me.
“Sorry, anytime I cast, I put a protection spell around me. Just a small one. I don't like to be caught unaware and casting takes a lot of concentration.” He rest his hands on my shoulder and shrugs his own once, when he finishes explaining that to me.
“Okay, so what kind of Other are you? Casting, I'm guessing you don’t shift into anything cute and furry like Rhydian then?” Still looking down at me, he quirks one of his eyebrows and his mouth falls open.
“There’s no way Rhydian shifted in front of you. Not only is it NOT safe, he's definitely not cute. Furry yes, but not cute.” His hands tighten on my shoulders and I peer at each one raise my own eyebrows at his actions. He lets go when he sees the look on my face.
“No, he didn't, though I begged him to,” I admit as I pout my bottom lip out and drop my shoulder at my displeasure that Rhydian wouldn’t shift for me.
“To answer your first question before you threw me off, no I am not a shifter. I’m a Warlock. My mother was a very powerful Witch, and my biological father is Warlock. Full blooded and still not very good with this shit. I can do the basics. Cast, brew up some smelly potions, and I have this nifty little trick,” before I can blink, his entire body is engulfed in incredible blue flames that sway and dance over his entire body. He’s beautiful without the flames but with, he’s truly amazing, there aren't any words. His glamor drops and I can see him fully as Other. His jade eyes seem to be lit from within. His hair, the usual white, now shining a bright silver, in the night sky and hangs down to his waist, but there are also streaks of black in a few places and it seems to have a mind of its own. It’s twirling and floating around him in gorgeous waves of white and black.
Rhydian, Merrick and even Ebbin have a lot of visible tattoos, but Rhett has what look to be runes all over his skin; even on his face. They were a light pale gray in some spots and silver in others. They aren’t visible when he has his guards up, so it shocks me when he lets his glamour magic fall. I take in a harsh breath of air as I try to see all of him, in all of his gorgeous glory. So this is what Rhydian meant when he said they said they can hide parts of themselves. He’s magnificent. I want to reach out to him, see what his flames feel like. I don’t want to get burned if I touch the brilliant blue element, so instead I stand there and stare at him with my mouth slack and my hands held up trying my best not to touch.
Seeming to read my mind, he looks to my open hands. “You can touch the flames. You won't burn or be hurt in any way unless that's my intention and I would never hurt you. Come on gorgeous, put your hand through them,” his smile is infectious and his tone is low and comforting making me believe him immediately.
Tentatively, I reach one hand out and caress the flames. I can feel the warmth of them, but they don’t burn me like I had thought they would. The flames tickle my skin and dance along my hands, and then his when he brings his hand up to hold mine, to show how he controls them.
“This is amazing, you're amazing! I wish I could do something like this. It's beautiful,” I tell him, with awe in my voice, letting him hear the truth in my words. I know my mouth is open and my eyes are probably wide as saucers, but this is the first time I have ever seen anything like this, I can’t hold bac
k the surprise.
“Before I gained my powers, I had only seen my mother with this ability. I love it.” He has a wistful, yet sad look in his eye. He looks away from me and quickly shakes his head trying to get the thoughts that seem to pain him out of his mind. He steps away from me and motions for me to move away. “Here stand back a little. Do you mind if that tree stump over there gets a little, burnt? Or possibly explode?”
Thrown off guard, yet intrigued by his request, I shake my head slowly with a grin on my face and wait to see what he's going to do. “Go for it, big guy. Just don't burn the grass,” I say as I wink to him and move out of his line of fire. Literally.
“Here, actually come to my side and hold onto me. I will cast a barrier around us so if any pieces of wood splinter and come our way, they won't hit us.” I do as he asks and grasp his arm tightly. Feeling a slight tingle creep up my body when he starts to murmur words under his breath, I shiver at the feeling but stay in place. I don't know if the barrier will stay with me if I move, or stop touching him.
“Ready?” He asks with an animalistic grin taking over his entire face.
“Let's see what you got!” I smile widely back to him and hold onto him even tighter than before.
With a slight wave of his wrists, fire erupts from his hands and he throws out a stream of it right at the stump. It does indeed blow it up causing splinters and a few larger pieces to fly back towards us. Seeing them coming at us so quickly, I jump behind Rhett and use his larger frame for protection. It doesn't matter what he put around us, it's still frightening.
His arms under my hands are shaking and bunching. I lean forward with a question glance, I see the smile on his face and notice he’s biting his bottom lip trying not to make a sound. Jerk is laughing at me!
“Hey! No laughing at the weak Hollow! I don't have super cool powers like you, so lay off.” I go to push at his back, and he dramatically flies forward, landing on the ground.
Rolling my eyes at him, I stand there with my hands on my hips, and my head cocked to the side. I shake my head at him and gesture for him to get up. “Alright drama queen, get your big butt up and help me clean this up, weirdo.” The last word said under my breath.
He catches my leg and tries to pull me down with him. Lucky for me, I twist out of his grip, grab a smaller piece of wood off the ground and throw it right at his crotch. Hitting my intended target dead on, he grabs for his junk, moaning. I didn't throw it that hard, so I know he's still playing, but I can't help but feel a little bad.
“As much as you totally deserve that, I'm not going to say sorry, but are you okay?” I bite my own lip trying not to smile at the pain I caused him.
“You’re no fun Mira, and to kick a man while he's down like that? Rude, just rude.” He looks up at me and sticks his tongue out. I give him the same back and start picking up the wood around me.
“Don't worry about it. I can get it cleaned up with a spell. Do you want to keep any of it to burn?”
“Uhm, no we don't light the fireplace up much anymore.” That brings back a few naughty memories of Ebbin and I laying on a few blankets in front of the fireplace. Naked and sweaty. My little daydream has me biting my bottom lip, wishing we can do that again… tonight.
As he dusts his hands off, his flames die down and seep into his skin, leaving no trace that he was ever covered in brilliant blue flames. That's pretty nifty. I think to myself as I tap a finger on my chin, wishing I had something like that to help keep me protected.
Still watching him, he says a few words under his breath, just a whisper, so I can’t hear them. I watch as all around me the wood pieces start to lift into the air, I turn in a circle watching it all with tear filled eyes at how beautiful it all is. It's pretty amazing what he can do, I feel like I'm in a children's novel. The one with the strange mouse wearing a weird pointy hat.
All of the sudden, the wood bursts into tiny little flakes, and falls to the ground like snow. I reach my arms up trying to catch some of it, but instead of any of it landing in my open hands, or on me anywhere, the dust hits the barrier Rhett had previously put on me, and it all falls away an inch from my skin, never touching a single part of my body.
“I didn't think the barrier would hold up if I stopped touching you. Do you have to use a lot of energy to keep it up?” I ask in the hopes that he will tell me it’s easy. That will be one more safeguard for me and the baby, one that I will gladly ask for.
“Once a spell is cast, it doesn't continue to use energy. It takes some to make it, yes. After that, no. It will stay around you as long as you want. I hope I didn't overstep, I cast it so no harm can come to you and it will protect you from little things too, like the splinters or the dust. That includes the wood shavings. Also, say a fly flies into you? It will hit the barrier first. It’s simple things but also big ones too,” he says as he steps closer to me with mischief playing behind his playful bright jade eyes.
“You didn't overstep at all. It's perfect thank you so much!” I run to him and jump. Without missing a beat, he catches me as my legs wrap around his waist, and my arms go around the back of his neck. Nuzzling into his shoulder, I lightly kiss the side of his neck, his arms tighten around me and a soft groan leaves his lips. I’m tempted to take this further, that sound, his moan is like a dose of his fire that spreads into me and goes straight to my core. Not wanting to turn this into anything tonight, I unwrap myself from him and peer up into his lust filled eyes. I dampen his mood immediately when I ask him more about the barrier.
“So, obviously I can touch you. What about others? Can I touch everyone, but they can’t touch me? Are there things I need to watch out for? Can I have sex? I mean, I have this magical barrier around me, that won't let any harm come to me, but when I went to touch you, I couldn’t. I didn't mean you any harm.” I’m out of breath at trying to get it all out before I forget. This is all so new and thrilling, I can’t contain the excitement pouring out of me.
“Okay, slow down,” he says as he puts his hands on my shoulders and smiles a million dollar smile, making his eyes light up. He slides his arms around my waist and it gives me a little warmth from the chill that is setting into my bones. I would have put more clothes on if I thought we were going to be out here this long. The sun is about to rise, I should be in bed by now, but I'm not the slightest bit tired.
“You can touch anyone, yes. Pretty much anyone can touch you as well. Unless they mean you harm. If you feel unsafe or feel a threat of any kind, or simply don't want something or someone touching you, the barrier will follow the way your body feels. The reason you can’t touch me is because when I cast, there is always a possibility my flames will come out. The barrier keeps them in. I make it so no one can touch me for their safety and mine. Yes, you can have sex. I wouldn't have put a protection spell on you that keeps me away from getting what I want to,” he says slapping my ass and getting another heated look on his face before he turns and walks back inside leaving me to try and think over everything he said along with trying to dampen my own heated mind and body.
Following him in, he goes straight for the couch and I go to make us tea. Two steaming mugs in hand, I sit beside him but have my body turned so I can see him fully. “So what were you doing when I first came out?” I ask cocking my head to the side and taking a sip of the too hot tea, making me bite the tip of my tongue and take in a breath of air trying to soothe it.
Taking a sip of his drink, he gets a disgusted look on his face and sets the cup on the table to his side. “Don’t care for the tea, I take it?” I laugh out with my tongue still on fire, but wrap both my hands around my mug so the contents don’t spill with my laughter.
“That shit is not tea. Let me guess, it comes in a little pouch you put in the water?” He holds his hands up and dangles an invisible something, and acts likes he’s waving it around. His question confuses me a little but I nod my head at him.
“Yeah, that’s not tea. I’ll have to bring you some of mine.” He says while shaki
ng his head and his mouth drops in a frown on one side. Dismissing his comments on my tea, I wait for him to tell me what he was doing outside.
“I put up a few wards around the property. Much like what I did to you, I did it around the entire house and property. If someone means to harm anyone that's inside your property line, they won't be able to enter. Sorry to say it, but we do have a few enemies. If we are going to be here with you, I want you to have all of the information. I don't want you feeling like we are keeping things from you or have something happen and you're not prepared. Not everyone likes having an Other so close. Hollows may tolerate us, but there are still a lot of them that want our entire race killed off. I can’t, we can’t, and won't, take any chances with your safety, whether you're with us as lovers or just friends. If Ebbin allows it, I will also put a ward on him. You're both family to us now. It's just how we are.” He’s so matter of fact with everything, I barely catch it when he shrugs his shoulders and smiles.
“I know I would feel more comfortable if he let you. I don't see why he would say no. No matter what the next few months brings, I'm glad you're here. If there are people that don't like what we have, screw them. It's not their choice, it's ours, and we will cross that bridge when and if it happens, but I do appreciate you doing all of this for us.” Leaning into him I change my direction from his lips and decide on his cheek instead. It's not because I don't want to kiss him, I do, but I want him to see the sincerity in my words without getting into anything else. After the quick kiss, I wrap my arm around his hard, lean stomach and cuddle closer into him.
“Also? Thank you. You didn't have to do any of this. If there's anything you ever need, that I can help with, please don't ever hesitate to ask me, deal?” He places his chin on top of my head and gives me a quick kiss.
“Deal, now hush. I want to hold you for a bit before Ebbin gets back and takes you away.” Who in their right mind would say no that kind of offer? Sitting in his lap with my head on his shoulder, I finish my tea and we enjoy the comfort of each other and the silence.