Isabella looked at Chad, who let out a sigh.
“All right,” he said. “Let’s go help them out.”
* * *
Chadwick feared they had underestimated the appeal fae men held for human women.
Perhaps it was the fact that most humans had at least some latent fae blood, if they weren’t shifters. Not enough to manifest into full powers, but there under the surface.
Perhaps it was the extreme facial beauty that even with suppressors made one wonder if someone was using a filter.
As a dragon, Chadwick was used to being attractive to human women. They came on to him often and sometimes aggressively. But he’d learned to keep a polite distance most of the time.
But the feeding frenzy on the dance floor was a little unexpected.
As Chad pushed his way through the crowd, he saw women pushing at each other and men stepping up to threaten the fae and the fae folding their arms and looking dangerous and imperious as they faced their aggressors.
Chadwick grabbed Ivar’s sleeve as he was attempting to push away a group of bachelorettes. “Let’s get out of here.”
Ivar nodded, his pale face flushed, and he looked to Tynan, who had been pushed to a nearby chair and was clearly now trying to figure out how to tell the human woman climbing onto him that he wasn’t interested.
Because, to Chadwick’s surprise, despite the excitement the fae all showed about human women, they all frankly looked a little overwhelmed and put out.
“Go get him,” Chadwick said. “We’ll meet you out front.”
“Human women are aggressive,” Ivar said, looking blankly at Chadwick. “Is it always going to be like this?”
Chadwick shrugged. “We’ll figure something out. Don’t worry about it.”
Perhaps the suppressors weren’t suppressing enough.
Ivar moved over to Tynan, and as he grabbed him and started to extricate him, Chadwick saw Isabella moving over to Flint, who was crawling onto a table to get away from the hands coming after him. He looked like he was trying to resist the urge to start kicking someone, and his auburn hair fell over his forehead, making him appear a little wild.
“Get off him!” Isabella said, shoving her way into the crowd.
Several women turned to glare or shout at her, and protective rage burst through Chadwick as he began to shove his way toward her.
Perhaps the club was just too crowded. Perhaps people were too drunk.
A woman put her hand on Chad’s arm. “Hi, sexy. I like a guy in glasses, and—”
“No,” Chadwick said tersely, pulling his arm back. “Taken.”
The woman shrugged and made her way over to Boreas, who was against the back wall, looking infuriated as women crowded around him, smiling and dancing, trying to get closer.
Chadwick got to Isabella just as she was shoved back by the other women, losing her footing. She bumped into a man who caught her, then got a lewd grin as he held her close, mistaking her for wanting a dance.
As she struggled to extricate herself, Chadwick was there in an instant, jerking her from the man’s hold and giving him a glare that warned him to leave with his life while he still could.
The man quickly ran for it, and Chadwick let out his breath as he just held Bella for a moment, savoring the relief that she was fine.
“Thanks,” she said, flushing as she looked up at him.
“It’s nothing,” he said, which was a lie because protecting her was now basically everything.
He released her just as Flint seemed to snap out of it and get moving. He slid off the table and squeezed past the women to come over to Chad and Isabella.
“Let’s get out of here,” Chadwick said, out of breath and just wishing he hadn’t held Isabella quite so tightly. It was hard to focus.
Ivar and Tynan had caught up with them, and all four moved together toward the door.
“Should we go rescue Boreas?” Isabella asked.
Chadwick seriously considered leaving him there for a minute. Then he sighed. “I’ll get him.” He looked at Tynan. “Watch out for Isabella.”
Tynan nodded, and Chadwick shouldered his way through the crowd, wishing Trevor was there to do his dirty work for him.
It was one thing to spend his life saving other shifters and humans.
It was another to have to save a grating, impossible fairy who was intruding on their world.
Except maybe the bigger problem was the fact that Boreas was intruding on something else… like Chadwick’s interest in Bella.
Boreas looked ready to start an ice storm by the time he saw Chadwick. “Curse it, what am I supposed to do? I refuse to strike a woman.” He tried to move forward, but the women dancing in front of him pressed him back.
Chadwick bit his lip because he’d never had to deal with this kind of aggression from female humans. “Ladies!” he shouted. “Please step back!”
They looked at him, then went back to what they were doing, though some of the women around him appraised him with a scowl. Others showed interest, but it wasn’t the kind of rabid attention they were showing the fae.
Most interesting.
He’d only seen the fae princes around women who were mated or Isabella. No one had known they would have this effect on human women.
Now Chadwick didn’t know what to do about it without anyone getting hurt.
Boreas raised impatient eyes to the sky as a particularly bold woman danced in front of him, pressing herself up his legs. When she got to his shirt, she began to lift it, and Boreas’s eyes glowed bright blue as they med Chad’s.
The fae prince was about to do something if Chadwick didn’t.
“Stop it!” A feminine voice rang out as someone shoved through the crowd to Chadwick’s side.
It was Isabella.
She went right up to the woman dancing on Boreas and pulled her back, then slapped her across the face. The slap seemed to ring out, even in the dark club, and the women looked at Isabella with wide eyes.
“Don’t you know that’s assault?” Isabella yelled, swatting away the other woman on Boreas. “What’s wrong with all of you?”
The woman who’d been slapped looked ready to do violence, but several of the others almost looked dazed, as if they didn’t know what they were doing and had just snapped out of it.
“Get out of here,” Isabella said, shooing them away as she got to Boreas, pulling his shirt down as he ran a hand through his hair, looking flustered.
She grabbed him by the hand, and Chadwick stifled a twinge of jealousy as he followed her and the other fae out of the building.
When they got to the street, Isabella dragged Boreas by the hand around to the other side of the building where there was an empty lot next to a field.
It was a welcome relief from the pounding music.
Isabella let go of Boreas, then leaned over with her hands on her knees, catching her breath.
All of the fae looked disheveled and, to be honest, a bit disappointed.
Ivar sighed, pulling off a ripped sleeve. “Human women are—”
“Barbaric,” Tynan said, using his coat to wipe lipstick off his cheeks and neck.
“I’d rather fight the king of chaos,” Boreas growled, tucking in his shirt. “This is ridiculous. How are we supposed to find a soul bond in these kinds of conditions?”
Isabella stood, still panting, and stared at all of them. “I have no idea what just happened.” She shrugged. “I didn’t prepare you guys, and I’m sorry.”
Boreas led the way back to Chadwick’s car, his ash-blond hair mussed from women’s hands in it. “I think perhaps it would be best if we kept to fighting. I don’t understand human women at all.”
Chadwick opened Isabella’s door for her while the fae piled into the back of the SUV. Isabella climbed in, looking oddly upset considering everyone had gotten out fine.
“You okay?” Chadwick asked, glancing over at her while he started up the car.
In the back, the fae were still
ranting about their experience and the barbarism of human society.
“I’m fine,” she said. “Just a little worried that this isn’t going to work after all.”
He pulled onto the street, figuring that the sooner they got home and everyone could rest, the better. “We couldn’t have known humans would react like that.”
She bit her lower lip. “What do we do now? Only let them out of the house to fight other chaos princes?”
“Well, we probably don’t allow them around huge crowds of drunk women, no. But we also talk to the oracle about increased suppression.”
“Right,” she said. “Thanks for helping me back there. You know, when I bumped into that guy.”
He flushed, remembering how soft she’d felt falling back into his arms. “Ah. Don’t mention it.”
She nodded and turned up the music, which was a nice distraction for the rest of the drive home.
When they got there, the fae piled out, looking grumpy as they jogged up to the mansion and went inside, still avidly talking to one another about the experience.
Slowly, Chad went around to open the door for Isabella, who got out and looked up at him with hesitant green eyes.
“You’d think they’d like having so many women want them,” Isabella said, following Chadwick up the steps to the house. “Oh no, if this isn’t going to work, then—”
“It’s going to be fine,” Chadwick said. “I’m not sure what fae women are like, but the princes will soon realize human women aren’t so fragile they’ll break if they’re told no or pushed gently away.”
Isabella eyed him. “I’m guessing you have some experience.”
“Maybe,” Chadwick said. “I’ve been around for some time, you know.”
She nodded. “How long?”
He shook his head. “A dragon never tells.” He kept walking up the stairs that led to his bedroom and stopped when he realized Isabella was standing by the study where the fae were still ranting.
She looked like she wasn’t sure if she should go in.
“Come up and have a nightcap with me,” Chadwick said, knowing that was probably a terrible idea. “Let them process it.”
Isabella sighed and shook her head. “I’m going to check on them.”
Chadwick wanted to help, but just as he was about to go down the steps, he felt a pain in his head that meant he was due a vision.
“All right,” he said, waving a hand at her nonchalantly. “Be careful, and let me know how it goes.”
“Will do.” She made a little salute, and Chad swore he could feel his heart skip a beat.
“And, Isabella?”
“Yes?”
“You’ve done a good job,” he said. “You helped me get everyone out of the situation, and you helped no one overreact. All the fae had excellent manners.” He wasn’t sure why he wanted to reassure her, but after the stricken face she’d made earlier, he just did. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll work the rest out.”
She gave him a nod, sending him a beaming smile as she did. “Thanks, Chad. I’m sure we will.”
Then she disappeared into the study with the fae while Chad forced himself to go to his office and do his duty.
Chapter 10
“I can’t believe it,” Boreas said, looking at a hole torn in the sleeve of his button-up. “Humans are savages.”
“I can’t believe they have any fae blood at all,” Ivar said, pulling his shirt over his head to reveal light scratches on his abdomen.
“Guys, you fight for a living,” Isabella said, shaking her head as she relaxed with a glass of scotch, trying to calm down. “Surely, having a few women try to make moves on you isn’t that bad.”
Tynan glared at her, his black eyes sparkling. “It is the highest honor to bond with a fae prince. In our world, it is insulting to assume one could simply bond with one without permission. No one would—”
“Look,” Isabella said, putting a hand over her face as scotch burned her through. “We aren’t in your world. No one is being rude, because as far as they are concerned, you’re just supposed to be human.”
Tynan blinked, pushing a lock of black hair behind his ear. “What would a human male do in that situation?”
“Yes,” Boreas drawled, leaning back on a chaise lounge. “What would a human male do when attacked as if by vicious animals who want to drain his life force?”
She blinked because that was an odd way to describe what just happened. “Um, most human guys would be happy for the attention, if I’m being honest.”
Ivar shook his head. “Barbaric.”
“Guys,” she said, setting aside her glass once she was just a little pleasantly buzzed. “Humans like sex, all right? They weren’t trying to mate you or bond with you or take anything from you. That’s just what humans do in clubs.” Except not to that extent, usually. “Try to get some action.”
Boreas’s icy blue eyes narrowed. “Action?”
“Sex,” she said again. “Making out. The stuff that happens after the cuddling and kissing.”
“But why?” Boreas asked. “If it doesn’t strengthen the soul bond, then why?”
Isabella blinked, feeling like she was missing something. “What do you mean?”
The fae looked at each other, then her.
“I’m not sure how much we are supposed to tell you,” Tynan said. “When there’s something you don’t know.”
“Well, you’re going to have to explain it to any of the humans you want to bond with, so you might as well try. I’m going to forget it anyway.”
Boreas let out a bored sigh. “Fairies don’t rut like animals with any creature that will have them. They form powerful pair bonds with fae who have complementary powers. The bonds are strengthened through the kind of contact you showed us and through sex. We also share bonds with friends and family, though those are maintained in other ways.”
“Exactly,” Tynan said.
“So fae don’t have sex for fun?” Isabella asked.
Boreas frowned. “We can have sex. For fun? I’m not certain I find the human idea of sex fun.”
“It is abominable to use someone for mere physical pleasure when you should be furthering a bond,” Tynan said imperiously.
Isabella thought of Chadwick and felt slightly guilty. “So just wanting someone is wrong?”
Boreas gave her a look that she couldn’t quite interpret. “I don’t think we are saying that. But for a fae, connection is important. Since we can’t detect powers or form a bond with women who don’t have strong latent fae blood, we probably need time to get to know them and talk.”
Ivar nodded. “I have to know something about them. I’m not an animal.”
Isabella felt her cheeks go even redder, thinking about how much she’d wanted to rake her nails down Chad’s chest from the moment she’d met him. “Yeah, you guys might have problems with human women.”
“It might not be so bad if it was someone like you,” Boreas said, his icy eyes appearing to thaw slightly. “I think I’m already forming a bond of friendship with you. Perhaps if you want to show me what human females were like in bed…”
Isabella shook her head emphatically. “No way.”
Tynan appeared to be pissed because there was a black cloud around Boreas’s head now, and it wouldn’t dissipate no matter how he swiped at it.
“Let me out! Stop it! Tynan, if you want to duel—”
“Duel?” Isabella asked.
The black cloud dissipated, and Boreas sent Tynan a steaming glare before he turned back to Isabella.
“How princes settle disputes,” Ivar said. “Right, Flint?”
Flint looked to be the most discomfited and hadn’t said anything yet. He was sitting on the couch with his arms folded, looking at nothing in particular, an empty glass next to him where his scotch had been.
Isabella set down her drink and walked over to him, feeling just a bit woozy as she did. All she could think about was Chadwick’s arms when he caught her. Chadwick in t
he pool, his mouth on her wetness.
She needed to focus on her work.
“Hey, Flint, you okay?” Isabella said as she walked over to him.
His eyes flicked up at her, amber flames burning in the centers, and before she could say anything, she felt him grab her by the hand and jerk her down so she was sitting on his lap.
Dazed, she looked up at him expectantly. She tried to pull her hand back, but he kept a firm hold.
“Flint, let her go,” Ivar said, standing and striding over to them.
But Flint merely frowned, obviously a little drunk from the scotch he’d imbibed. He hugged her to him in a way that wasn’t sexual, but more like he was just trying to hold on to something in a storm.
She held still for a moment because Flint had never done anything like this.
She pushed back from him, looking into his fiery eyes. “Flint, what’s wrong?”
He held her again for a moment, not saying anything, and she started to panic a little as the other fae looked like they didn’t know what to do.
“Flint, release her,” Tynan said. “You need to get ahold of yourself on your own.”
Slowly, Flint’s hold loosened on her, and Isabella felt profound relief. She hadn’t thought Flint would ever hurt her, but her fear at being restrained could have triggered really fast.
She gave Flint a small smile, but he hadn’t totally let her go when Chadwick walked in, holding his own glass of scotch.
His eyes grew furious instantly. “Let her go.”
Flint instantly did, looking like he’d just snapped out of it. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause any harm.”
“What was that?” Isabella said, scooting away from him on the couch. “You can’t just grab people like that.”
“I’m sorry,” Flint said, running a hand through his hair. “I lost track of myself. The chaos everywhere…”
“It’s okay,” she said, composing herself as she looked over at Chadwick. He was still glaring at Flint, expression dark.
Flint looked miserable for his part. “Bella, I didn’t hurt you, right? I lost where I was.”
“No,” Isabella said as she cautiously moved to a nearby chair now that Flint seemed to be back to normal.
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