Tempted By Fae

by Midnight Coven

  I reached up to kiss him, loving that I could do that out here in the middle of everyone. He returned my kiss hungrily.

  “That makes two of us,” I said. I forced myself to push away from him, my hand still holding his as I walked away. I let go of it reluctantly and walked to the bus.

  “Until tonight,” Sen said.

  I watched him as the shuttle drove away, watched as he got smaller and smaller, until I could no longer see him.

  This was going to be the longest three hours of my life.

  Chapter Six

  Sen

  I waited until I couldn’t see the bus any longer and then walked back up the hill and up the stairs to the top of the abbey. I felt it when we stood here together. Calla was as affected as I was by the view from here, by being so close to the natural world. I wanted to see the tide come in. The tides were strong and significant here, and I enjoyed seeing them. It would take at least three hours for Calla to get back to Paris.

  I also needed to manage my frustration at having to wait. If she knew what I was, we could have traveled directly back to her hotel in an instant, but I couldn’t tell her my truth.

  I stood atop the abbey until it grew dark, thinking over the day with Calla. What was it about this human woman that captivated me so? As the moon rose, I realized she would be in Paris soon. I waited until the last of the visitors disappeared, and I called the mist that would take me back to Paris. To her.

  I came out in an alley near her hotel. I waited, making sure that I wouldn’t surprise anyone, or call any undue attention to myself. Glancing at my watch, I thought she should have had enough time to return. I hoped so. I took the elevator up to the third floor and when I came to her door, I knocked. It surprised me to find that I was holding my breath.

  The door opened quickly, and Calla stood in the doorway, her face flushed, her hair a fuzzy halo around her head. “Sen! You’re so quick!”

  “I couldn’t wait to see you,” I said, leaning against the door.

  “Come in,” she said, smiling. “I’m glad to see you.”

  I walked in, reaching for her, threading my hands into her hair, bringing her close. I kissed her, devouring her mouth with mine. She tasted of strawberries and mint. I deepened my kiss, torn by the desire to not rush this, not scare her, and my need to take her now.

  Calla backed up as we kissed, towing me along with her toward the bed. She bumped into it, sitting down and leaning away from me. Her hands came up and tugged at my shirt, then she stopped, gazing at me. “I didn’t even ask, but is this all right?” Her hands splayed out in front of me.

  I blinked. “What?”

  “Is this… is this what you want?” Her face went pink.

  It took me a moment. I couldn’t help it. I threw back my head and laughed, partly in relief. Then I looked down at her. She’d gone even more pink. I kneeled down, positioning myself between her legs. “I have wanted this since meeting you. It’s taken all my will power to not drag you off to a private room,” I said.

  Her eyes, normally blue, darkened to the color of the sky over the sea right before the sun disappears. Her lips parted, and her breathing quickened. The sight of all this made my cock even harder, to the point it ached for her.

  “Oh, well, then you should take this off,” Calla said, her voice husky.

  The new note in her voice inflamed me. I undid the buttons on my shirt and tossed it aside.

  Her hands were on my chest immediately. She moved them across the span of my chest, pinching my nipples. I arched toward her instinctively.

  Reaching for her waist, I pulled her soft shirt up and over her head. Under it, she wore a lacy bra which she took off.

  The glow of her skin in the soft light from the doorway gave Calla the look of a flower in the morning sun. Her skin was warm, a golden peach color. As I gazed at her, her nipples hardened. I leaned to kiss her, taking one of her breasts in my hand.

  Calla gasped in my mouth.

  Never had I heard anything more erotic.

  We kissed, exploring and learning one another. She made the most marvelous sounds as I kissed her neck and suckled at her breasts. My cock begged to be released, but I wanted this to be on Calla’s terms. There would be time for demanding later.

  The thought brought me up short. Why was I thinking about later?

  Her hand on my waistband pulled me back to the present. I reached down to help her, and a small spark of desire leaped from my fingers as we touched.

  Shit.

  “What was that?” Calla gasped. Her eyes were wide.

  “Static electricity,” I said smoothly. My hand cupped the back of her head, bringing her mouth to mine once more. That was too close. First the movement in the abbey today, and now this. I wasn’t even doing a decent job of hiding what I was. Too much magic, and I’d bring down the anger of the fae magicians on me.

  I could handle that in a bit. Right now, I wanted to be with this woman.

  Her hands went back to my waistband, unbuttoning the top button.

  I stood up. “Let me,” I whispered.

  Calla watched me for a moment, and then she got up, easing from in front of me, and stripped off her own clothing.

  Gods, she was beautiful. She looked down at me, naked, cock hard and ready, and smiled. “It’s good to know I’m not the only one who’s excited,” she said.

  “Not at all,” I gathered her in my arms, my cock fitting snugly between her thighs. I could feel her arousal, and the scent of her had changed. It was warmer, with a seductive tinge to her floral scent. I buried my head into her neck, inhaling it. It made me nearly lose all control.

  Calla snuggled closer to me, rubbing against my cock as her hands went around to squeeze my ass. The feeling of her nails against my skin—I groaned.

  “I can’t wait,” she whispered. “Please.”

  I had all sorts of visions about being naked with Calla; all sorts of plans for what I wanted to do to her, for her, with her. With that one small word, all my plans went right out the window.

  Calla sat back on the bed and scooted up toward the headboard. “Please,” she said again, her legs curled a little. Her face was flushed, and her skin was pink and inviting. I could see the hint of her sex between her legs, and her breath came fast.

  I crawled onto the bed, following her. She opened her legs as I got close, welcoming me. “I will do as you ask, but first, there is something I have to do,” I said, my voice hoarse.

  “What?” she asked in a whisper.

  I stopped and bent my head to her sex, dipping my tongue into her, feeling her legs open more. I looked up to see her head fall back as her breath caught. Teasingly, I moved my tongue in and out of her, tasting her, listening for her pleasure.

  “Oh, dear sweet baby jee,” she gasped.

  I had no idea what that meant, but I was going to take it as a good sign if she was muttering gibberish. I smiled and let my tongue slide up and down her center. Then I took her clit into my mouth and sucked on it.

  Calla cried out, her hands tangling in my hair.

  Chapter Seven

  Calla

  Dear holy hell, I thought I was dying. Of happiness, and pleasure. Sen was wonderful at what he was doing—what would it be like when he—my thoughts fell right out of my head as he intensified his movement between my legs.

  I wasn’t going to last long. Between how attractive I found him, and how well he was—another cry escaped me.

  This shouldn’t feel this good; I’ve only known him two days. There’s no connection—but there was. I could feel it in the way he touched me, in the way he was moving on me. This was to make me feel good. I stopped worrying and gave myself over to the pleasure.

  When I opened my eyes and looked down, Sen stared back at me. He moved deliberately, slowly, never taking his eyes off me.

  That did it for me. I fell right over the cliff into a long orgasm that left me gasping for breath.

  When he stopped, he pushed himself up onto his el
bows. “You are pleased?”

  I looked at him like he’d grown another head. “Are you kidding?”

  Sen looked at me and laughed. “I am. I might not be an expert on women, but I will happily tell myself that I have pleased you.”

  “I want to please you,” I said, touched beyond measure at his words. When was the last time anyone did anything to please me?

  “Everything about you pleases me,” Sen said, his voice dropping.

  “Well, good. Now about you,” I said. Oh, shit. “Wait,” I began, my hand coming up to my mouth.

  “What?” Sen looked concerned, looking around for—what? Danger? He looked fierce and protective, rather than just sexy as fuck.

  “I don’t have anything,” I said.

  “Anything for?”

  “Protection?” I asked.

  His face cleared, relaxed. “Leave that to me,” he said. He bounded off the bed, moving suddenly. Kneeling where his clothes had landed, his back to me, I thought I saw the flicker of light, but I couldn’t be sure.

  Sen stood up, and walked to the small foyer, clicking off the light. Then he went to the window and opened the curtains all the way. “I want to see you in the moonlight, Calla.”

  Jeez. Everything he said and did melted me just a bit further. If he kept this up, I’d be a meandering puddle of goo.

  Sen came back to the bed, and the outline of him was so stark against the moonlight in the window, so gorgeous, that I nearly had another orgasm. From just looking at him. I could see why he preferred the moonlight.

  He slid over top of me, and I felt the head of his cock nudging between my legs. I spread my legs wider, and he gently, carefully, pushed himself into me.

  The feeling I had the most was that of fullness. It was like he was everywhere. His head came down to mine, and he kissed my lips, my cheeks, my forehead, then my lips again, murmuring in a language I didn’t understand.

  He withdrew, and then moved back into me, sinking to the hilt.

  I wrapped my legs around him, pulling him into me more, making me gasp.

  “Do you like this?” he asked.

  “I want more of you,” I said, whispering. “I need you.”

  He moved faster, plunging deeply into me each time. And he increased the tempo, even as I bucked my hips against him and dug my heels into his ass. My hands too, because that ass was a thing of beauty.

  Sen kissed me, reaching down to take my hands. He lifted them over my head, still moving within me, keeping to the pace that he set. Then he twined his fingers in mine and drove into me so deeply I cried out.

  “Are you well?” I heard in my ear.

  “Never better. More, please,” I whispered back.

  He was still for a moment, and then he lifted his head. His eyes blazed with lust and power and something else I couldn’t identify. I didn’t care.

  Then he was thrusting into me, giving me all of him, and moving faster and faster. I could feel my release building but that wasn’t the main thing, amazing though it was. I watched his face, and his eyes didn’t leave mine. I’d always closed my eyes during sex. So had most of my boyfriends. Watching Sen watching me watching him was intoxicating and added a layer of intimacy to this I hadn’t expected.

  Something in him shifted, and his thrusts became faster and more powerful. His fingers gripped mine. He leaned down to kiss me, and his lips were hungry, demanding. I kissed him as though my life depended on it.

  My release came suddenly, and I arched against him, not able to move but wanting to be as close as possible. Then I heard him groan, and he came hard. He kissed me again, fiercely, and our mouths bumped together, the rhythm we’d had together slightly off as we both found our pleasure in one another.

  I felt a sting at my lip, but I wasn’t willing to move. After a moment, or a week, when Sen lifted his head from mine, I could see the wetness on his lips. My tongue darted out to investigate my own lip.

  “I’ve hurt you,” he said, his brow creasing.

  “It’s nothing,” I said, licking my lip. After all it was only my blood.

  Sen let go of my left hand and lifted his hand to his mouth. He was still, and then his eyes widened, flashing as though they had prisms of light within them. He blinked, looking down at me as though I was someone entirely new.

  “Are you all right?” I asked.

  He smiled then, taking his hand from his mouth. He cupped my face in his hand and kissed me. “I have never been better,” he said against my lips.

  He moved off me, and we both took turns making a trip to the bathroom. When I came back, he was in bed, the blankets up to his waist. “Sleep with me,” he said.

  I curled into his arm, loving the feel of him, the smell of him, that outdoors smell that had intensified. I’d never smelled a man like this before, and it was just one of the things that made him more attractive than any man I’d ever met.

  The great sex might have something to do with it, too. But the sex was merely a part of this. Of who Sen was.

  We talked, him holding my hand, our fingers twined together. I told him about my mother, and how I didn’t have any other family outside of her. I had friends who were close, but my dad had taken off when I was little. It had always been me and Mom. Recently, she’d found a guy that she really liked, but she was taking it slow. I hadn’t met him yet. She said he wasn’t ready. I’d never heard her sound like she did when she talked about this new guy. I suspected he wasn’t as new as I thought he was. That made me nervous, but my mom was a great judge of character. She hadn’t been thrilled when Trevor and I got engaged, I remembered. I told Sen about this.

  “Why, do you think?” he asked.

  “I think she saw what he was then, a guy who pretended to be something he wasn’t, a guy with a weak core.”

  “You deserve so much more,” Sen said, leaning over to kiss me.

  “What about you?” I asked. “Your family?”

  He sighed deeply.

  Chapter Eight

  Sen

  How to answer that question? Particularly as I wanted nothing more to luxuriate in the most amazing coupling I’d had in—perhaps ever. And consider about when I could ask her to do it again. Tonight, preferably. And think. Think a lot about what I’d just learned.

  “I have a large family,” I said. “My father is the head of the family, and we have a very active and thriving… family business.” There was no way to explain that our business was maintaining our position within the Fae Court and keeping the land under Mastwood control productive and happy. “I have many cousins. My father has five other siblings. All of his siblings have ideas on how to run the family business, and there is much squabbling over position.”

  Calla laughed. “As an only child of an only child, I always wanted a big family. I didn’t think about how it could be really demanding.”

  “That is one word for it,” I agreed. She had no idea.

  “What’s the business?” Calla asked.

  “Public relations,” I said. It was the best answer I’d come up with on my trips to the human world.

  “That is demanding,” she said.

  “It is. People can be exhausting.”

  “That is understatement,” Calla said with a yawn.

  “Go to sleep.” I turned to kiss her. “We have plenty of time.”

  “I have a breakfast cruise tomorrow,” she said against my chest, her eyes closing.

  “Then I shall have to have one as well,” I smiled.

  My reward was seeing her lips curve up in a smile as she snuggled closer. I listened for a time so I could be sure she was asleep. I needed time to think, to focus.

  When I’d told Regin I was working on something important, it had been to buy time with him. I had no good reason for saying it. But now, I did.

  I’d tasted her blood when we kissed, when I’d accidentally grazed her lip. Her blood told the truth.

  She was mine. As in, supposed to be mine. Blood knew, blood called to its mate.


  But I’d never expected to find my mate, and certainly not in the human realm.

  For the first time in a very long time, I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t remember hearing this happening to anyone I knew, or their family.

  I shifted a little so that I could look at Calla, watch her sleeping. Her lips curved sweetly in the tiniest of smiles. To me, that indicated the look of a satisfied woman. And no wonder. We were meant to be together.

  How did I tell her? Did I tell her at all? How did I proceed from here?

  I had no idea.

  Fuck, I thought. One of the reasons I was here was because my father had three women from various families lined up, waiting for me to make my choice. If I didn’t choose, he would. He’d made that clear the last time we spoke. They were all good families, ones that would be strong allies to the Mastwoods. If I declined, my cousins, as Regin had politely put it, would rebel. They would demand that I no longer be the heir. It wouldn’t get them anywhere, but it could weaken my father in the eyes of others. Which was the point.

  Now I knew why I’d not been attracted to any of them, found fault in all who were brought to my attention. I had a mate. And she was far, far away from the land of Fae.

  I’d never known anyone who had taken a human for a mate. How was it that Calla was my mate?

  Not that I was complaining. I’d wanted her the moment I saw her. I liked her. She was funny, and smart, and sexy, and all the things one desired in a mate. But she was human.

  I didn’t know how this was supposed to work—could it work? Was it even possible?

  The fact that Calla was human was only one of my challenges. The way the mating bond worked, both parties had to be fully aware, and accept it. I couldn’t just take Calla back to Fae with me and let it go at that. Before my world, my people, would accept her, I had to tell her.

  She had to choose me, of free will. Which meant she had to have the truth, had to know the facts, who I really was.

  The Fae did nothing without the free will of all involved and that included mating bonds. The sharing of blood was not common, although with fae, there were other ways to tell. The blood was the oldest, and the most accurate method.