by Lexi C. Foss
His boots scuffed against the path as he searched for us, his voice gruff as he spoke into some sort of communication device. “Some crazy flower chick,” he was saying. “She was stripping in the middle of the fucking park.”
I scowled at him. I was not stripping, just removing my sweater because I wanted to roll around in the fresh green grass. Really, some people had no understanding of what it meant to be an Earth Fae.
Which, yeah, humans were oblivious to our existence.
My bad.
But who could blame me when surrounded by all this life? I just wanted to swim in the nature of this place and listen to all the tales of the flowers around me.
Zeph pressed his lips to my ear. “Stop that.”
I blinked, confused, then realized the leaves were swaying around us, ready to embrace my magic. It just came to me instinctively, the urge to help them all grow and prosper a part of my base existence as the conduit for the earth source.
The light-bearing human disappeared down the path, causing Zeph to relax somewhat against me. “We should get out of here.”
“Why?” I asked against his hand, my voice muffled.
“Because we’ve already drawn enough attention to ourselves here. There’s a division of Warrior Bloods who scan incident reports to spot any signs of supernatural activity in the Human Realm. If that officer files a case about a ‘crazy flower chick’ dancing naked in the park, it’ll raise a red flag.”
I frowned. “I wasn’t naked.”
“Not yet,” he agreed, using his wand to retrieve my sweater from the field and handing it to me. “Put this back on, Aflora. Humans don’t frolic without clothes on in Central Park unless they’re sunbathing, or doing other things.”
“I was doing other things,” I pointed out as I pulled the sweater over my head. “I wanted to feel the grass.”
He nodded, his lips twitching at the sides. “Uh-huh.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“That look isn’t nothing, Zeph.” I folded my arms. “Tell me.”
He shook his head, his mouth curling into a fond smile. “I’m just amused by your Earth Fae inclinations. It’s very stereotypical.”
“Stereotypical,” I repeated. “In what manner?”
He pressed his palm to my lower back to guide me the opposite way down the path, purposely keeping us to the dark areas to hide our presence. “Nymphs are a popular lore in the Human Realm and commonly depicted as nature beings who frolic around naked.” He glanced at me sideways. “Which, I’m pretty sure, you were about to do.”
“I don’t know about naked,” I replied. “But maybe. There are just so many glorious scents here, and the magic coming from the ground is very alluring.”
“You know what’s alluring?” he asked quietly, guiding me into a darker area of the park where the moonlight was hidden by the lush branches above us. He walked me backward with his palms against my hips. This was not the path we’d entered on, and my boot-clad feet were encased in the beautiful green grass once more.
I bit my lip and stared up at him. “What’s alluring?” I whispered, continuing to step in the direction he led me, trusting him not to let me fall.
His lips went to my ear. “The idea of stripping you naked right here and fucking you up against this tree.”
My back hit something hard, my palms finding the bark behind me and identifying the vivacious American elm tree. So big and full of life. I gave it a little pet, pleased with its sturdy roots and overbearing size. I also rather liked how dark it was beneath the trunk-like branches.
And more specifically, I enjoyed how Zeph felt as he trapped me between his body and the hard surface behind me.
“Yes,” I said softly, my hands wandering up to grasp Zeph’s shoulders. “I like that plan very much.”
“Do you?” he asked, his words a breath against my ear. “It won’t be sweet or romantic, but hard and fast. It might hurt.”
“Will you bite me?” I asked him.
“If you want me to.”
“I do.” I hadn’t been aware the first two times he’d bitten me, and I really wanted to feel him, to make this moment just about us and our unique connection to one another.
“It’ll finalize our mating bond,” he warned.
“I know.” I wasn’t afraid of it. We were already on a wild ride together, so we might as well finalize it and see where it went. That he wanted to do it here, in the middle of my element, only made it that much more powerful and intense.
His lips drew an enticing path along my jaw, leading his mouth to feather over mine. “Be sure, Aflora.”
“I am,” I promised him, my nails dragging along his shoulder to his neck and then into his hair to hold his head where I wanted it. “I want you inside me, Zeph.” I meant the phrase in every way it could be interpreted but decided to seal the deal with the two words I knew he truly wanted to hear. Because Zeph was all about communication and trust. “Fuck me.”
He shuddered against me, any restraint he had in place dissolving in a second.
And his mouth took mine.
It wasn’t a gentle kiss but a claim, his tongue dominating mine. But I held my own, refusing to bow completely, meeting him as a match, and challenging him at every turn.
If he wanted to own me, he’d have to win me.
And I wouldn’t bow easily.
Not tonight.
Not while surrounded by power that fueled the energy source inside me.
This was my domain, not his. And queens did not kneel unless they wanted to.
He smiled against my mouth, his amusement palpable. “Oh, Aflora, you just made this that much better.” His fingers dug into my hips as he captured my lips once more, his kiss savage and violent in the best way.
A warrior.
My warrior.
There were moments when I hated him, but he more than made up for it during the times when I adored him.
Times like now.
He’d brought me to this place, wooed me unintentionally with the familiarity of the earth, and now I intended to let him claim his reward.
My sweater disappeared again, followed by his own. I hissed as his bare chest met mine, my bra seeming to have vanished beneath his touch. He cupped my cheek, his tongue enchanting mine into a sensual duel I never wanted to end. I ran my palms over his bare back, loving the way his muscles flexed and moved.
He was all strength and man.
Experienced and knowing.
Velvety smooth and hard as a rock.
“Zeph,” I moaned, arching into him as he unbuttoned my jeans. My zipper slid down, the sound echoing in the night, accompanied by the shuffle of fabric and boots as he fully undressed me, leaving me naked against the tree. He took a step back to admire the view, his Midnight Fae eyes allowing him to see what a human wouldn’t be able to.
It made him predatory.
Cruel.
A sleek panther in the dark.
My skin prickled with goose bumps, my thighs quaking with need, my core slicking in warm welcome.
I loved the vulnerability that came with being naked while he still wore his jeans and boots. I adored the sensations of earth magic humming across my exposed skin. And I craved the masculine scent of arousal tickling my nostrils.
“I can smell you,” I whispered, falling back against the tree, my hands roaming my own curves. “You want me.”
“I do,” he admitted, yet remained still, watching me embrace my element and touch myself in kind.
Prolonging the moment made me needy, had my knees threatening to bend, but I used the earth to keep myself upright, to be the queen I was born to be.
For him.
For myself.
“Zeph,” I said, my voice low and sultry.
“Aflora,” he returned softly, his thumb flicking open the button on his jeans.
I couldn’t see him as well as he could see me, but I caught enough of his movements to recognize his intentions. His zipper whispered through the
air, lashing my skin with a fresh wave of warmth and anticipation. However, he didn’t kick off his pants the way he’d stripped mine.
Hmm, no. He wouldn’t.
This was Zeph.
He needed a measure of control, which would come with him being partially dressed while I stood vulnerable and naked among the trees.
I didn’t mind. This was what I wanted. And his proclivity for dominance called to the queen within me. I adored the fight, the push and pull, the need to submit while knowing I could challenge him if I wanted to.
It made this so much more sensual and right.
His hands caught my hips, his arms flexing as he hoisted me into the air. “Wrap your legs around me.”
I did and moaned at the feel of his hard arousal situating itself right between my thighs. “Yes, Zeph. Yes.”
He didn’t enter me but teased me instead, his head stroking my clit with expert ease and causing me to shake against him. His mouth sealed over mine, catching my scream as rapture erupted inside me without warning. I hadn’t even felt it mounting, too lost to the teasing air and intensity thriving between us.
I panted against him, an apology on my tongue for exploding without his permission, but his tongue refused to let me utter the words. Almost as if he didn’t want to hear them. And maybe he didn’t, because I could feel his masculine pride vibrating around us, his obvious pleasure at causing me to fall apart without doing much more than stare at me.
“I love when you come,” he admitted, his lips tracing mine with each word. “I’m going to need you to do it again, Aflora. But around my cock this time.”
He didn’t give me a chance to reply, his hips shifting and causing him to line up with my entrance without so much as a hand between us. His body just knew where to go and how, and he proved it now by penetrating me with a thrust that left me winded.
His name caught in my throat, a cry of pain mingled with pleasure tingling against my tongue, and was swallowed abruptly by his mouth.
He kissed me as if he needed my essence to breathe.
And then he began to take me, truly, with his hips pounding against mine.
He’d been right about it being fast and hard, and it did hurt, just like he warned. But oh, it felt so good, too. I welcomed the scrapes against my back, bathed in the masculine growl coming from his chest as he pummeled into me, and tossed my head back on a sound of approval that probably echoed through the park.
If that guard came back now, I’d tie him up with a vine and stuff a flower in his mouth.
Because no one and nothing was going to ruin this moment.
Zeph had me.
I had him.
All I wanted now was his bite.
“Please,” I begged him, referring to the pressure growing between my legs and the ache in my veins. I needed him to finish this, to tie us together as one.
His lips feathered over mine, his hands tightening on my hips as he angled me to receive him even deeper. “You feel so fucking good,” he breathed.
“You, too,” I replied, unable to say more. I had my arms wrapped tight around his shoulders and my ankles crossed over his ass. The rasp of his jeans against my inner thighs heightened the moment, reminding me of my vulnerability with each stroke.
Yet I felt the tenderness in him, too.
The way he held me with care, his guarded energy as he monitored my reactions to his movements and actions. It hurt in the best way, and I made sure he knew that by gazing directly into his eyes and showing him what this did to me.
“Fuck,” he whispered, his mouth taking mine again in a brutal kissed underlined in promise. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you, Aflora, but I’ll spend every day thanking whatever higher power put you in my path.”
I arched into him, my limbs trembling with the intensity growing inside me. “I’m close.”
“I know,” he said, his tongue tracing a wet path along my jaw to my ear. “I can feel you clenching my shaft, pixie flower, trying to force me to come early with you.” He bit my earlobe, sharp enough to pause the mounting orgasm inside me. “Not yet, Aflora.”
“Please.”
“Soon,” he promised, his pace lengthening, smoothing, and drawing out the moment.
I wanted to scream, to beg, to howl in frustration.
But then I felt a burning twist in my gut that curled into the pressure already churning inside me, and power thrummed through my veins. “Ohhh…”
“Yes,” he replied. “That’s what I want.”
The sensation grew, causing my limbs to tighten around him, the ecstasy climbing with each measured stroke inside me. “Zeph,” I breathed, my world seconds away from exploding.
“Now,” he said, his teeth sinking into my pulse half a beat later and shooting me off into the stars.
My throat burned with the scream I released, Zeph’s palm closing over my mouth to silence the echoes of my ecstasy as he followed me into the pleasurable abyss.
His soul intertwined with mine, marrying us in a forbidden manner that felt deliciously right. I felt him enter me in every way imaginable, his mind becoming mine as mine became his. Connections deepened, his thoughts melding and firing signals inside my brain.
I couldn’t understand it, similar to my mating with Shade, but somehow I knew that if I tried, I could access whatever history or detail I wanted, just as he could do the same to me.
It was a level of trust and adoration reserved for mates.
A knowledge that I wouldn’t enter him uninvited, just as he wouldn’t penetrate my mind without my permission.
The door could be closed as well—I sensed it now—but rather than shut him out, I allowed him to see me, and he returned the favor in kind.
An opening.
A new beginning.
A relationship underscored in trust and equality.
He craved to dominate me yet desired my backbone and strength as well. All his lessons were meant to empower me, including the ones I hated. Zeph only wanted me to be safe, to be ready for the future, to be aware of my own abilities.
There’d been doubts.
Concerns.
Troubles.
Yet they all came from the right place—his heart.
I kissed him, my own heart lost to his as I embraced our connection and what it meant for us both. There was fear, uncertainty, and dread. But the adoration, hope, and desire outweighed the uncertainties. And that was what I clung to.
“We need to go,” Zeph whispered, his Midnight Fae senses picking up on something I hadn’t—the approach of humans. “Your screaming caught their attention.”
“Why do you sound pleased by that?” I asked him as he slowly pulled out of my body and set my feet on the ground.
“I’m pleased about a lot of things right now,” he admitted, and while I couldn’t quite make out his mouth, I suspected it was twisted upward into a smirk.
He handed me my sweater, then found my jeans. My boots were last, and by the time I was all ready to go, he had put himself back together as well.
“What about my underwear?” I wondered out loud, trying to find my bra and panties.
“I’ve got them,” he said, causing me to frown.
“Where?”
But the sound of approaching boots silenced his ability to respond. He pulled me behind a tree just before a ray of light hit the area we’d been a second before. His palm caught my mouth again, making me wonder, Do you just like this position? Or are you afraid I’ll make a sound?
Both, he replied, his lips brushing my pulse. And your voice in my head is an amazing sound.
I smiled. I like yours in mine, too.
Oddly, it wasn’t hard to talk to him without Shade hearing. It was like I had these mental switches that told me whom I was talking to.
That same switch connected to the doors to their thoughts, drawing my attention to Shade’s closed one. I hadn’t really noticed it before, his mental voice always strong inside my head, but he’d sealed off my ability to see
into his mind. Likely because of his Fortune Fae heritage. I’d have to ask him about it later.
Can you use your earth magic to create a safe escape path? Zeph asked. Preferably one where the humans don’t see us.
You mean you don’t want to go invite them to have loaves with us?
He snorted into my mind. Cute, Aflora.
Just checking, I replied, smiling against his hand. Yeah, I can use some tree cover to help us out, but you’re going to have to tell me which direction because this place is huge.
I can do that, he agreed.
Then let’s go, I said, already outlining a path through the trees that would take us away from the humans trampling over the earth. When we get back, I want a shower, I added, grimacing as I took a step. My jeans are going to need to be washed, too.
Feeling a little damp, pixie flower? Too much seed for your lady garden?
I nearly choked out a laugh at the horrible joke. Don’t ever say that again.
He chuckled into my mind. Hmm, but I like growing inside you, Aflora. Rooting you so deep you’ll feel me all day.
Stop.
Making you blossom with pleasure around my thick—
I elbowed him in the side. If you want me to get us out of here, you will stop right now.
His amusement touched my thoughts, but he ceased his dirty commentary.
Not that I hadn’t heard similar puns before. I was an Earth Fae. There was a myriad of sexy statements that could be made using the element as a base.
For the record, I enjoyed you taking root inside me, I told him as we walked. And I’m open to you doing it again as soon as we return to your flat.
Good, because I intend to fuck you against the shower wall next, he replied, his puns replaced by his usual crass approach. And then I’m going to fuck you in my bed.
I shivered. Will you bite me again, too?
Only if you beg.
I glanced up at him and gave him my best innocent look. Please, Headmaster Zephyrus. Bite me again.
“Fuck,” he muttered, grabbing my hand and yanking me down the path.
I grinned at his sudden haste.
Yeah, begging I could do.
Maybe I’d make him beg, too.
Chapter Thirty