Light Fae Academy: Year One

by Nala Kingsley

  That’s the not-so-good news. The good news?

  Sage.

  We fly around most days, but I do my best to not cling to him. I’m still flying by the philosophy of playing hard to get, and whenever I feel like I’m going to freeze up around him, which, honestly, happens a few times every day, I force myself to act like Bay. It’s almost become a defense mechanism. I’m afraid that if I act like myself and let him know just how much I like him, I’ll scare him off, and that’s the last thing I want.

  But I still haven’t gotten to the best news of all.

  About half the time, I have lunch with Sage. The rest of the time, I have lunch with Orchid and our friends. Orchid is still my best friend. Yesterday, Sage and I had lunch together.

  Yesterday, he finally asked me out.

  “You look stunning,” Orchid says.

  “Do you really think so?” I ask, twirling in mid-air.

  Orchid nods. “Sage isn’t going to know what hit him.”

  “But I don’t know…” I bite my lower lip. “This dress…”

  “What’s wrong with it?”

  Nothing. I love this dress. It has a sweetheart neckline that my moon necklace accentuates, and the dress shows off all of my curves, but that’s all it reveals. The dress isn’t that revealing at all.

  It’s a dress I would wear, but it’s not one that Bay would wear.

  Does that matter?

  Yes. Bay’s the one who has to turn down guys every day, not me.

  The dress hits several inches above my knees. If I tug it downward to show off more cleavage, the bottom hits my knees instead. Which is better to show off—boobs or legs?

  There’s a knock at the window, and I glance over to see Bay. What is she doing here?

  I give Orchid a quick hug. “Thank you for your help getting ready.”

  She pats my back. “Don’t worry. You’ll have a great time.”

  I beam at her and then open and fly through the window.

  “Don’t you look nice,” Bay compliments.

  “Thank you. What do you need?”

  She quirks an eyebrow. “I haven’t seen my sister in a few days. She’s a bit too busy for me.”

  "Schoolwork has picked up. We didn't lie to our parents about that."

  “Hmm. Still. Blowing off Mom and Dad is one thing. Don’t act like you’re an only child.”

  “I don’t,” I assure her.

  “Care to prove it?” she asks with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

  “Why do I have a feeling I’m going to regret saying yes?” I moan.

  “It’s simple. I just need you to go home this weekend.”

  “It’s our turn to go home together,” I protest, “and I was hoping not to go either.”

  “Please. There’s a huge party this weekend, and—”

  “And you assumed I’m not invited,” I say bitterly.

  “Are you?”

  “No,” I admit. “Still, you shouldn’t assume.”

  "I'm sorry, but I really want to go. If neither of us goes home this weekend, our 'rents will freak."

  “Fine, but you owe me.”

  “Anything you want.”

  I grin. “Anything?”

  For our date, Sage dictated for us to meet by the front gate at precisely seven. I’m a little late, but the wardrobe change—a borrowed dress from Bay that reveals cleavage and legs, black in color to really highlight the purple in both the moon and my eyes—is more than worth it.

  Sage’s green eyes rove over me, and I shiver. “You look amazing.”

  “You do too.”

  And he does. He’s wearing a white tunic that’s open at the top to reveal a slight dusting of chest hair, tight brown pants, and a brown cape. His hair reaches his shoulders, and the breeze blows both of our long strands. His pointed ears are just visible through his sandy brown hair, and the glint in his eyes makes me ready to swoon.

  He sees me. He sees a more confident me, the me I want to be.

  “Shall we?” he asks, holding out his arm.

  I take his arm, and we fly off-campus. Technically, we aren't supposed to leave during the middle of the week, but we ignore the rule.

  Sage never mentioned where or what we were going to do, but he brings me to a secluded grassy field about an hour’s flight from the academy. There, a blanket awaits with a basket on top.

  My heart begins to pound. We’re all alone here, and it feels utterly magical. The sun is setting, and the stars will be out soon.

  Once we settle on the blanket, Sage snaps his fingers. Tiny paper lanterns light up in the scattered trees nearby, providing a glow of illumination that gives him a sexy halo.

  “This is beautiful,” I murmur.

  “Not as beautiful as you,” he murmurs back.

  If anyone else had said that line, it would have been cheesy. Not Sage. He’s perfect, the perfect fairy for me, and I just know this date will be as perfect as he is.

  Chapter 12

  “Go ahead and check out what’s in the basket,” Sage says.

  I open it, and the scent of sweet honey hits me.

  “Have you eaten anything from the Painted Dragon?” he asks.

  I gape at him. “No,” I whisper.

  The Painted Dragon is one of the highest-end fairy restaurants in the Thunder Market.

  “The food there is as amazing as you are,” he says as he reaches inside and pulls out dish after dish—slow-cooked flamed pheasant, honey-roasted primal firefinch, drake-steamed rolls, aberine bombe, and, of course, honey cakes.

  To drink, he pours wild honey-infused wine. Yes, us fairies love anything and everything honey, and this meal is exquisite.

  “This is amazing,” I murmur after I’ve sampled everything.

  “You need to eat more,” he encourages, and I laugh since it’s my goblet he’s placing in my hand instead of my fork.

  I oblige and drink, and the words come easier and easier. Not once do I think about what Bay would do.

  Not until we get to the honey cakes, and Sage holds a small piece up to my lips.

  We haven’t fed each other since that first time, although we have given each other forkfuls of our food sometimes during lunch or the few dinners we’ve had together. The food at the academy isn’t bad at all, but nothing compares to this meal.

  I part my lips and almost kiss the honey cake before accepting it. My eyes close as I savor the deliciously sweet food, and I groan as I swallow.

  Sage’s eyes are hooded. “You don’t know what you do to me.”

  “Maybe you can enlighten me,” I whisper.

  “I think you can tell,” he says hoarsely. “Or at least feel.”

  I know exactly what he’s talking about. Even though I’m a virgin, I’m not that naïve. Still, I’m not quite sure I’m ready to dive right into that, but something takes me over, and I grab his hand, the one that just fed me, and I lick the honey residue from his fingers.

  Sage growls and pulls me onto his lap. His lips seek mine with a quiet desperation that leaves me clinging to him. His hands press against my back, and he shifts his legs slightly.

  That’s when I feel it, feel him, his hardness poking at me.

  My first instinct is to pull away, and I can’t fight against it. Instantly, Sage stills, looking at me, waiting for me to decide where to draw the line in the air.

  I can't help myself. At this moment, I think of Bay and what she would do.

  She would go for it.

  So I decide to.

  Not only do I nod, but I rub against Sage, rub against his manhood. A shock of pleasure races through me straight to my core.

  That’s all the go-ahead Sage needs. He grinds against me harder, his hands rubbing up and down my back. Each kiss sends me closer to the edge, toward some kind of abyss, and my lips part, accepting his tongue not as an intruder but as something so much more.

  I’m not sure who pulls away, but Sage quickly removes his cloak and then his shirt. His skin looks bronze in the g
lowing illumination of the paper lanterns. His chest is covered in hair that looks as soft as it feels. Yes, I’m touching his bare chest, and his skin is so hot I feel like I’m melting.

  Gently, he cups my face and plants a sweet kiss on my lips, but that's all the tenderness he has because, in the next moment, he's yanking off his pants, and I see a cock for the first time.

  Thick, long, veiny… I lick my lips, and Sage groans.

  “You’re such a damn temptress,” he growls.

  I would’ve gaped at him in shock, but he’s turning me around and removing my dress, my bra, and my panties. They don’t match, my bra and panties, not exactly, but they are both black at least.

  My back is to him as his hands grip my shoulders and then lower down to claim my breasts. A soft sigh escapes my lips as he gently pinches my nipples. I’ve never let anyone see me naked before, and I keep waiting to freak out, to tense up, to freeze.

  But I don’t. I’m ready, and I want my first time to be with the fairy of my dreams.

  Slowly, I twist around in his arms. I move to kiss him, but he has his hands on my shoulders again, and he’s holding me in place.

  “Let me look at you,” he begs hoarsely, and who am I not to comply?

  His gaze wanders over my body as if he wants to memorize every inch of me. A slow grin forms on his face, lopsided and sexy, and I touch his face, loving the soft scruff of his stubble beneath my palm.

  “I…” He shakes his head as if he can’t even think, and I know that exactly. Now isn’t the time for thinking. It’s for feeling and touching and caressing.

  And sharing.

  Feeling bold, I place a finger to his lips, lower my hand, and kiss him, nibbling on his lower lip. He growls and grabs my hips, grinding against me. There’s wetness in two places, from the tip of his cock and also between my legs.

  My sister might tease me about being a light fairy, but every fairy experiments with his or her body, and I’m a rule follower in that instance. I’ve touched myself before, but I’m not always able to make myself orgasm. I’ve had much better luck recently, right around the time I started to daydream about a certain fairy…

  But this is no daydream. This isn’t fantasy. To my shock and utter happiness, this is real.

  And it’s so very magical.

  Slowly, Sage lowers me to the blanket, pushing our plates and goblets out of the way. With the light of the paper lanterns behind him, his face is half shrouded in shadows, but that only makes him look mysterious and even more sexy, which I never would’ve thought possible.

  I reach up and brush his hair back. He catches my hand and turns his face to kiss my palm.

  “Are you ready?” he whispers.

  “I don’t know,” I murmur. “You tell me.”

  His eyebrows shoot up, and his grin returns. He trails a hand from my neck, between the valley of my breasts, down my flat stomach, and cups between my thighs. His eyes close as he rubs my slick folds.

  “You’re so wet.”

  “Am I?” I ask, almost choking on the words, lifting my hips, desperate to feel any part of him inside of me… his cock, his fingers… his tongue… Bay mentioned being kissed down there, and I never wanted that so badly as I do right now, but I can’t form the words to ask because Sage’s finger enters me.

  He teases me, hardly moving his finger, letting my hips dictate his thrusting, and I whimper.

  “You’re… such… a… damn tease,” I growl.

  “Do you want more?” he asks.

  “Yes!”

  “Then beg for it.”

  My eyes open. I’m not even sure when I shut them, but I meet his heady gaze. He wants me to beg?

  Then I’ll beg.

  “Please,” I whimper.

  “Please what?” he asks, shifting down so that his chest is practically on top of mine.

  “Please, Sage!”

  He draws back and gives me that insufferable grin. “Please what?” he repeats.

  “Give me what I want,” I whisper.

  “What is it you want?” he presses, but I just close my eyes.

  I can’t articulate what I want. I mean, I know what I want, but to say it in words… that’s asking too much of me right now. I’m too far gone in the sensations of being buzzed from the wine, from his intoxicating scent, from his delicious kisses, from his teasing caresses…

  “Is this what you want?” he asks before giving me another delicious kiss. “Or this?” He tickles a finger along the swell of my breast. “Or this?” He presses the tip of his cock between my legs.

  “Yes.” I nod emphatically, squeezing my eyes shut against sudden tears.

  “Are you sure?” He presses harder, so hard that it’s a wonder that he doesn’t enter me.

  My eyes fly open. “I want you, Sage,” I murmur.

  Sage’s smile does something to me. My heart speeds up as he enters me. He’s large, and it hurts at first, but he’s slow, gentle, and soon, I’m moving my hips in rhythm with his thrusts.

  He leans down and kisses me. “What do you need?” he asks hoarsely. “I… I can’t last much longer.”

  I take his hand and guide it to my clit. His fingers fumble a bit and then start to circle it. The pressure that's been mounting builds and builds, and I break off his next kiss to moan. I might say his name, I'm not sure. At that moment, all I feel is pleasure. I'm nothing but a being of pleasure, riding on a wave of pleasure, floating in the sky on a breeze of pleasure.

  We really are flying, I realize as Sage brings us back down to the blanket. He cradles me to his chest, him on the blanket, me atop him now, his hands rubbing my back once again.

  “I really like you, Bay,” he whispers.

  A rushing sound floods my ears. He didn’t. He seriously didn’t just call me by my twin’s name.

  How can it be that he thinks I’m Bay?

  Chapter 13

  A few seconds pass. A minute. I just lay in his arms, letting Sage hold me, unable to move or blink or breathe.

  Most importantly, I’m unable to talk.

  Which means I can’t correct him.

  My boyfriend thinks I’m my twin. It’s bad enough that I’ve been trying to act like Bay in order to keep him interested, and now that he’s interested, he’s interested in the wrong twin!

  Now I definitely don’t want the two of them to meet. There’s zero doubt in my mind that he would prefer the real Bay to the faux one.

  Mom’s always getting on me to believe in myself, to have my self-confidence, to go after what I want. She never has to tell Bay any of that because my sister got all of the self-confidence.

  Not that I want to think about any of that right now, and I especially don’t want to think about Mom.

  I rack my mind. How can it be that so much time has passed and Sage doesn’t know my name? My thoughts blur on by as I struggle to conjure a memory when I told him my name. I remember that he never had to tell me his name because I already knew it, which meant we never really introduced ourselves to each other, and until now, Sage has always called me by his nickname.

  Daredevil.

  A nickname that is far more apt for my sister than for me.

  Has always been more apt for her over me.

  Sage’s breathing evens out, and I wonder if he’s falling asleep. I’m not about to check. I still feel paralyzed.

  Eventually, a low rumble of a laugh escapes from him.

  “What’s so funny?” I ask, forcing myself to draw back some. My long white hair falls forward, thankfully covering most of my face.

  He stares up at me and brushes some of my hair back. So much for it being a shield of sorts. “I told you I really like you, and you haven’t said anything, and you’re not just a talker.”

  “I’m not?”

  “No. You’re loud.” He rubs his thumb across my jawline and then my lips. “I like it when a girl is loud. It lets me know that I’m pleasing her.”

  I blink a few times and then force myself to smile. I knew. F
rom the start, I knew Sage had a lot more experience than I did. Of course he’s been with other girls, and who knows? There might be other girls after me.

  Stop it, Rosemary. All you have to do is tell him who you are.

  Just tell him the truth already.

  So I do.

  “I really like you too, Sage.”

  He grins and gently pulls me back down to rest on him. The steady beating of his heart soothes my nerves long enough that I’m able to settle and eventually even fall asleep.

  I’m a lot of things, but I never thought of myself as a coward until I wake in Sage’s arms. Maybe I shouldn’t, but I slip out of his arms, dress, and then quickly clean up all of the dishes and the drinks. Some of the last bits of wine from my goblet spilled onto the blanket from when Sage pushed our cups aside. The wine bottle still has some swallows left, and I drink the rest.

  I start to flutter, hovering, and take a long look at Sage. The paper lanterns are clearly spelled because they still provide a decent amount of illumination despite burning for hours.

  As for Sage… He’s sleeping so very peacefully, and a part of me wishes I could stay, but I can’t. I’m not sure what will happen if I linger. He might wake, and then what? I’m not ready to face the fallout from his thinking I’m the wrong twin.

  Until I can face that… Who knows when that’ll be.

  For right now, I just want to relish in the glow of our having sex. As special as I thought it had been, it’s lost a lot of luster from his calling me Bay but also because of him talking about liking me. He doesn’t love me. Not yet at least. Maybe never. Maybe one day. Who knows? I know we’ve only known each other for a month, but my feelings for him are deep and not just because I’ve been insanely attracted to him right from the start. He’s intelligent, funny, sweet, charming…

  All along, I’ve thought of him as the perfect fairy for me, but what if Bay’s the perfect fairy for him?

  It’s so far to fly back to my dorm room, mostly because of the wine I try to lie to myself, but that’s not the truth. Not at all. It’s because of how upset I am, and I have no one to blame but myself. How much of me has Sage even encountered? How much have I started to default to Bay around him? Will he even like me if I show him only myself?