"That or killed by trolls." I turned my wineglass in my fingers. "At first we thought lesser magic would just start working again and we could find out for sure."
"It's been months," Saff said breathlessly.
I couldn't meet his eyes. "I know. We will find a way to fix this and get them all home."
He nodded. "We have to. For all our sakes."
I reached over the table and patted his hand. He offered a wan smile in reply.
Huon cleared his throat. "With that in mind, I'll be leaving my mother in my place."
I frowned at him. "Why?"
"Because we need to go west. I'm not sending people that way if I won't go myself."
"The fae need our king—" I started.
"The fae need strong leadership and the restoration of lesser magic," he said in firmer tone than I'd ever heard him use. "This is the only way I can do both."
"This is how you might get killed," I said tersely.
"How can I get killed when I have you protect me?" he asked.
"Accidents happen," I muttered.
He laughed. "Besides, I also have these two fine fae." He gestured toward Saff and Ash. His expression turned serious. "I've made up my mind. We leave tomorrow. Tonight you can take time to get to know each other better and then get some rest."
He raised his glass in a toast. "To us and our impending success."
Saff raised his glass, then Ash did the same a moment later. Reluctantly, I followed suit, then took a gulp.
"Summer, gentlemen, I have to excuse myself. I need to speak with my mother." Huon put his glass aside and stood. "By all means stay and keep drinking. I'll see you all on the crown in the morning." He gave us a bow and then left the room.
An awkward silence followed, then Ash also rose. "I have had a long journey. Goodnight." He nodded and headed out. My eyes followed him brows knitted at his abrupt departure.
"That just leaves us then," Saff said.
I smiled. "About the fae on the other side—"
"I know if there was anything which could have been done, it would have by now," he said quickly. "We just have to keep trying to find a way."
"We will," I assured him. "We won't stop until we do."
He stared at me for a moment. "Do you want to get some air? It looks nice out on the balcony."
I hesitated, before saying, "I could use some air."
He offered me his hand and didn't let it go when we stepped through the doorway. It was dark outside, except for lights dotted in the rooms and houses around us. The night air was crisp and clear. A million stars dotted the sky, looking like they went on forever.
"Can I ask you something?"
"I suppose so," I replied. His hand felt nice in mine, warm and strong. I couldn't help imagining how they'd feel on my body.
"Do you believe in love at first sight?" he asked.
"I—I'm not sure. Why?"
"Well… I didn't used to," he said softly, "until I met you."
"I—"
He pressed a finger to my lips. "You don't have to say anything. I didn't mean to put you on the spot. Maybe it's the wine, but I wanted you to know how I feel." He paused and swallowed. "I'd like to kiss you."
My heart jumped. I couldn't deny I was drawn to him, but I was drawn to Huon and Ash as well.
I thought quickly. I had no firm ties with anyone, I could do as I pleased and hope not to hurt any of them in the process. Fae might not bother with jealousy, for the most part, but we didn't much care for rejection. If I had to choose one over the others… Well, I'd worry about that if it ever happened.
I took a deep breath and drew in some courage. "Why don't you?" I whispered.
No sooner had I spoken that he leaned in and pressed his lips to mine. His hand tangled in my hair. His mouth was warm and tasted of wine. I parted my lips and let his tongue slid into my mouth. I sucked on the tip of it.
He moaned. "I want you." He slipped his hands down my body, cupped my rear and drew me to him. I felt his cock through the layers of clothing between us.
"I want you too," I said breathlessly.
He turned me so my back was against the wall and slid his hands up under my top. His palms grazed my nipples, then began to rub against them more firmly.
I moaned.
He pulled my top up. I helped him pull it over my head.
He went back to work on my nipples, twisted and turned them gently with his fingertips.
I found the ties at the front of his trousers and undid them. One push and they fell to his feet. He kicked them aside. I pulled off my skirt and panties, then helped him with his shirt.
He cupped my rear again, then picked me up. My back against the wall, his cock was pressed against my already wet sex. He put one hand down between us, to rub my clit while the other held me in place.
With a grunt, he slid his cock into me. He stood still for a long moment, as though savouring the feel of me. Then he pulled out and slammed back into me. Over and over he pounded.
My breath was ragged. Every stroke drove me closer and closer to the edge.
"You feel so good," he said into my ear.
"So do you." And he did. I barely knew him, but it felt right to have him touch me, fill me.
Slowly, he drew out of me and carried me away from the wall. He lay me down on the wooden slats that made up the balcony. He lay beside me and tickled my navel with his tongue.
I writhed and laughed softly. He looked up at me and smiled, white teeth flashed in the darkness.
He did it again, then started to slowly move up my body, kissing and licking as he went.
"You taste so good," he whispered.
"So I've been told," I replied lightly. Earlier that day too. Usually I wasn't quite so—loving, but I wasn't going to feel bad about it.
He wanted this, I wanted this and we weren't hurting anyone.
"Oh really," he said teasingly. "I'll have to come up with some new lines then."
He reached my breasts and licked one nipple before he grazed it with his teeth. He watched me while he did it, to gauge my reaction.
I moaned.
He grazed his teeth over my whole breast, stopped here and there to kiss and lick. His hand found my clit again and resumed his gentle massage while lavishing his attention on my other breast.
Desire rose as quickly as it had before. I arched my back and rocked my body against his hand. My fingers curled and I bit my lip to keep from crying out as I came. For the third time that day, desire flooded over me, washing me away in a current of pleasure.
As my orgasm started to fade, he moved to lie over me. I parted my knees and let him slip his cock back inside me.
He moaned softly. A thrust and another and his breath was ragged.
"I'm going to come," he said breathlessly.
I reached around to cup his ass and light rake my nails over his skin.
"Ah yes, that will do it." He grunted and thrusted faster and faster. A long, low moan escaped his lips and ended in a gasp, quickly followed by another. I sensed rather than felt his cum flow into me.
He collapsed, panting beside me.
"I must say," he said once he was able to breathe, "you're a delightful surprise."
I lifted my head to look at him. "Now that's one I have never heard."
He sat up and rubbed his chin. "You should hear it often. I'll be sure you do."
"Charmer," I told him. I sat beside him and leaned against his arm.
He laughed softly. "Now that's something I have never heard before."
"Oh, what do you you usually hear?"
He breathed in and out through his nose. "Usually insults relating to the colour of my hair."
I touched his head lightly. "I like your hair."
"I like yours." He leaned over and kissed the top of my head. "I meant what I said."
"About what?" I asked. I let lethargy start to creep up on me and closed my eyes.
"What I said about love at first sight. Although," he added, "I think it hap
pened before we met. After all the things Huon told me about you."
My eyes shot open. "He did what?"
Saff chuckled. "He talks about you all the time. He's been head over heels for you for years."
I swallowed. "Is this going to be a problem between you two?"
"No, why should it? I care about you, he cares about you, neither of us mind. And if you feel the same way, then I don't mind sharing." He put an arm around me. "But that's up to you."
I frowned. "Wait a minute. How do you know he doesn't mind?"
"We talked about it. Why do you think he excused himself so early?"
"You two presumed a lot." I shifted away from him.
"Wait. Not, it's not like that," he said quickly. "I only wanted time alone with you to talk."
"Was Ash in on this too?" I asked.
"No, him leaving then was just a bonus."
I wasn't sure I believed him. Right now I didn't care. I got up, hunted down my clothes and started to pull them on.
"Summer, please don't be angry. I had no idea it would end like this, I swear. I wanted to get to know you, that was all. I mean, maybe the wine helped me to get a little carried away, but Huon and I didn't plan for you and I to make love."
"Love," I spat. "You don't even know me. You might not even like me for all you know. Hells, I might not like you."
"I'm sure if you gave it some time—"
I interrupted. "We'll have plenty of time when we travel to troll country." If I was speaking to him or Huon as we went. Maybe Ash and I could be quiet together.
"I'm tired. I'm going to bed. Alone."
Before he could say anything else, I wrapped my arms around myself and stomped away.
He and Huon were both so infuriating I couldn't decide who I was more angry with. By the time I reached my room and slammed the door shut behind me, I'd decided to be mad at them both.
It wouldn't last, my anger never did, but for now I was determined not to let either of them get under my skin.
5
When we met on the crown in the morning, Huon didn't meet my eyes. Saff tried, but I pointedly ignored him. Only Ash gave me a nod and a faint smile, apparently oblivious to what had happened the night before.
"You brought your pack, I see," Huon said.
I smirked at him as I slid it off my back and set it on the ground at my feet. "Your powers of observation are as good as ever," I said dryly.
"Summer—" He took a step toward me.
"Don't." I moved away. "We should be worrying about the job we have to do. Nothing else matters right now."
"Your feelings matter," he said insistently. He put out a hand, but I ignored it.
"I'm a big girl, I'll deal with it." I didn't look at his face.
From the corner of my eye I saw him drop his hand. I pushed away a spike of guilt with the reminder I still felt set up. Maybe next time he'd think twice about talking about me behind my back.
I gave myself a mental shake and focused on the present, and what was important right now.
"We should leave before we attract a crowd," I said.
"I still think we should take more fae with us," Saff remarked. He gave Huon a meaningful look, as if they'd argued the point before I had arrived.
"We need to be inconspicuous," Huon said. "Four is probably more than we should have."
He turned to me.
"You are not leaving me behind," I said before he could speak. "Birch wanted me to fix this."
"He wanted us to fix this." Huon shook his head. "Arguing will get us nowhere." He picked up his pack and swung it onto his back.
"At last, something we agree on." I picked up my own pack and tucked my wings in tight so I wouldn't put a strap over one. "Have you got a map?"
Huon smacked his forehead. "Now why didn't I think of that?" He grinned, pulled one out of his pocket and started to unfold it.
"Are the fae here always like this?" Ash asked to no one in particular.
"What, lots of fun?" Saff asked.
Ash raised his eyebrows at him.
"I've only just met Saff, but King Huon has always been a featherbrain," I said sweetly.
Huon smiled at me. "It's just a part of my charm."
I snorted, but tried hard not to laugh. "If you say so."
He gave an exaggerated sigh. "Some day she'll admit she loves me." Something flashed in his eyes but he turned and leapt off the crown before I could respond.
Saff shrugged and followed him.
"Maybe I should apologise in advance for both of them," I said, "but they're old enough to take responsibility."
Ash chuckled. "In my village, very few fae are jokesters. It's… refreshing." He gave me a look which made my heart leap.
"I suppose it would be. It does keep life entertaining." Even if Huon could be infuriating at the same time.
Ash nodded. "Shall we?" He offered me his hand.
Pulse thumping, I took it. His hand was large and warm in mine, reassuring and somehow safe.
He nodded and we leapt, wings stretched to catch the air before we soared after the other two.
We flew west for several hours before Huon gestured for us to land.
He chose a copse in the middle of a stand of a dozen kinds of trees. The moment his feet touched the ground, he stopped and looked around, a worried expression on his face.
It took me a few moments to realise what was bothering him.
All around us, the trees bore brown. Not just the natural brown of drying leaves I'd seen in the human world. These trees looked as though they rotted where they stood.
And the smell.
I pinched my nose.
"I smelt rotten meat once." Huon's face was unusually serious. "That's what these smell like."
"Trees aren't made of meat," Saff pointed out. "Not usually anyway."
I stepped up to the closest one, a beech, and lightly touched the leaves with my fingertips. They felt cold and moist. When I drew my hand back, chunks came away. Some of it coated my fingers. I rubbed my thumb against it.
My skin began to sting.
"Maybe don't touch them," I said. My fingers turned red and started to blister.
"Shit," Huon swore. "Summer!"
I dropped my pack to the ground and pulled out a water gourd. I undid the stopper with my teeth and poured water all over my hand. The second it touched, the pain stopped. A moment later the blistering was gone. In another half a dozen heartbeats, the skin on my fingers was healed as though nothing had happened.
"Well that was strange." I flexed my fingers. "Not even a hint of pain." I eyed the trees.
"Magic," Ash said simply. "I suspect if we didn't have magic, things might have been much worse." He nodded at me. "Yours healed you, and quickly." He looked impressed.
I chewed my lip and examined my hands up close to my face. Even the tinge of pink was gone. "Without lesser magic, the trees can't heal themselves. That doesn't explain why they smell like dead creatures, instead of trees."
"Maybe someone turned trolls into trees," Saff said. "Their touch can be toxic to fae. Or so I've been told." He smiled lopsidedly.
I squinted. "They just look like trees to me." I had never heard that about trolls, but I refused to take his bait.
"That's what they would want you to think." He tapped the side of his nose.
"Unless someone can do a reversal spell, there's no way to know." I looked around the guys, but none of them said anything. I wasn't expecting them to. The ability to reverse spells was rare and here in the fae realm it was considered rude.
"We should walk from here," Huon said. "Conserve our strength."
"And see what other weird shit is going on," Saff added.
"That too," Huon agreed.
They started to move carefully around the trees. After a moment, and at a safe distance from the foliage, I followed.
Ash fell into step beside me.
"Have you ever seen anything like this?" I asked. I ducked around a pine with needle
s which glistened with unnatural moisture.
"Never," he replied. "I am, however, concerned about the rivers and lakes."
I tilted my head at him. "You are? Why?"
He glanced at me. "Whatever falls to the ground can fall into water, or be washed into it."
I frowned. "Stinking, stinging leaves could taint the water," I concluded.
"And anyone who drinks it," he agreed.
I thought about the water under the rose bower. That had been fresh yesterday, but what about now? Or next week?
Or next year?
"It's not this bad near the capital." I adjusted my pack and stepped over a fallen log.
"Nor near Springblade either," he said, "but if it gets worse the further we are from fae settlements…"
"It could be a lot worse than this," I finished for him. "Or maybe it's because we're closer to where the trolls live."
He looked to be considering that for a moment before he said, "That is possible. They do seem to spread taint wherever they go." After another moment he spoke again. "Did you know we're related?"
I frowned. "You and I?" A spike of disappointment blossomed in my chest. It died when he laughed softly.
"No. The fae and trolls."
"Oh," I replied. "That's much worse."
He smiled, the first one I'd seen from him since we'd left the capital. "It's certainly not pleasant, but it's true."
"Of course, because we're snub nosed, short-legged, short-lived and nasty," I replied sarcastically.
"You're not that bad," Huon said from up ahead. He turned and gave me a grin.
I made a rude gesture with my finger and he laughed.
"You're right, that description matches Saff better." Huon ducked under Saff's arm as his friend swung at him playfully. "Hey, is that any way to treat your king?"
I locked eyes with Saff and we simultaneously said, "Yes!" and dissolved into laughter.
Ash shook his head at us. "I hope we're not trying to sneak up on any trolls. They would have heard us coming for days."
Huon blinked at him. "Did you just make a joke?"
"I didn't intend to," Ash replied. "We are making a lot of noise."
"He's right, we sound like a herd of screamspinners." I shuddered. The ten-legged creatures spun enormous, sticky webs, then moved away to hide. When they spotted their prey, they screamed like a fae having its wings pulled off. The sound scared their prey toward the webs, where they'd get stuck before they got eaten.
Shimmer (Summer's Harem Book 1) Page 3
