by Godiva Glenn
“Did you like that?” she asked.
“I liked your fingers,” he admitted before thinking better of it.
She shifted on the blanket and took a sip of her wine. “Have you been kissed before?”
“I have.”
She leaned close and whispered, “Good, because I don’t want to overthink this.”
Her lips were pressed against his within the next second. Bless the aspects, she’s perfect. He took a chance and slipped his fingers into the soft hair at the nape of her neck. Her lips parted, and their tongues danced, their kiss the flavor of wine and fruit and pent-up desire.
Kissing Alethea wasn’t the same as kissing anyone else. The lust he had now wasn’t empty as it had always been before. He wanted more of her—all of her. They pulled away at the same moment and he took a deep breath, savoring the mysterious floral perfume that drifted from her skin.
“Nice,” she said softly. Her thumb swept across his bottom lip. “Sorry about that.”
He wiped his mouth and a crimson streak stained across the back of his hand. Her lipstick, red and stuck on his skin as clearly as a planted flag. Proof of her interest in him. His heart already raced from the kiss, and this kept it pounding. “I don’t mind.”
“Really? Because I think that’s why I’m not supposed to wear red.”
“Not supposed to?”
She shrugged. “Men hate lipstick, and red in particular isn’t becoming of—eh. A lady, I guess.”
“I love it. Lipstick, well, most makeup, isn’t popular back home. We have a human who married the prince and she wears it, and I think most males are envious. She leaves little red and pink smudges on his cheeks and neck.”
“And that’s a good thing?”
“It’s proof of having a woman who loves you. Why wouldn’t it be?” He glanced at the mark on his hand. “It’s a reminder of you. I’d never complain about it.”
A curious ‘hmmm’ was her only reply.
“Did I say something wrong?” he asked.
She cleared her throat. “No. The opposite. I’m just wondering if Prism is hiding all the decent guys. So far, everything you say is just… too good to be true.”
“I’m making a good impression, then? Making up for the boat incident?”
“Definitely.” She swirled her wine and narrowed her eyes at it. “How strong is fae wine?”
“How do you mean?”
“I don’t feel anything from it, but that’s usually a sign that it’s going to haunt me later.” She watched him, but he still wasn’t sure what she meant. “What’s the alcohol percentage?”
He handed her the bottle and she looked it over with a quizzical expression. “I don’t know what these funny symbols mean.”
“Oh.” He took it back and squinted. The swirly fae letters were nonsense to him as well at first, but as he stared on, became clear. “Oh,” he said again, this time excited. “I can read this!”
“Why wouldn’t you be able to?”
His fingers traced the words. “Because I couldn’t when I was a dryad. I never learned it… there’s no reason for a tree spirit to know written language. But it must be… the water’s magic.” He glanced up and found her confused eyes following him. “Whenever a fae leaves Prism, they have to drink the water of reflection. Its magic connects to every living being. That’s how we travel, and we can speak the language and take on a different appearance.”
“This isn’t what you always look like?”
“Not at all. On Prism I looked like my tree. Before I could come to Earth, I had to drink the water. I gained this appearance, and the ability to understand Earth’s languages. I assume that now being able to read the fae language is a side effect.”
She scooted closer, so that their arms touched, and peered at the bottle. “I can’t even imagine your life up until now. How are you not overwhelmed? It’s like you’ve been tossed into chaos, yet you’re so calm.”
“No one has more patience than trees,” he reasoned. “Besides, I’m not overwhelmed so much as I am amazed, but it helps that I’m only focusing on one new thing at a time.” He pulled a tendril of her blonde hair around his fingertip. “Right now, my only goal is to learn everything about you.”
“Damnit,” she whispered. “Perfect words. Every single time.”
The wine turned out to be as strong as it was sweet, and Alethea had walked away from her date with Blair with a pleasant buzz. A buzz that wasn’t all attributed to the alcohol, actually.
“He’s dangerous,” she said to Nikki as she climbed into the car.
“What, like he’s a fae secret agent?”
Alethea laughed. “What? No. I mean he’s way too charming to be real. Everything he said was a line.” She stared out the window. The car started and pulled away, with the trees behind them quickly growing small and distant. “Except I don’t think he meant it to be that way. He seems too innocent to be playing a game.”
“He didn’t look innocent to me,” Marie said from the front seat.
Joseph, who sat next to her and was driving, nodded in agreement.
“If you’d been there, you’d know what I mean,” Alethea said in defense. “I wish I could’ve spent more time with him.”
“As it is, we’re running late.” Nikki handed her a packet of makeup wipes, a round compact, and a soft pink lip gloss. “You’ll have to get ready on the drive.”
“It’s an hour drive. I’m not going to rush,” she grumbled.
Nikki looked at her pointedly. “If you aren’t a sparkly princess the moment you step out of this car, your father might force you to get an actual assistant instead of relying on me.”
“Fine.” Aletha opened the compact and peered into the small mirror. Her ruby lipstick was mostly worn away from eating. And kissing. She gently wiped the remainder away. “But in all seriousness, Blair is incredible.”
“But is he royal consort material?” Nikki asked.
Good question. There was unfortunately no precedent there. Sure, her father had met her mother while he was studying abroad, but a different country wasn’t the same as a different planet. And while her mother wasn’t of noble blood, she was well-educated, came from a wealthy family, and was regarded as an accomplished humanitarian.
Blair was a sweet, sexy guy who was a few hundred times her age and used to be a tree. Oh, and he just learned to read and is still learning what food is.
“He could be,” Alethea said optimistically. “I think this is one of those ‘diamond in the rough’ situations.”
No one responded but looks were cast all around her. She could imagine what they were thinking. Her father would never approve.
Nikki handed her a shoebox. Inside was a gorgeous pair of white pumps destined to ruin the next few hours of her life. She kicked off the basic brown flats she’d worn for her date.
“It’s just a meeting, isn’t it?” She asked.
“A tour and a meeting over lunch,” Nikki amended. “I’m told the new facilities are amazing. You should be proud.”
“Of course I’m proud.” Very little could have pulled her away from Blair today, but driving to the country to see the fruits of her labor was one of those things. “I still remember the first time I met Helen and she told me her idea for Grand Adventures. A summer camp that was fun but also educational, teaching history and art.”
“With your help they went from renting a public building in the park to having a full campus, complete with a miniature castle.” Nikki tossed Alethea a water bottle. “Not bad at all.”
“It’s probably the one thing that keeps father from thinking I’m a 100% disappointment.”
Nikki slouched, her smile fading instantly. “Don’t talk that way. He loves you.”
Staring out the window, Alethea fiddled with the water. “Hard not to feel this way, though.”
“Cheer up,” Nikki said poking at Alethea’s arm. Her voice lowered as if conspiring. “When we get home, you can tell me all about the date.”
>
The date. All in all, having a wonderful time with Blair then visiting with the organization closest to her heart made for a perfect day. Nikki was right. Pouting about her father could be done another time.
Holding her shoes in one hand, Alethea crossed the cold tile of her apartment floor, heading past her bedroom to her personal sauna. After stripping and wiping her face clean with a towel, she wrapped a towel around her midsection and stepped into the room.
Rich wood planks made up the room’s ceiling and walls, with matching benches hugging the walls in two tiers. It was perfect for stretching out after a long day, and even more perfect for private gossip with her best friend.
After a few minutes, Nikki joined her, sitting on the bench beside her and propping her feet up on the nearby ledge.
“I want one of these,” she groaned. “Especially when winter comes around. It would be so nice.”
“Then get one.”
“Never. If I did, every time I came home, my mother would be invading it.” She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “It’s much better to just use yours. Besides, this way I don’t have to clean it.”
Alethea scoffed, knowing that Nikki never cleaned regardless. She wasn’t royalty, but she was still rich and definitely employed a cleaning staff.
“Go on then, spill the details,” Nikki urged. “You’ve been frustratingly silent about Blair, but you obviously had a good time.”
“I don’t know where to start,” Alethea admitted. She reached out and grabbed the nearby ladle then sprinkled a bit of water over the heated rocks. Steam rose rapidly and filled the room. “He’s not a shifter. He’s a dryad. Or was, at least. Now he’s human.”
“I thought dryads were women who lived in trees.”
Alethea grinned. “Same. But the reality is different. He had a tree, now he doesn’t. He explained it, but I didn’t understand it all. I’m still surprised at how calm and factual he is about it. If I used to live in a tree, then could suddenly run around and do human things, I’d be partying.”
“But you like him?” Nikki asked, well aware of the answer.
Sweat dripped off Alethea’s chin as she sighed and crossed her legs. “That first-stage attraction is there. Moving past that is always the rough part. He doesn’t have many obvious flaws. I get the feeling that I’ll fall head over heels and then there’ll be this massive revelation that destroys everything.”
“I want to disagree but let’s face it, that’s why we’re both still single to this day.”
“It’s ridiculous.” Alethea stared at the foggy glass door, but in her mind, she was looking into Blair’s eyes. “If you met him, though, you’d understand. Everything is new and wonderful to him. He’s honest and confident. Any other guy, I’d think he was toying with me. Telling me what I want to hear.”
“Either you’ve gotten incredibly lucky or you’ve found yet another ass in good-guy’s clothing.” Nikki blew out a puff of air, barely budging the strand of hair stuck to her nose. “I don’t want to take a side just yet.”
“You should be on my side.”
“I totally am. But am I rooting for him? Am I thinking you should get out while you can? That’s what I’m not sure of. I don’t have a gut feeling yet.”
Swiping the moisture on her arms, Alethea briefly compared Blair to each man she’d met before. Aside from being handsome, there were few similarities. “The fact is that he brought me on a picnic because he’d never been on one—”
“So he says.”
“And he wants to enjoy his new life with me there for it. He’s sweet and attentive and he’s got that certain something. That attitude that tells me that whatever he wants, he’s going to find a way to get it.”
“Which can be great, or it could mean he’s an ass.”
“You could say that about any quality.”
Nikki fanned her face. “Until proven otherwise.”
“He’s still learning about Earth, so he tries to search everything online, and I really mean everything.” Alethea stifled a laugh just recalling him reaching for his phone to investigate how noodles and olives could be called a salad. “Plus, he told me about where he’s from.”
“That could be fun. I would think a magical planet would be entertaining conversation,” Nikki admitted. “So what’s the news?”
“Did you know that on Prism, casual sex is really casual? You can have sex with your neighbor on a whim, just for fun, and no one would care or judge?”
Nikki sat up. “Was that his way of convincing you to sleep with him?”
“No.” Alethea rolled her eyes. “We were just talking, and he wanted me to know that he’s doing his best to learn what is appropriate. He didn’t want to do anything culturally inappropriate to me.”
“And this came up how?”
“Because after wine and kissing, I realized that he had a fucking amazing hard-on that he was ignoring, but obviously I couldn’t. I turned it into a factual thing, because he has this absurd fascination with research and the cultural differences between our worlds.”
Nikki’s raised brows showcased her disbelief. “One does not discuss hard wood with the Princess.”
“He doesn’t know I’m a princess.”
“Maybe you should go ahead and tell him, then. You can’t have casual sex. Your dad would die. The media would be in a frenzy like sharks in bloody water.” Nikki’s hands gripped the bench and her eyes bored into Alethea. “I’m all for fun but come on.”
“What does it matter?” Alethea huffed. “I’m not a virgin. Haven’t been for a while. And the previous guy who got into my pants and claimed to love me… where is he now? You’re the one who told me to have fun, by the way.”
“I wasn’t using ‘fun’ as a code-word for fucking. This isn’t about asshole-who-shall-not-be-named. I’m only talking about Blair. He’s a tree. He probably hasn’t been laid ever. He’s just desperate and horny, just like every other guy in a five-mile radius.”
“He’s not. He’s just open and honest, which we aren’t used to in the modern dating scene. It’s depressing, if you think about it.”
Nikki closed her eyes and sat back, leaving Alethea to bite her tongue or continue a one-sided argument. Taken out of context, everything Blair told her did seem suspicious. But he’d opened up to her and she didn’t want to broadcast his entire history. He’d never dated. He’d had sex a few times over the span of his unbelievably long life.
It made perfect sense to her that he didn’t want to screw everything up now that he was a human. She was attracted to him. He was attracted to her. They’d talked about it more plainly than she’d ever discussed it with another man.
“I’m going to see him again,” she said finally. “And you’re going to get to know him.”
“I love you, you know that. I just wonder if all the stress lately is making you go down a road you don’t belong on.”
Alethea scoffed. “What road? Sex, drugs, and rock and roll? It’s a third date with an amazing guy who loves nature.”
“That’s not what irks me. I’m just worried that in your rebellion against being a princess, you’re going to use this guy to give the finger to everyone. That’s not healthy. You’re hiding who you are and playing like you’re a common Jane.”
“Irrelevant.”
“Super relevant. If Princess Alethea wants to fuck her new boyfriend, fine. But if princess-in-hiding Alethea wants to fuck a guy just to stick it to the crown, not fine.”
A sick feeling tumbled Alethea’s stomach. Nikki made a fair point. Her feelings towards Blair could easily be tangled in the web of underlying goals. She’d asked Gerri for someone that would piss her father off, after all.
Not that Gerri agreed to such a provision. Shaking her head, Alethea dismissed the idea. “I know I acted like a brat, but I’m serious about this. No matter how I may joke about using a man to get back at my father, it’s just a joke. I know he won’t approve of Blair, but that’s not why I’m seeing Blair again.�
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“Then tell him the truth.”
“I just want a little longer. You don’t know what it’s like. Blair looks at me like I’m some precious miracle. When have I ever been in the position to meet someone who likes me for me?”
“You’re an amazing person,” Nikki swore.
“I have to approach everyone I meet with cynicism because of how often I have been used. The majority of smiling faces I see are devising ways to manipulate me for their own gain. Blair doesn’t know any of that, but there’s a chance that when he learns the truth, he’s going to walk away.”
“Maybe not.”
“For now, I just want to enjoy what I have. Maybe he’s the one. Maybe he’s not. I’m selfish, I know.” She slouched and crossed her arms.
There were more reasons, but they all felt like excuses. It wasn’t just about her anymore, though. It seemed almost cruel to toss Blair unprepared into the paparazzi’s spotlight, and that’s exactly what would happen. She couldn’t hold it back forever, but maybe she could buy him some time.
Nikki slid over and rested her head on Alethea’s shoulder. “If it helps at all, you’re just another one of my crazy cousins. No princess worship here.”
The air conditioner kicked on and sent a cool blast through the room where Blair stood glancing out the window. The sea filled his view, and though he couldn’t hear it now, he could recall the churn and crash of waves. He was determined to find a way to survive the ebb and flow of water in the future, not just for Alethea, but for his own pride.
Free of his tree, he wanted it all.
“I don’t like this,” he spoke aloud.
Vevina strolled up beside him and handed him a hot mug of coffee. He was still getting used to the beverage, which tasted a lot like flavored dirt. The flavor didn’t bother him. The temperature did. He preferred his liquid intakes to be cool and refreshing.
