Corin laughed and shook his head. “Do you want a matching set?” This while pointing at Tully’s black eye with a raised eyebrow.
The young man touched his fingers to the swollen flesh and winced. “Not especially.”
“Well then.”
“As you wish.” Tully shrugged and turned back to his horse.
“Thank you, by the way.” Corin called after him.
“Least I could do.” He grinned, and Corin gave him a wry smile of acknowledgement. Both he and Laen had plucked Lord Tullius from a number of misadventures over the years. “Good luck,” he called over his shoulder and Corin nodded as he turned to follow the path to the river, knowing he would need a great deal more than luck.
Chapter 2
Corin turned back to be sure that Tully hadn’t changed his mind and followed him after all. The last thing he needed was to take him to meet the nixe. He would not want to be responsible for getting him drowned. The nixe were desperately beautiful, like the pretty gleam on a silver dagger or the inviting sparkle on an icy lake not quite thick enough to walk over. A romantic heart like Tully’s would be ripe for the plucking for creatures of their kind. The night behind him was quiet other than the rustle of night creatures and the stir of the trees in the cool night air. Satisfied he was alone, he walked towards the river, pushing into the thick tangle of woodland that lay at its borders. Walking with slow, careful steps he kept his senses alert until he felt the seductive pull of magic, and turned towards it. A thin mist crept out from the trees, cool and clammy against his skin - still heated from the exertion of his ride here. Tendrils reached out, fragile as smoke, sliding against him with delicate touches - whispered voices. They curled about him sighing soft spoken intimacies with the faint ring of feminine laughter and then ... began to sing, sweet and pure, a sound that tore at his heart and made him sigh with longing and wanting.
He threw out a hand before they could enchant him, sending a blaze of powerful magic into the mist, burning it away and leaving the searing perfume of ozone lingering in the air. There was a collective gasp, and the singing stopped with an abrupt silence that rang through his ears.
“Do not try your pretty ticks on me,” he said, sending his warning into the silent, watchful darkness. “You will come away the worse for it.” His voice was stern, commanding, even though he was far from sure of the truth of his words.
“Oh, you are no fun.” The voice drifted to him through the gloom and he smiled, picturing the pout he could hear in her tone.
“Oh really?” He lifted an eyebrow and chuckled. “Of all things, I have never heard that said of me before.”
The scent of wild honeysuckle drifted around him and he noticed the quality of the atmosphere change, the air heavy, warm and damp. It made him drowsy and lethargic and he rubbed his face, trying to dispel the sensation.
As he drew level with the river bank he looked down to see the water ripple as a woman broke the surface, sleek as a seal. Her skin sparkled, opalescent, while long pale blue hair streamed in lush billows in the water around her. As she rose from the water it streamed down her back, almost to her ankles, as long as the diaphanous silk dress that clung to the luscious curves of her body in wet swathes, leaving little to the imagination. She looked at him, head on one side, appraising. “You have been here before,” she said. A slow, knowing smile lit her face and Corin tilted his head in acknowledgement.
“I have.”
She walked towards him, the water rippling around her feet as she stepped out of the river onto the bank and placed her hand on his chest. “I remember.”
Fear and desire spiked in his blood and he looked down at her small pale hand, the tip of a perfect nail, white as a pearl as it slipped between the buttons of his shirt to touch his skin. “I am most relieved to know that,” he said with a wry smile.
Her other hand reached out and touched his mouth. “I am Nia.”
He caught his breath as her fingertip traced his lip. Looking down into her lovely face he wondered how she could possibly imagine he had forgotten her. “I know,” he said, and noticed the husky tone of his own voice.
"I have often thought of you,” she said, looking up at him through thick blue lashes that were sparkling with water drops. “I wondered if you would return to us again.” She gave a heavy sigh and stepped a little closer. “I sang for you but you never came."
Corin smiled, pleased that he was not so easily forgotten either but he felt the danger of her too keenly to forget how perilous a game he was playing. He shook his head. "No, I could not come back to you. I'm sorry."
She pursed her lips, sulky, playing with the buttons on his shirt. "Didn't you want to?"
He swallowed, mouth dry as he remembered the day her haunting tune had come hunting him. Drifting on a heated summer night and bringing memories ... and promises. Delicate as lace, a touch like the finest fur, laden with such yearning and desire he had begged Laen to lock him up lest he give in to the need to follow it. “Of course I did ...” he said, the hunger only too apparent in his voice. “You have no idea how much. It was so very hard to stay away when your song came calling for me."
Her eyes widened and her smile made him want to do anything to have her keep looking at him like that. "Have you come to stay at last?"
"No," he said, with more resolution than he was feeling. "It took me many days to break free of your spell the last time. I will not be caught by you again, darling"
She pouted again and it was just as he had remembered it. “I seem to remember you being quite eager to be caught,” she said, looking at him with sly eyes, glittering like moonstones as she moved her hands across his chest, caressing.
He laughed, amused by the reproach in her tone. “That I was but I have learned of your dangers now. I am not so terribly eager to die for you and I won’t be tricked so easily this time.” He hoped that was true, the night seemed dreadfully beautiful, as stars glittered through the bower of the trees and the water whispered secrets, sliding past them in sinuous motion.
She sighed and stepped closer, one hand trailing lower, fingers smoothing over his abdomen with slow but obvious intent. “Then why are you here?”
He tore his eyes away from the path her fingers took, returning his mind to his quest with difficulty. “To find my friend, do you know where he is?”
“Oh, yes.” She gave him a knowing smile. “Want to see?”
He nodded and suddenly she was gone from in front of him and a weight clung to his back as her legs wrapped around his waist. He could feel the wet material of her dress soaking through his shirt and the warmth of her body pressed up against him as small hands covered his eyes.
“I thought you were going to show me? That will be somewhat difficult if I cannot see.”
She giggled and clung tighter. “I will guide you.”
Knowing he had little choice if he wanted to find Laen, he stepped forwards and let the nixe lead him where she would.
The singular perfume of the woodland, the earthy odour of decaying wood and rich soil mingled with night scented flowers on the humid air. The night was alive with insects and hunting calls, wild things searching for their prey and for once Corin knew what it was to be stalked - though he was close to forgetting he did not want to be caught.
“Now...” she said, her words a lingering warm breath, heavy against the back of his neck. “Look.”
She removed her hands to show Laen sitting at the water’s edge on the opposite side of the river and Corin’s heart twisted. Laen was already dead, he just didn’t know it yet.
He was naked, fine white skin like Carrara marble in the moonlight. The gentle movement of the water lapped around his feet as he lay back against the river bank
The long blue hair of the nixe streamed down her back and pooled over Laen’s legs as she straddled his hips and he held her tightly against him, his arms locked around her. His hair shone in the moonlight, almost as white and luminous as his skin and the breathless quality of thei
r kisses could be heard over the soft murmuring of the river.
“Aren’t they lovely?” Nia whispered in his ear. “That is my sister Niella,” she told him, trailing her soft lips up his neck. Corin closed his eyes to savour the sensation but the girl bit his ear. “No. Watch ... I want you to watch.”
He returned his gaze to Laen as Niella broke away from his kiss to move her mouth over his neck and then his chest. Laen’s head tipped back with a sigh, eyes closed, as she moved lower still, the thick tresses of her hair covering her progress demurely but the deep groan from the man under her mouth illustrating her actions vividly enough as his hand fisted in her silky blue locks.
Nia slipped down Corin’s back, snaking her hands around his waist. “Sure you don’t want to stay?” Her cool hands moved up his chest and undid the buttons on his shirt with clever little fingers. She drew it down his shoulders and dropped it to the floor and Corin knew he should protest, it was a very dangerous game he was playing but that only made it all the more enticing and he held his breath, waiting ... just a moment longer. He felt hot kisses press against his spine and heard the soft thud of his sword hitting the ground as buckles were undone and a hand slid beneath the waistband of his trousers. “Are you ... really ... quite ... sure?” Her words fluttered against his skin, punctuating the movement of her hand.
“I’m quite sure I do want to stay,” he said, desire making his voice rough, “more than anything ... but I am equally sure that I must not.” His breath caught in his throat as her hand worked, cursing as she caressed him, firmly, with experienced fingers. He closed his eyes and she nipped hard at his shoulder, drawing a little blood. “Watch.”
He looked again to see that Laen had tumbled Niella onto her back on the sandy river bank and watched them together, watched as Laen’s mouth closed over her breast, his strong fingers grasping the soft flesh of her thighs, and knew he had been dreadfully foolish. He did not want this to stop. He tried to find the will to fight the rising desire that threatened to consume him but could only feel the pleasure of Nia’s caress, her tongue painting his skin with patterns that cooled against the night air, and the sound of his friend’s desire burning on the other side of the water. He watched the ripple and slide of muscle beneath Laen’s skin as his body moved against his companion’s and remembered how it had felt the last time he’d been here. Longing bloomed in his chest until he thought he would die from wanting. But with the remembrance of pleasure came another darker memory, of the terror he had felt when it had dawned on him he may not escape with his life, and this time it was not just his own life at stake. He grasped hold of Nia’s wrist and held it away from him, turning around to find her gazing up at his face as he fought not to take her in his arms and be done with everything.
“Such pretty eyes,” she sighed.
He smiled at her but his voice was hard. “So I’m told, and you would have them looking at the bottom of the riverbed for all eternity.”
She drew his head down to her and kissed him. “Perhaps,” she breathed against his mouth. “But not right away ... not for a long time.” Her lips brushed over his again. “I would keep you for a long, long time.” Despite himself Corin closed his eyes and kissed her back, feeling the warmth of her breasts press against his chest through the cool damp silk of her dress, his hands falling to the full curve of her buttocks and pulling her closer still though a warning voice was screaming at him to stop. The last time he had played this dangerous game it had taken all of his skill and persuasion to keep his breath in his lungs, and more determination than he had realised he possessed to leave them. She coiled harder around him and Corin clung to the remembered terror and took hold of her arms, pushing her away.
“I’m sorry, I am not so eager to trade my life for your charms, as alluring as they may be.” He stepped back, out of reach. “I would speak with the kelpie.”
“But ... I thought you said you wanted to live?” she replied, eyes as fluid and deep as the swirling waters, regarding him with surprise.
“I do but I would have my friend do the same.”
She shook her head. “It is too late, he is lost to Niella’s song already.” She began to murmur a soft refrain under her breath and his blood blazed in his veins. “Wouldn’t you like to be lost ... like that?”
Corin’s eyes strayed back to the silvery shapes of their bodies, entwined and writhing in the moonlight, tried to block out the wanton sounds of pleasure that reached him over the water.
“Do you remember how it feels?” she asked kissing his chest. “I do. I remember, don’t you want it? Don’t you want to feel like that again?”
“Yes ... oh gods yes, so much ... but...” He dragged his eyes away, unwilling but determined and drew in a sharp breath
Chapter 3
Nia huffed, obviously annoyed to be thwarted. She pouted as she took his hand, leading him further down the river, almost to the point where it entered Dark Wood and Corin pulled her to a halt, shaking his head. He wouldn’t set foot there unless there was no choice.
“No further, I will call him from here.” Corin reached down to withdraw a dagger from his boot but Nia stopped him.
“Let me.” She smiled, showing a row of teeth as white and pretty as fresh water pearls, and Corin held out his thumb to her. She grasped it between both hands and drew it with a slow, wet slide into the warmth of her mouth, sucking provocatively for a moment and watching him through heavy eyelids.
His breath caught.
“Nia...” he warned.
She rolled her eyes and with a swift movement bit down with her tiny, sharp teeth. Corin winced as she drew her tongue over the wound appreciatively. “Mmmmm, you taste like magic and power.” He pulled away and she let him go with reluctance, sitting down on the bank beside him with a disgruntled huff, her arms folded. He ignored her sulking and held his hand over the water, letting the blood fall.
“Come to me,” he said as the blood bloomed in the river, drop by drop, the magic shining brightly, blossoming like tiny white roses in the deep, dark water.
Nia got up and twined her arms around him. “You could swim with us, with my sisters and the Kelpie, it would be so beautiful.”
He looked back at her, pushing back the longing to accept her invitation. “I don’t doubt that.” His voice was soft and he closed his eyes as she nuzzled at his neck. “But it would also be the last thing I did.”
She let out a breath in frustration, grasping at his already crumpled shirt. “Why do you cling so hard to life when it fills your eyes with such sorrow?”
The question took him by surprise and he looked at her with a frown, puzzled for a moment. “I don’t know.” Before he could consider her question any further the water frothed and boiled in the deepest part of the river and he took a step back as a swell of magic rippled through the air.
A great black horse rose from the depths. The water sluiced over its impressive body, over sleek black muscle and powerful legs, and over the nixe that was sleeping on its back with her hands tangled in his mane. As he rose from the river he transformed, the huge beast changing into the towering shape of a vast, muscular man and the nixe slid down his naked body and into the water with a soft splash.
“Who dares summon me?” His voice was deep and resonated throughout the surrounding woodland as he looked around, wary eyes unsmiling, as hard as granite and bright as green marbles.
The nixe resurfaced and looked up, smiling, and grasping the kelpie’s hand. “It’s the Prince of Alfheim ... you remember?” She blew Corin a kiss and he smiled at her.
"Hello, Neera."
The kelpie nodded, his thick black and green hair, tangled with river weeds and seed pearls, trailed over his shoulders. He regarded Corin, curiosity flickering in the cold, green sea in his eyes.
“I did not expect to see you back here again,” he said, walking closer to the bank, the water swirling against his heavy thighs as she strode through the water. “You fought so hard for your freedom.”
Corin stepped further away as the kelpie approached. “Hello, Abhainn. I assure you I did not come willingly. I am here to bargain for the safe passage of myself and my friend, the Prince Laen.”
“The Unseelie Prince?” the kelpie asked.
Nia nodded beside Corin, ducking under his arm and sliding her arms around his waist. “Niella has him. He is tied up in her song.” She giggled, making Corin frown.
The glittering green eyes of the kelpie watched him, calculating and intense, a cool smile playing over his mouth. Corin shivered. “Are you quite sure you don’t wish to remain, Prince of Alfheim?” Abhainn stepped closer once more and Corin moved the same distance back. “There are many and varied wonders beneath the water.” He blinked, his slow gaze travelling over Corin. “You missed so much the last time.” Pausing, a sly smile curved the corner of his mouth. “There was so much we didn’t share ... we could show you, if you want us to?” He took another step forward and Corin stumbled hurriedly away.
“You ... are most generous but no.” He shook his head, his attention never leaving the kelpie whose eyes devoured his every move. “I think not.”
“Oh come with us,” Nia spoke breathlessly in her sing song voice and the other nixe crawled out of the water towards him with sinuous limbs, heading for him on hands and knees, repeating, “Oh yes, do come, come and swim with us - do please come.”
Corin’s head began to cloud as their words and invitations twisted around him and he stumbled backwards. Nia’s arms closed around him and he leaned into the warmth of her, turned towards her as her mouth captured his again. His eyes flickered shut as her touch drew him closer. He heard the sound of laughter from the water and was vaguely aware of other figures leaving the river but Nia’s kiss was too consuming to break free of. He felt the touch of other hands upon him, tangling in his hair - pulling taut, cool hands on his skin, removing his clothes as skilled fingers caressed - intimate and purposeful, the dart of warm, soft tongues and softer mouths that followed a teasing trail down his body as impatient hands tugged the trousers from his hips. His mind was lost to sensation as their song whispered insidiously through his mind, awakening a desperate hunger ...
A Dark Collection Page 8
