by Michele Hauf
“Seriously?”
He nodded. “And this one—” he held up the black circle that looked like a thin tourmaline ring “—has some kind of funky vibrations, but I’ve never been able to actually use it magically. I got them both from Faery. Never been there myself, but I know a girl who brings me back prizes from there every so often.”
“Is that so? She a girlfriend?”
“Nope. But I do love her.”
So he was going to be evasive about his love life? Fair enough. For as much as he claimed to like her, Valor didn’t expect he’d actually want to kiss her. Again. Oh, man, remembering that kiss in the forest made her nipples harden. And she was not dressed to hide the results of those lusty thoughts. So best to avoid the discussion.
“Come on!” She dived and splashed up cool droplets. The water did taste salty as she swam a few feet and then surfaced. Sputtering out the nasty-tasting water, she flipped back her hair and stood, now waist deep. It looked less bubble gummy from this angle, but still kind of, sort of pink when it caught glimmers of moonlight. “Isn’t this amazing?”
“It is a wonder.” Kelyn hadn’t dived, and still stood where she’d left him. The water swayed his body back and forth. “Go ahead for a swim. I can wait.”
“I will. Maybe. The water tastes nasty. Let’s get what we need first.”
“You got something to put the water in?”
“Right here.” Tugging the vials from the side of her hip where she’d tucked them in her bikini bottoms, she waved them before him. When he tried to snatch one from her, she flinched away.
“Four of them?” he challenged.
“Yep. This one is for what we need.” She scooped in water and corked the vial. She tucked it back at her hip. “This one is for backup. This one is for just in case. And this one is for whatever is going to get fucked up. Because plans always get fucked. I swear it by Dana Scully.”
“Valor.” He closed both hands over the vials she hadn’t dipped yet but didn’t try to take them away from her. “We mustn’t be greedy.”
“Seriously? These vials will hold a few drops out of this massive lake. Hey, I only took two werewolf claws, so give me some credit for restraint. What happens if one of these breaks during our travel?”
She fluttered her lashes at him and he took the bait with a big smile and a reluctant head-bobbing yet agreeing nod.
“Fine.” He crossed his arms and watched as she filled the next two vials and handed them to him. He waggled the first vial and held it up so the moon gleamed through it. “Still looks pink. This is freaky.”
“You should be able to float in this lake,” she offered, “for all the salt.”
“Oh, yeah?” Kelyn leaned back and spread out his arms, floating away from her. “Oh, man, this is cool!”
“And look, you haven’t drowned!”
“Yet!”
Filling the last vial, she tucked it at her hip alongside the other. Then, flopping backward with a splash, she joined Kelyn. It was easy to float in this water. And much better than taking another dive and tasting the horrible stuff. Her body felt as if it were floating higher than usual. Her head hadn’t even gone under when she fell backward. Cool.
A tug at her fingertips turned her in the water and she spun in a half circle, her head floating close to Kelyn’s head. He held her at arm’s length. “My brothers will never believe I actually had fun in a lake.”
“You’re having fun?”
“Hell, yes. I’ve flown across the world. Jumped out of a freakin’ helicopter. And now I’m floating in a pink lake. As far as life experiences go, this one tops the list.”
“Seems like a faery should have had a lot of cool experiences.”
“I’m like everyone else, Valor.”
“Except for the wings part. But I suppose flying is like walking to you, eh?” She bumped her head against his shoulder, which set her body on a curving trajectory alongside his.
“It was,” he said, and she felt his longing for what he’d once had.
Damn, she shouldn’t have brought that up.
“We’ll get them back for you,” she encouraged. “I promise you that.”
“I don’t need your promise. Just the fact that you’re willing to help is enough for me. So I wonder about the color of this lake. It must be algae that makes it pink.”
“Probably. And just think. That algae is all over us. Getting in places we’d rather it not be.”
“Sounds not so fun.”
She laughed then, which always managed to come out as a chortle and a snort.
Kelyn stood abruptly and whipped his head back to disperse the water from his hair. Droplets trickled down his face. As she stood upright Valor slapped a hand over the two vials, spellbound by the moonlight that glinted in his eyes. The cool white illumination gliding along his sharp bone structure and violet eyes made them unnaturally beautiful. A true faery.
But he was staring at her with such a silly smile. And she had to wonder if she had something on her face. “What? Is it the algae? Is it pink?”
“I adore your laugh,” he said.
“Ha! You’re crazy. I laugh like a pig on acid.”
“Maybe hallucinogenic pigs are my thing?”
“Yep, you are definitely too nice. Hand me those vials. Think we should get out and dry off before the helicopter returns?” she asked, while thinking she’d just said the stupidest thing on the planet.
Leave now, when they’d only gotten in the water and it was like they stood on some kind of fantasy stage? She was alone with the guy. Who had expressed interest in her. Why not take advantage of it?
“Sure. But let’s spend a few more minutes in the water to remember this place. And how we feel. You know...the moonlight is dancing in your eyes.”
Valor felt a blush rise and looked down and away from his mesmerizing gaze.
“The water shimmers like jewels in your hair,” he continued. “And there’s this.”
With a sweep of his hand between them, he dispersed his natural dust into the air. It glittered and hung suspended about them like millions of tiny stars fallen to earth.
Wow. Talk about instant romance. And yes, she was a woman who could appreciate a little romance when it presented itself. Which rarely happened, so...when life offered a challenge...
“You know I’m an air witch. But I can use the subtle surface winds to make this happen.”
A sweep of her hand above the surface lifted up water that ascended around them in dotted columns as if caging them in. The droplets caught Kelyn’s dust, and combined with the moonlight, they stood on a rock star’s stage, highlighted for all to see.
“And how about this?”
Spreading out one arm and snapping her fingers shot up a spurt of water about twenty feet away. Followed by another spurt, and another, until they had become a fountain spilling diamonds beside them.
“Stunning. You win the magic portion of this evening. But now it’s my turn. And I can’t think of anything I’d rather do than this.”
Thinking he was going to show her some of his faery magic, Valor lost all power of reasoning when he did not.
Instead, Kelyn bent and kissed her. His hand slid across her back and he coaxed her up against his chest. Her feet left the sand because the water truly was magical in making her weightless. Or maybe it was the kiss. It made her soar.
Yeah, it was the kiss.
She spread her hand up, walking her fingers over Kelyn’s hard pecs as he opened her mouth and dashed his tongue with hers. Valor moaned into him, and the vibrations of her pleasure tickled in her chest. She gripped the wet ends of his hair, anchoring herself, while her knees bent and she was completely supported by his arm.
If the moon never set and the sun never rose, she would take this moment,
standing in a pink lake on an unpopulated island, surrounded by faery dust and a glimmering pink water fountain, and remember it forever. Her heartbeat raced with the excitement gleaned from his touch, his taste, his intense focus on the kiss.
The last time she kissed this man, she’d thought she was going to die. Now she thought for sure she could live forever in his arms. Safe and desired. A real girl? Probably not. But she wasn’t going to spoil the fantasy by thinking about it one moment longer.
Mmm, what a delicious kiss. Every part of her tingled with the giddiness. She leaned into him, hugging her hard nipples against his chest. The man moaned appreciatively. And that utterance increased her want tenfold. She dug in her nails at his shoulder, which didn’t make him flinch. So much man. And all hers. For now.
And now was all that mattered.
When he pulled away, Valor whispered, “That was awesome.”
“I’ll say. We should kiss again—ah. Here it comes.”
“What?” Something was coming? Could it be her, pretty please?
“The helicopter is back early.”
“Dana Scully.”
“Exactly. We’d better return to shore and pack up quickly.”
Grasping her hand, he led her out of the water. As she exited, her magic ceased and the fountain dissipated. Valor pulled out the sweatshirt she’d worn here and used it to wipe off her legs and arms. They shoved pants and boots on and Kelyn flashed the LED beacon that would mark their position to the pilot.
As they stood waiting for the ride, he clasped her hand and she squeezed it. “Why did you do that?” she asked in quiet wonder.
“Kiss you? I thought you said it was awesome.”
“It was. But I...I don’t know. I didn’t think we’d have a chance.”
“Really? You’ve always had a chance with me, Valor.”
“Until your brother.”
“Which we’ve solved. Do you purposely argue about issues you’ve already won just to be annoying?”
She released their grasp and punched him on the biceps. None too gently.
“Annoying it is,” he said, and rushed over to grab the rappel rope and gear that had dropped down from the helicopter.
Chapter 9
For some reason, Kelyn had paid for two first-class tickets across the world, a helicopter, rappel gear rental and a private limo. But he’d only put out for one hotel room with a king-size bed.
Valor wasn’t averse to sharing a bed with a male friend. She’d done it before. Well, she’d shared the couch with Trouble because they’d both fallen asleep full of pizza and watching Bruce Willis. Yippee-ki-yay!
Setting her backpack on the end of the bed, she reasoned with herself. Sex wasn’t always on the table for situations like this. She was a grown-up and the men she hung with were grown-ups, as well. They could share a bed without getting all squicky about it.
Except.
She felt a little weird about sleeping next to the guy she was kind of, sort of, starting to have feelings for. But she didn’t want to tell him that. And she didn’t expect he felt the same way. Only, okay, he had confessed to liking her until he’d thought she and Trouble had gotten it on. Which they had not.
And he had kissed her. Like, totally kissed her in the pink lake. That had been one for the books.
And now? Kelyn walked around the room, stripping off his shirt and announcing he was going to take a shower first, if she didn’t mind. Despite the sensation of dried algae having worked its way into strange places on her body, Valor eagerly nodded and gestured for him to go for it.
Now that the bathroom door was closed, she collapsed onto the chair and put her bare feet up on the end of the bed. Then she took them down. There was something on her big toe. Dried algae? Beach sand? Some kind of crustacean from the pink lake? She didn’t want to know. She needed a shower and to crash. It had been a long day and night, and the flight from the United States and her anxiety had only compounded her exhaustion. She could almost allow herself to fall asleep right here on the chair—not in the same bed as Kelyn—but she’d noticed a distinct smell in her hair and knew she wouldn’t rest until she was clean.
The four vials of lake water sat on the table, looking barely pink under the awful yellow lamplight.
On to the next ingredient. Which, according to the research Valor had done during the cab ride to this hotel, could only be located in Wales. And Kelyn probably wasn’t going to like that adventure. She’d tell him about it when it was too late to back out. And if she had to, she’d seduce him with another kiss.
She could totally work the seduction when she put her mind to it.
Smiling to herself, she tilted her head back, but sat upright when the bathroom door opened and out strolled a steaming man with slicked-back hair and abs that glistened with water droplets.
Of all the television doctors’ names she had ever spoken in oath, she could not remember a single name now.
“All yours,” he said, one hand propped casually over the twist in the towel at his hip. The towel rode low, exposing the cut muscles that V’d toward—oh, so many fantasies visited Valor’s lusty thoughts. Most of them involved licking the water droplets from Kelyn’s skin and...
“Yep.” Despite her waning energy, she hopped up and slipped past him to quickly close the bathroom door. Only when she stood alone in the steamy little room did she dare to let out a breath and shake her head. “Man, those abs. Whoever thought faeries were scrawny, delicate creatures?”
How she’d managed not to drag her fingers across those spectacular ridged abs was beyond her. Would she survive this trip if they continued to share a room? Because she wasn’t beyond having sex with a friend for the sake of it. To feed a desire. To get off. To have some fun.
But, for some reason, it felt dangerous to consider having sex with Kelyn. Emotionally risky. And maybe even like a commitment.
Valor shook her head. “Don’t be a fool.”
She’d never been one for long-term relationships. Until recently.
Because now? She craved something more than the flirtations or few short months she’d shared with men most of her life.
But she hadn’t had that in her life because she simply wasn’t the kind of woman men considered for relationships. She knew that for a fact. Someone had told her so. In the most abrupt and heart-wrenching manner possible.
And besides, Kelyn would never see her as a woman who could satisfy his lust for the sexy and sensual. That man needed a real woman and not one who could only fake it when at her best.
She drew a sigil in the steam on the mirror. It was the same one she’d drawn in the moss with the angel dust that night in the Darkwood.
“You missed your chance to be loved, witch.”
* * *
Kelyn pulled on a pair of clean jeans and grimaced. He normally slept naked. But that wouldn’t work with Valor lying on the bed next to him. Well, it could.
He considered it a few seconds, then shook his head and zipped up the fly. “Nope.”
He wasn’t sure where he stood with her, and he didn’t want to freak her out or press any issue for which she might not be on board. Such as the two of them getting close and...yes, sex was definitely on the table for him. But she didn’t feel the same way about him as he did her. She couldn’t. Why had he confessed his infatuation to her? She must think him some kind of crazy after all they’d been through.
And yet he’d gone for it at the lake. That kiss had been some kind of all right. He’d thought it was a signal between them that he was okay to move forward with whatever might happen between the two of them. But she hadn’t given him that same signal, so he would have to mark the kiss off as a one-time thing.
Two times, actually. He’d not forgotten the kiss in the forest. She’d been desperate that time, thinking death
was near. The lake had been completely different. Yeah, he’d blame it on the unruly lake and the enchantment that had literally glittered in the air.
Until the helicopter had swooped low and destroyed the moment.
He flung himself onto the bed, propped up two pillows behind his head and closed his eyes. Man, it felt great to get the lake smell out of his hair. And he was bone weary. Which also felt great. He wasn’t one to sleep a lot, but he sensed he’d get forty winks tonight. Which was almost morning. It had been a long day.
Now they had gained one more ingredient for the witch’s spell that would, he hoped, open a portal to Faery.
Did he believe after the portal was open they could simply take a jaunt through and his wings would be waiting there for the taking? Not at all. But the hope of having that entry—a place to start—was enough to keep him going. He wanted his strength and power back.
And he wanted to set foot in Faery. It was something he’d dreamed about all his life. Like any child who had ever dreamed of going to Disneyland, Kelyn had dreamed of going to his homeland. His mother had told him tales of the azure skies and many moons that could be seen at any time, day or night. How so many different species thrived, loved, fought and existed in Faery. Sprites, dragons, unicorns and so many breeds of sidhe they were impossible to tally.
The bathroom door opened, and Kelyn made a point of not opening his eyes. He didn’t want the tease of a wet witch in a towel to stir his desires and have him trying to hide a hard-on. If he made it through this night, he’d wake with blue balls, for sure.
“You sleeping?” Valor asked softly.
He felt the bed move when she sat on the other side.
“Almost.”
“Thanks for everything, Kelyn. It’s been a great trip. And while I know we both had business in mind with the lake, it was an adventure I’ll never forget.”
“It was awesome. I like trying new things. I’ve always considered myself an adventurous guy. Me, the one who’s never even been Up North. But today? Rappelling down a rope from a helicopter? That rocked.”
“You’re telling me.”
