by Marian Tee
Squaring her shoulders, she smiled brightly at Lysander. “Okay, picnic that is. Let’s walk to my home first so I can grab some stuff and then we can go.”
While waiting outside Misty’s cottage, Lysander caught sight of Sir Belmont walking up the lane. Snapping his fan open for the sole purpose of antagonizing the old man, he called out in his soft languid drawl, “Sir Belmont, what a pleasant surprise!”
“Seeing you is a surprise but it is not pleasant,” the old man grumbled. “And stop with that fan. We all know you are as homosexual as I am.”
He snapped the fan closed, grim-faced. If Misty had heard what the old man said, he would not be accountable for his actions. “What’s your angle, old man? Why are you being so nice to her?”
“Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that, Lysander Allard?” The old man gave him the evil eye. “It’s a disgrace, how you turned out.”
He scowled. “You just said you didn’t think I’m gay.”
Sir Belmont threw him a disgusted glance. “I wasn’t talking about that, you stupid boy. I’m talking about you – as a person. The Allards were once the gentlest of the noble families, the one with the heart of courage and generosity. It is a pity that as the last of your line you have become completely cold.”
“How can you say that,” Lysander hissed, “when I’m willing to give up my own life for our race?”
The old man remained unimpressed. “If that is all you can say for yourself then---”
The front door flew open, Misty coming out in a shirt and jumper, looking like a fresh-faced high school student with her face scrubbed clean of makeup. She brightened when she saw Sir Belmont. “Welcome back, Sir Belly.”
Lysander’s jaw dropped, momentarily forgetting his anger upon hearing what Misty called the other man. Even though he was known nowadays as their race’s own Grinch, everyone was also well aware that he had been one of the greatest swordsmen of his time.
Sir “Belly” ignored his slack-jawed look, his face creasing with a rare smile as he gave Misty a bag of fruits. “Ripe for eating,” he told her warmly.
Misty grinned. “Thank you! Let’s have tea sometime this week?”
“If you can spare this poor old man some time.”
Lysander wanted to choke. Was the old man flirting with Misty now?
Misty said earnestly, “Of course I’ll always have time for you.”
Yuck was the word that came to mind as he watched Sir Belmont bask in Misty’s attention. Clearing his throat loudly, Lysander asked, “Shall we go?”
She gave her friend a regretful smile. “Catch up with you soon?”
Sir Belmont nodded. “You have fun wherever you’re going!”
“We’re just going on a picnic,” she explained quickly. “Do you want to---”
“The old man needs some rest, my pretty,” Lysander said just as quickly, knowing his plans would go nowhere if the other man was around.
Misty’s face fell. “Oh. Sorry about that. Maybe next time then.” As she turned away, Lysander caught sight of Sir Belmont giving him a dirty look. He was about to mouth “Fuck off” to the older man when Misty turned to him.
He gave her his most angelic smile. “Ready for our picnic?”
Lysander took her to one of his favorite places in the realm. Deep within the forests, hidden at the end of a brook was a cave he had discovered when he was a young boy. And after the Great War, it had served as his sanctuary---the only place he could be himself.
He had never brought anyone to his sanctuary until Misty, but he decided not to tell her that.
“This is great!” Misty had to shout her words because the roar of the nearby waterfalls would have otherwise drowned out her voice. Caves in the human worlds usually sparkled with stalactites and stalagmites but here in the realm of Faeries, the caves glowed with flowers that seemed to thrive in darkness, their petals shining bright in a rainbow of colors.
She shook her head in amazement. “Glow in the dark flowers. Did your ancestors create them, too?”
He shook his head. “I think you misunderstand how our realm works. Although we had sacrificed blood for this realm, none of it would have happened if not for Nature. It’s from her all our powers come from.”
In a very casual move, Lysander lowered himself to the ground and laid his head on her lap. Then he ordered her, “Comb my hair please!”
It was exactly the right thing to say, making Misty laugh, the tinkling sound making his cock jerk inside his pants. He ignored it again even though lately he had been having cold showers every night – the only thing that kept him from trying to seduce Misty in her own home.
She hand-combed his hair, exclaiming wonder at how soft it was. “I’m the one who should be envious of your hair! It’s so soft and shiny!”
He tried not to grimace at how very gay that sounded. One day, Lysander would have the chance to make Misty realize just how much of a man he was. But until that day came, he simply had to grit his teeth and bear all her assumptions – assumptions that he had personally nurtured.
They laughed and talked for hours, swimming after and then eating lunch back in the cave. Replete, he laid back, head again nestled in her lap, delighted at having the best vantage view of Misty’s breasts above him.
“Did you have fun, my pretty?”
She nodded.
“It would be nice to have this much fun every day, don’t you think?”
“It would be nice and surreal.” The old Misty would never have said something like that, but life had taught her certain hard truths.
“But it could happen, you know?” Lysander heard the snapping of twigs before Misty did. It made him panic, knowing that just the sight of Domenico could make Misty forget all about him. His voice was a little uneven when he heard himself ask, “What do you think about marrying me?”
She stared at him in openmouthed shock. “But y-you’re gay.”
“It doesn’t mean I don’t need a companion.”
When Lysander reached for her hand and linked his fingers with his, Misty realized just how strong he was, more like Milo than Daryl. She looked down at him, and his too-beautiful face was devoid of expression except for the fierce light in his lilac-colored eyes.
His voice was soft and beguiling as he whispered, “It would be a life you’d never be hurt, never have to wonder if your partner is cheating on you or using you for your own ends.” The sound of snapping twigs was stronger now. He knew Domenico could have come to them without being heard, but that he was deliberately letting Lysander know he was coming in advance told him that the Moretti prince was reluctant to catch them unawares.
Because he was afraid of what he would see them doing?
Misty pulled her hand away from his. “That’s not a good joke,” she said shakily.
He reached up to thread his fingers through her hair. “It wasn’t one.” This time, he heard leaves rustling, the slice of claws in the air as if Domenico had momentarily shifted, creating tension in the air.
And then the tension was gone, and Lysander his time with Misty was about to end. He smiled up at Misty, asking in a teasing voice, “Do you think your prince will get mad once he finds out about this?”
She smiled back at him uncertainly, protesting more out of habit this time. “He’s not my prince.”
A voice that was not Lysander’s answered quietly, “Is that so?”
Chapter Eight
Domenico Moretti stood at the entrance of the cave, dressed in just a plain round-collared shirt and jeans, and yet – he had never seemed so beautiful and powerful in Misty’s eyes. Not a flicker of expression betrayed his true feelings, his handsome face unreadable, but even so Misty sensed the pain that her careless words her caused.
Lysander moved away from her and she scrambled to her feet, knowing all the while she was making it worse by acting like she had something to be guilty about. “Domenico, I---”
“I’m sorry to intrude on your…date.” His voice became flat as
he said the last word.
Before she could answer, Lysander was chuckling, ruffling her hair as he said, “It wasn’t a romantic date, Your Highness.” His voice was perfectly bland, but somehow that only made him sound glib instead of honest.
But Domenico wasn’t looking at him. He only had eyes for Misty. That was supposed to make her feel good, but it didn’t. It felt wrong. “A missive from Aurelius arrived. A few pack leaders would like to meet with you today. Do you think it would be possible for you to leave?”
A part of her knew that she shouldn’t be leaving with Domenico, shouldn’t allow herself to be alone with him because it would change things between them forever. But another part of her remembered the flatness of his voice as he spoke to her, the dull look in his green eyes as he saw her with another man’s head on her lap---
She blurted out, “Yes.” She watched Domenico exhale after that, and she realized that he had been tensely waiting for her answer, as if expecting Misty to reject him. That did not feel right either.
Domenico was an Alpha, the heir to the Moretti pack, a legendary prince among his kind – it just didn’t feel right that someone like her would be causing someone like him so much pain.
But…this was what she had wanted, didn’t she?
“Misty?” Domenico was offering his hand.
She glanced at Lysander behind her shoulders. “Next time again?” she asked hesitantly.
The smile he gave her didn’t reach his eyes. It puzzled her, but right now Misty didn’t have time to think about it longer. “Go on, have fun.”
Turning back to Domenico, she took his hand and he immediately clasped it tightly between his fingers, pulling her to his side. And then he was kissing her without any warning, his lips demanding and conquering as it covered hers, his tongue slipping in as if to immediately reclaim what he considered his.
And she let him.
Because somehow she felt this was the only way to make up for the hurt she had just caused.
Domenico pulled away. Before she could say anything else, he said in a low fierce whisper, “I’m never going to give you up to anyone, Misty. I love you too fucking much not to fight for you with everything I have.”
~~~
The “Midways” was a highway of sorts that only appeared visible to non-human races. In ancient times, it had been used for non-humans to reach different realms, most of which had now been abandoned. Virtually every non-human race had learnt to adapt to living with humans, and only the Faeries had chosen to once again live apart from humanity.
It was an endless-looking bridge, and because Misty was entirely human, she wasn’t able to see the portals that the bridge led to. All she could see was a great yawning distance ahead of her.
Domenico had been tensely silent since leaving the realm of Faeries, and it worried her. “I can’t imagine the Midways being so crowded,” she babbled. “But based on what I’ve read, that was exactly how it was in the old days…right?”
Domenico didn’t answer.
She continued determinedly, “And they said that…that evil ones wouldn’t be able to cross it. Is that true?”
Finally, Domenico answered, “Supposedly, that is how the Midways work, allowing it to be the first line of defense for the realms.”
“Supposedly?” She didn’t like the sound of that.
“A lot of things have changed,” he answered absently before lapsing back into silence.
Domenico wasn’t exactly brooding, and he certainly didn’t come across as furious but something was truly wrong. She felt it in her bones, and she couldn’t stand it. “I’m sorry,” she blurted out. “I’m sorry if you were mad because I went out with Lysander. But Domenico, there’s nothing…” She couldn’t make herself say the words, afraid to make a fool of herself if her suspicions proved false.
Domenico knew exactly what was going through her mind. For a moment, he struggled with his pride, which demanded that he take the chance to hurt her now as she had unwittingly hurt him with how intimate she was with the other man.
But in the end, his love for Misty won---like how it would always win because she was the most important thing in his life now. “I was jealous,” he admittedly flatly.
“But there’s no need to be!” she cried out even as her heart raced at Domenico’s unexpected admission. A year ago, Domenico would never have been able to say something like that. She added in a mumble, “He’s gay.”
“And you’re sure about that?”
“Of course! I even asked Daryl about it!”
His head turned towards her sharply. “And he confirmed that Lysander Allard is not interested in women?”
“Yes.”
Domenico did not know what to make of it. Her words relieved him, but at the same time he had a feeling something was incredibly wrong, and his intuition was almost always right.
“Nothing happened, is happening, and could happen between us because he’s gay,” she couldn’t help stressing.
“And he asked you to marry him.”
“A marriage of convenience---”
“A marriage to another man!” Domenico hadn’t meant to shout, but he was so fucking pissed and goddamn hurt to hear Misty talk about marrying another man – even if that man liked other men – so easily. “You didn’t even turn him down!”
She felt defensive all of a sudden, and she didn’t like it. “Don’t act like I’m the bad guy here,” she snapped. “You were the one who was contemplating marriage with a Lyccan princess while we were still married!”
“It was different then! I was an idiot. Are you saying you’re an idiot now?”
For a moment they stared at each other, both of them shocked at how completely unlike Domenico Moretti those words were. He usually had more, well, finesse when engaged in a verbal battle.
Domenico suddenly grimaced, as if unable to believe he had indeed said something so juvenile, and Misty burst into laughter. “I can’t believe the great Domenico Moretti, the one who prides himself for being the perfect diplomat, just called me an idiot.”
“Your words, not mine,” he answered coolly.
That only made her laugh again. She continued gaily, “If it was in the past, you would have said something like...imbecile? A dim-witted fool? A---”
“Shut up.”
Domenico Moretti was not the type to say such a thing either, and this time she really did lose it, doubling over in her laughter.
The sound was infectious, and Domenico felt his grimace giving way to a smile. Right now, his love for Misty was near to making his heart burst and it killed him that he couldn’t say a thing about it. He said gruffly, “We’re here.” He took her hand, feeling it tremble in his and ignoring it. He pulled her out of the portal, and he immediately caught her before she fell. It was a common reaction for humans who had the need to pass through the Midways.
This close to Domenico, his familiar scent wrapped itself around her. This close, her body was reacquainted with his strength. This close, she found herself looking into his eyes and realized what he had been doing his best to hide all along.
He was scared.
“Domenico, what’s wrong?” Misty whispered as she let him slowly help her back to her feet. But she didn’t move away, even reaching out to hold his face so that he would look at her. It was the first time that she had touched him voluntarily – or at least the first she had done when they were not in the middle of making love – and both of them knew it.
Domenico shuddered at her touch, couldn’t help capturing her hand with his, pressing her palm close as he turned his head sideways to kiss it.
The heat of his kiss made Misty’s knees go weak, and for a moment she remembered how oh so deliciously thrilling it was the first time his lips touched hers.
“What’s wrong, Domenico?”
“I’m so fucking scared I’m going to lose you.”
Yes. No. Yes. No. She didn’t know what she should say anymore, didn’t know what she should be thinking or eve
n feeling. Domenico had changed so much. In the past, he would never have admitted something like that because it wouldn’t have happened in the first place. He would have made sure of it, manipulating people and everything else he could control so that someone like Lysander Allard would never have gotten within ten feet of her.
Domenico saw the indecision in her eyes, and behind it lurked insecurities that he knew he was responsible for. Cursing himself silently, he slowly lowered her hand without letting go, saying gruffly, “Come on. They’re already waiting for us.”
Portals leading to the Midways were always hidden in dense forests and heavily guarded. Today, Domenico had used the one closest to the official residence of the Castellano pack, which was where the meeting with other pack leaders would take place.
