by Lucy Auburn
“What if?” Reaching out, he took my hands in his, the living warmth of his fingers traveling up my arms to twine around me. “I think the mistake you’re making, Selena, is in thinking that the fae conduct our business the same as humans. We live long lives, stretching out for centuries, even millennia. How could I deny you a second or a third love when our eternity may very well be one?”
My heart leapt into my throat at the thought of living so long. But I could see his point. “I gather monogamy isn’t your thing, then.”
“I will be yours, if you wish it,” he vowed, stepping close enough that I could feel the heat of his fires. “Merely ask, Selena, and I will tie myself to you for as long as it pleases both of us. But I would never dream of asking for the same from you. No succubus can belong to one man.”
Tilting my head up, I searched his eyes and found only truth. “Let’s do it, then. Let’s get engaged.”
“My pleasure.”
Elah closed the distance between us, his lips meeting mine in another scorching kiss. I grabbed onto his arms and pulled him close, his armor warm and sculpted beneath my fingers, like a living thing. When he pulled back I saw fire in his eyes, and smiled at the sight of it.
“Ready?” he asked me, and I nodded. “Time to meet the family, then. Let me just get ready.”
I stared at him, puzzled at what he meant, until he stepped back and snapped his fingers. His black armor slithered away from his arms and legs, curling up like smoke towards a leather thong hanging from his neck. The armor formed a black orb that clung to the leather, so that Elah was suddenly wearing a necklace over thick dark pants and a close-fitting, thin black shirt.
I could see his muscles even more clearly now, his arms bulging with strength as he looked at me with heat still in his eyes. It was all I could do not to jump him then and there.
Elah must have sensed my hunger, because he murmured, “Perhaps we should ask the ambassador for more time. It might be wise to consummate our engagement.”
I drew in breath sharply at the suggestive tone in his voice. “I’m sure Petyr won’t mind if we keep him waiting.” Unable to resist, I pressed a kiss against his jawline before drawing him towards the door. “But we shouldn’t keep your parents waiting. I want to meet them.”
“Later, then,” he promised. “After we eat, we can sate your other hunger.”
As we walked out to the entryway again, I found myself wishing that I’d done this whole engagement thing a long time ago.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Kaila Havaala held her wine glass up and smiled at me. She was a beautiful woman, with hair such a light blond it was almost silver, and a face so perfectly youthful that it was hard to imagine she was Elah’s mother. Her dress was made of many layers of delicate silk, and her fingernails were coated in silver polish. Every movement she made felt like a dance—I was clumsy, sitting across from her.
“A toast,” she said, her voice aristocratic and song-like, “to my son’s intended, Selena of the Lightbloods.”
Though that wasn’t my name, I knew why she called me that. Elah’s noble fae family only saw my fae roots; the parents who adopted me and gave me the last name Pierce were of little concern to them. I smiled back hesitantly, taking my own glass of wine. It was sweet like honey and impossibly smooth going down.
“Honeysuckle wine,” Elah explained, taking a sip of his own glass. “I hope you have a sweet tooth, because here in the Realm of Light we enjoy our sugar and honey.”
“It’s delightful,” I told him truthfully. There was a spread of desserts on the table in front of us, each one stranger and more delicate than the last. “What all is this? I’ve never seen desserts like this before.”
His mother pointed to each one in turn and told me what they were. “Spun sugar butterfae wings,” she pointed to a delicate, frilly dish, “sweet almond honey paste with crushed gold,” beautiful little balls of sweetness, “buzzing hopper bites,” fang-shaped chocolate that jumped around inside a small glass dome, “finger cakes, and little mugs of hot cocoa. We didn’t want to go too exotic on you this first visit—we know you were raised with humans, after all.”
“Thank you.” I glanced around, spying the empty chair and wondering if I should wait before taking any of the desserts. I leaned towards Elah, my voice low. “Your father...?”
“Should be here soon,” he answered in a murmur. Raising his voice, he asked his mother, “Where’s dad? And Stelah.”
“Your father and sister are out hunting wild silver boar.” She sighed, the sound like a small and breezy gust of wind. “Honestly, I thought they would be here by now. But you know how your sister gets when her blood is up.”
“Selena can always meet them some other time,” Elah said, reaching out to take two of the little finger cakes. He put one on his plate and the other on mine, so carefully considerate. “The ambassador only brought her here for a short visit, Mother, so I’m afraid we can’t wait for too long.”
His words were courteous, but the hand he reached under the table and placed on my thigh made it clear what he really wanted to spend my visit doing.
“Well, it’s too bad you’ll have to cut your visit short.” Kaila reached out and took one of the buzzing, jumping desserts from the glass dome, popping it into her mouth and crunching down. “I was hoping to spend as much time as possible with my dearest son’s intended.”
“She’ll be back, Mother,” Elah promised. “Would you mind if I showed her the house?”
Kaila looked back and forth between us, raising a delicate silver eyebrow. I blushed, knowing what she was no doubt inferring we were about to do. It sent me back to high school.
“Go on ahead. And Elah?” He paused, about to stand up. “If you do decide to consummate your engagement, let the Elders know, as is proper.”
“Of course.”
I blushed scarlet as he took my hand and pulled me from the room, embarrassed to have it put in such plain words. But I didn’t know if the fae world saw sex the same way as humans; given how long they lived, it wouldn’t be surprising to discover they were more open-minded about these things.
“You’ll have to excuse my mother,” Elah said, leading me towards a delicate spiral staircase that led up to the second floor. “She can be a bit of a busybody. Of course we don’t have to consummate our engagement if you don’t want to.”
Oh, I wanted to. More than anything in fact. “It’s not that,” I quickly clarified, not wanting him to get the wrong idea. “It’s just that—”
“This is new to you. Of course.” We reached the second floor, and I curled my toes into the plush carpet, which was impossibly soft and thick. “I’ve heard that humans are more prudish than the fae. I can be discreet, Selena.”
Glancing up at him, I smiled at his reassurance. “Thank you. I guess it’s just strange. Now that I’m a succubus, everyone wants to know about my sex life.”
“What happens between us stays that way. For the most part.” He clarified, “If we do decide to consummate our engagement today, then it’ll be written down in the Book of Courtship in Illyrium.”
“Oh.” I hadn’t known that part. “But it won’t be... detailed, will it?”
Elah chuckled, pulling me towards him. “Not unless you want it to be.” He reached out to push my hair back from my face, his warm, calloused thumb stroking my cheek. In a husky voice he said, “My room is in the south hall.”
My heart sped at the thought of the handsome, muscular before me taking me to his room and having his way with me. “Show me,” I said.
His room was a fair distance from the main area of the house. As we walked, I almost got the sense that the inside of the Havaala mansion was even bigger than the outside. Elah confirmed this when he told me, “My great-grandmother was a master architect. She remodeled the house to be large enough for every branch of the family. The south hall is like its own separate building—you’ll see when we get there.”
This reassured me somewhat that
I wasn’t about to get engaged to a man whose bedroom shared a wall with his parents. Things did seem to be different here in the Realm of Light—I couldn’t picture any apartment buildings with rooms for rent. But as I walked with Elah down a hallway that seemed to stretch forever, it became clear that he had more than enough space to himself.
“Get ready,” he murmured. “This is where the house changes.”
“What do you mean?” I asked as I took my next step.
“You’ll see. We’re about to be in the south hall.”
I took another cautious step forward, and then I felt it. Just like when I’d gone from one realm to another with Petyr, I looked around and was suddenly somewhere else.
Elah’s part of the house was more modern, stripped of old heavy furnishings and filled with art and simple furniture. There was a light airiness to his style. “I can’t believe how big this house is on the inside.”
“Coming from a long line of fae has its advantages. Like getting to have an intended like you by my side.”
Taking my hand, Elah turned to me and dipped his head down. I took his cue and pressed my lips to his. He opened his mouth to me and I tasted his ancient energy. Now that I knew what his powers were, I understood why he tasted the way he did, of smoldering fire, smoke, and the ash that followed. Every second that we pressed our lips together, I filled myself with his burning energy.
When he pulled back his eyes glowed all over with the light of a flame. “Whoa. That feels... amazing.”
“It does?”
“Like a drug or something.” He blinked down at me. “Your irises are almost white.”
“Yours are glowing orange. Like a fire.”
A wicked smile curved Elah’s lips. “Maybe we are made for each other.”
Maybe we were. He pulled me back towards the bed, his hungry hands roaming my body as our lips met in another sensual kiss. I drank from him like a woman in the desert with her last bottle of water, his scorching heat quenching my thirst. He growled into my mouth as he pulled my blouse off and tossed it on the floor, his fingers making short work of my bra. I moaned as he cupped my breasts and played with my nipples, heat going straight to my groin.
Climbing onto the bed, I wrapped my legs around his hips and pressed against him, reaching a hand down to the rippled plane of his abdomen to admire the muscles there. Elah was all hardness and heat, a forge against my icy hunger.
“You’re beautiful,” he said, breaking off our kiss to thread his fingers in my long dark hair and stare up at me. His voice was husky with desire. “I want you more than anything, Selena.”
Breathy, I murmured, “Then show me,” against his mouth. “Toss me down on the bed and have your way with me.”
Elah groaned, pressing his forehead against mine. “Is this what it’s like to have a succubus? Wicked, naughty girl.”
I grinned at him. “Exactly.”
Grabbing my hips, Elah twisted to throw me onto his bed. My hair fanned out on the pillows beneath me, and he pulled back to strip off his shirt, revealing the warrior’s chest beneath. His skin was perfectly smooth—save a few scars he’d no doubt gotten in battle—his rippling muscles a sight to behold.
Eyes still glowing with the fire that lived inside him, he climbed on top of me and grabbed my jeans. I gasped as he tugged them off in one fluid motion, thumbs hooking beneath my underwear to expose me completely. In an instant all my clothes were on the ground, the heat of Elah’s body the only thing left to keep me warm. He licked his lips as he stared down at my naked body, his pants tented with his own arousal.
“Stunning,” he murmured, dipping his fingers between my thighs to lightly tease me. I clamped down on them and arched slightly, and he pressed himself close to me in a teasing way. “Tell me, Selena, what do I taste like?”
I whimpered as he pulled his fingers away to stare down into my eyes. “Like fire and ash. Smoke. Your energy is so strong.”
His eyes smoldered intensely. “I want to taste you, too.”
Spreading my legs, I beckoned him in. Elah took my thighs in his strong hands, squeezing the sensitive flesh. Moving down my body, he kissed my breasts, stomach, and then the space above my abdomen. My breath shortened to little lungfuls of air as he came closer and closer to where I wanted him to be.
Then that dark-haired head of his dipped down and he pressed a gentle, teasing kiss to my lower lips. I squirmed, pressing up at him only for his strong hands to hold me down. He glanced up from beneath the fringe of his black hair, his glowing eyes staring up between my naked thighs. I met his gaze as he opened his mouth and dipped his tongue out towards my clit.
Whimpering, I leaned back and let his impossible warmth move against me until there was friction. Elah parted my lips with his clever tongue and dipped into my entrance, heat gathering wherever he touched me. I felt the same sensation I got when I touched someone’s hand to form a connection, or kissed them and drank their energy. Every stroke of his hot tongue against me filled that empty, hungry place inside me that yearned for sexual energy.
Soon the whole room was filled with my gasps and whimpers as Elah placed his mouth over my pussy and worked me harder and harder with his tongue. The suction, the heat, the friction was all too much to resist. He lit something within me on fire until a spark turned into a fifty foot flame. Hands fisted into the sheets, I twisted up onto him as my muscles clamped around a much-needed orgasm, my body spasming against his skillful tongue. Elah stroked and licked me through it, the tip of his tongue flicking against my aroused clit and stretching my orgasm out until I was breathless from it.
When I came down, he released me slowly, licking his lips as he looked up from between my thighs. That same fire glowed in his irises, along with confident self-satisfaction from making me come.
“You sound beautiful when you release yourself,” he said, crawling up my body until he was staring at me face-to-face. “So quiet, though. Tell me, Selena, do you think I can make you scream?”
I squirmed, the release I’d just had now joined by a desire to be filled. “I think you can try,” I said, sensing that he wanted to be goaded. “You’ve still got clothes on, though. That doesn’t seem fair. I want to see you naked.”
Elah smirked. “I’m sure that you would. Tell me, Selena, is your mouth as wicked on a man’s cock as I think it is?”
The thought of tasting him ignited something fiercely hungry inside me. “Show me yours and you’ll find out.”
Swinging his legs off the bed, Elah unbuckled his elegant silver belt and undressed himself. His black pants fell to the ground, followed by a pair of black silk boxers, revealing what hid beneath the dark pubes at the edge of his exquisite abs.
My intended’s erection was girthy and impressive, just the right size to ride all night long. Sitting up, I glanced up at his face as I reached out to stroke it. Elah’s eyes fell closed as I worked him with one hand, my mouth opening up to tongue at the head of his cock.
He tasted like ash and smoke here too, and as I brought him into my mouth I felt the connection between us building. His energy was strong and virile, his length on my tongue leaking precum that delighted and filled me. One of his hands threaded through my hair and urged me on as I moved back and forth on his shaft, goading him with my tongue and throat until he was moaning from it. All the while I sucked on his energy and strength as well as his cock, and felt myself tingle all over with it.
When he pulled me off him after just a few moments I was disappointed, until I looked up into his eyes and saw his intentions. “I want to make you mine,” he said, voice rough. “Lie down on the bed and spread your legs.”
Moaning, I did as he said, head falling to the pillow, craving him inside me. Elah climbed on top of me and kissed me, our mouths tasting of each other as well as the ever-present forge inside him. He opened my legs with his strong hands, then reached down and rubbed his calloused fingers against my lips and clit, teasing my entrance with the tips of his fingers.
Befo
re he could go further I pulled back, caution taking over me. “Do you have a condom?”
Elah cocked his head at me. “If we want to consummate our engagement, there can be no barriers between us. This is the way of the fae.”
I pressed my thighs together, suddenly very aware of our nakedness. “But what about pregnancy? I’m not ready for that.”
“Ah.” A look of recognition crossed Elah’s face. “I had thought perhaps your attendants would tell you... but usually these things are explained by fae mothers to their daughters.”
Mothers. My biological mother. If Elah weren’t so sexy, I would’ve completely lost all my arousal at those words. “What do you mean?”
“Fae only reproduce when we choose,” he said, fingers brushing against my cheek in reassurance. “There is no need for a barrier between us, Selena. In fact, any latex would just break the connection a succubus like you needs in order to feed. But there’s no need to worry—we are immune to human diseases, and I won’t get you pregnant. It would take a ritual to do that.”
“Oh.”
I trusted Elah, though the whole thing made me wary. It sounded like something a college jackass would say to manipulate a girl into condomless sex. I didn’t know if I could relax enough to let him inside me without protection. He must’ve seen that in my face, because he pulled back from me.
“We don’t have to do this now,” he reassured me, even as his hardened cock made it clear he was no less aroused or ready than he had been a few seconds ago. “I understand if you want to wait.”
I didn’t want to wait. And I wasn’t supposed to either—I was supposed to use my intended to get whatever sexual energy I needed, like any fae would. But I didn’t feel like a fae yet, and I wasn’t sure if listening to my constantly horny libido was a good idea.
“Sorry,” I said to him, pulling back. “I guess I thought I was ready.”
