by ERIN BEDFORD
Ericka giggled and stroked the side of my face. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
I pressed another kiss to her lips, before trailing my mouth down her neck. Cupping her breasts in my hands, she arched her back for me. I suckled on the tip of each of them, enjoying the way she moaned and pulled at me to get closer.
My fingers trailed down her thighs, lifting and separating them. The scent of her filled my senses and it took everything in me not to shove myself inside of her now.
“Have you ever?” I blinked through my need, my cock brushing against her entrance.
Shaking her head, Ericka breathed, “No. I haven’t.”
“I’ll be careful,” I reassured her, taking her mouth with my own once more. My hand snaked between us as I stroked the apex of her thighs. She gasped into my mouth at the same time I slid inside.
The feel of her clenching around me, made my breath still. I wasn’t going to last long. A glance at her face, her eyes squeezed shut but not in pain but pleasure, reassured me it was okay to move. Trying to make sure she felt as much pleasure from the act as I did, I circled her sensitive bud as I thrust my hips. Each gasp and cry of want from her lips, spurred me on and soon we were both falling over the edge.
Afterwards, she curled around my side as I stroked her back. Her breathing evened and I soon fell asleep to the side of her breath.
Light filtered into the bedroom. I blinked against the stinging rays and shifted on the bed. A groan came from my bed partner and I froze. I had almost forgotten. I didn’t know how, I could still feel what it was like to be inside of her. What Ericka sounded like as she orgasmed.
I smiled down at Ericka, who slept with her mouth open and her body sprawled out across the bed. The dinner had been everything and more than I’d hoped for. I certainly didn’t regret what happened. I hoped she didn’t either.
I frowned. While she had pulled all manner of confessions from me last night, not once had she told me how she felt. It should have made me feel vulnerable. The same way I would feel with another fae who held all the cards, but with Ericka, it only made me want to prove to her how much I loved her even more.
Standing slowly from the bed so as not to wake her, I pulled my discarded clothes back on. I jotted a noted down on a piece of paper so she wouldn’t wonder where I went before rounding the bed.
Glancing down at her one last time, I stroked my hand over her hair, leaning down to kiss her forehead. With that handled, I placed the note on the bedside table and headed for the door. Breakfast in bed coming up.
Chapter 25
Ericka
As wakefulness inched forward, I snuggled further into the blankets. Blankets that were far softer than the ones I remembered. Then last night jumped to my mind.
My eyes flew open and I sat up. The covers fell, revealing my bare chest to the room. As I hurriedly clutched the blankets to my chest, my eyes dropped to the empty spot beside me.
Balefire was gone.
Part of me was relieved because it gave me a moment to put my mind back together. The other part was a bit disappointed. Why had he left without waking me?
I threw the blanket off, causing a breeze that sent several of the papers on his nightstand to fly onto the floor. Ignoring the papers, I searched for my clothes. As I pulled last night’s dress back on, I tried to figure out what I was going to do.
What had I been thinking last night? One nice dinner and I’d hopped right into bed with him? Sure, he’d confessed his feelings for me, but I never figured I would have done something like that. Still, last night was just so perfect, and he was so perfect.
He was nothing like the brute he’d shown me from before. Then again, he hadn’t been that way for a few days now. It made me feel slightly better about myself, but confusion and doubt still filled my mind.
Going to the bedroom door, I pulled it out and peaked my head out. No one was in the hallway, so I hustled over to my bedroom door. Jumping inside just as a set of footsteps came down the hallway, I leaned back against the door and let out a long breath.
I searched my wardrobe for something else to wear and exchanged it for the gown. My thoughts and feelings swirled like a tornado in me, and nausea pushed forward at the combination.
Okay, I just needed to think.
I sat on the edge of my bed and held my head in my hands as thoughts of last night rolled in my mind. Everything had been wonderful. Balefire had gone above and beyond to make me something for our dinner date. He had made something for me. I laughed. Who would have thought the king would get his hands dirty for a lowly human? Certainly not me. Then again no one would think he would kill his favorite pet dragon for me either.
I sighed and let myself sink off the edge of the bed and onto the floor as I covered my face with one hand. Everything was so complicated and discombobulated. I couldn’t figure out up from down let alone how I felt right now.
The dinner had been great. Wonderful. Fabulous. Any manner of word right now would describe it, except bad. Then there was the wine and the music. I felt so content, while somewhat still a bit awkward, but it had more to do with the date itself than Balefire. I was used to being alone with him. He made me nervous for different reasons.
Sometimes those reasons weren’t good ones, especially when he was being a right ass. Other times though... I shivered at the memory of his arms around me as we danced, how his heartbeat raced when I placed my head on his chest. It was obvious that he hadn’t bent the truth with me. In fact, he’d been so blatant about everything it would be hard to find a lie in it all.
The only thing he hadn’t said to me last night was that he loved me.
Could you blame him? You didn’t exactly tell him how you felt either. You let him do all the talking and then jumped him like a siren in heat.
Okay, so yes, I hadn’t really put my own cards on the table, but he was the king, and up until a week or so ago, he hadn’t exactly been the nicest to me. It was a bit hard to trust this new him.
But I wanted to.
I wanted to trust him. To let him love me. To love him.
Oh, if my parents could see me now. I giggled to myself, leaning my head back against the side of my bed. No one back home would believe that I not only had the love of the king but that I’d bedded him.
Which brought me back to the matter that he had been gone when I woke up. If he cared for me like he said he did, then why didn’t he leave a note? Or even tell me where he was going before leaving like that? I wanted to believe that it was for a good reason, but the warnings I’d gotten before about fae men getting bored once they caught you came rushing forward.
Had that been it? Was he done with me now that he had me? But the things he said last night couldn’t have been lies. Fae didn’t lie. Ever.
I rubbed my chest where my heart hurt. I didn’t know what to do now. Did I go back to the room or act like nothing happened and go back to work? I still hadn’t had a chance to talk to Jasmine and the others. Though, I was sure based on last night’s dinner they knew I was back.
Sighing, I stood and put my shoes on. I guess I would just wait and see how Balefire acted. All I could do now was to go back to work and hope things were going to be different. Besides, my mind was too confused to do anything but shove my hands into some dough right now.
An hour later and I was elbow deep in the sink as I washed some of the dishes that I needed for what I was going to make. Jasmine had welcomed me back with open arms and a sly grin that I wished she’d put away. The other had giggled and tiptoed around me like I was some kind of unicorn.
“So...” Sybil cozied up beside me. “How was your date with the king?”
I huffed a laugh, wiping my hands off on a towel. “Does everyone know?”
The collection of giggles in the room answered my question. Shaking my head, I turned to the counter and gathered my supplies. I needed to keep busy, or my brain was going to explode.
“Last night was...” I trailed off, knowing the whole
room was listening. “Nice.”
“Nice?” Sybil screeched, jumping up and down with glee. “You spent the night with the king, and it was just fine?”
I flushed and didn’t bother asking how they knew, my hands busy pouring and stirring. “Uh, I guess it was a bit better than fine.”
“I would hope so.”
My eyes jerked up to the grinning face of the devil himself. My heart ratcheted up a notch and my hand stirred the bowl in my hand even faster.
“Uh, hi.” I peeked up at him and then back to my bowl.
Balefire stepped closer to the table, and the kitchen went silent at his appearance. His hands appeared before me on the other side of the table. I glanced up at him as he leaned forward.
“You weren’t in the bedroom when I came back,” he said as his voice dipped low.
I lifted the now-ready dough out of the bowl and placed it on the flour covered counter before me. “Neither were you.”
Balefire frowned, his brows furrowing together. His confusion might have been cute had we not had so much unresolved tension between us, besides the fact that we had an audience.
“Didn’t you get my note?”
I kneaded the dough harder, jerking my head up to meet his gaze. “What note?”
Balefire shifted, his eyes darting to the onlookers who were not being discreet at all. Then his eyes locked back onto me, those gorgeous, soul-searching eyes that had my body quaking with remembrance of last night. “The note I left you by the bed.”
Now it was my turn to be confused. Then I remembered the papers that had scattered across the floor in my haste to get out of there. The note from him must have been in that. Oops.
Trying to save face, I shrugged. “I didn’t see a note.”
“Hmm.” Balefire hummed and then reached across the counter. My hands stopped what they were doing when his larger one sat on top of mine. “Can we go somewhere more private? To talk?”
Staring up at him for a moment, I glanced around the room for something I could use to distract me from this conversation but no one was going to help me out. Guess, I should just get it over with. With a sigh, I lifted my hands and wiped them off on my apron, then took my apron off and sat it on the counter. I turned to Jasmine.
“Could you finish this for me? I’ll be right back.”
Jasmine nodded, her eyes darting from me to Balefire. “Of course.”
Rounding the counter, I allowed Balefire to place his hand on my lower back and lead me out of the kitchen. We didn’t stop in the dining room but he kept walking. Confused at where we were going but not ready to be the first person to start the conversation, I let him take me down a hallway and toward the east side of the castle. When we stopped before a pair of familiar glass paned doors, I screeched to a stop, digging my heels in and shaking my head.
“What’s wrong?” Balefire dropped his hand and turned to me.
“Last time I went in there you almost fed me to Shirazan. I might be slow but I’m not about to repeat my mistakes.” I took a step backward, my eyes on the door.
“I’m sorry if I scared you, Ericka. I never meant for it to go that far.” Balefire’s expression darkened and shame crossed his face. “The garden is a touchy subject for me, one that I hope to one day share with you. But for now,” he took the few steps to close the distance between us and placed his hands on my shoulders, “I want to show it to you. If you let me.”
Still nervous but not so fearful to decline him, I jerked my head up and down once. “Alright.”
With Balefire’s arm around my waist and my throat thick with worry, he pushed the door open and led me inside.
The garden was just as beautiful as it had been the first time I’d come with Sybil. The trees glistened in the morning light, their leaves fragile yet strong. Flowers covered every inch of the plush green ground we walked on as we made our way down the path. I knew where he was taking us without knowing. I’d gone there myself out of some kind of strange instinct, like the rose wanted me to come.
The sight of the rose locked in its metal and glass cage made my chest ache. This was where he had taken me. Where he had gotten so angry with me. Before everything between us seemed like some kind of game of who could push the other farthest. It wasn’t until the day he found me in the gardens that he had really showed how beastly he could be.
“Ericka,” Balefire whispered in my ear, “it’s alright. I never want to scare you like that ever again. Actually, I make a promise right here and now, to always hold my temper and think before I act.”
“That’s a big promise.” I told him, glancing from the rose to him. “You’re fae your promises are binding are you sure you can live up to it?” I laughed nervously, trying to break the tension.
“For you?” Balefire cupped the sides of my face and leaned forward until our breath mingled. “I could do anything.”
My heart jerked in my chest at his words and I couldn’t help but smile. “Anything? Really?”
Chuckling at my sass, Balefire kissed me softly and then murmured, “I love you, Ericka Burner. I think I’ve loved you from the moment you threw a pie in my face.”
“I did not throw a pie in your face,” I scoffed. “I tripped. You just happened to be in the way.”
Balefire threw his head back and laughed. “Still, I couldn’t imagine what could have become of me had I picked one of the other bakers over you.”
I smirked. “You’d probably have died of food poisoning by now.”
Shaking his head as he held me closer. “See? I couldn’t live without that smart mouth of yours. But what I really want to know... is could you?”
My mouth dried at his question. I was worried he was going to ask something like this. I hadn’t fully grasped all my feelings for the fae before me just yet. There was a mixture of emotions in me from the first day we met, when I thought he was Angus and not the king up until now after we had come to know each other’s bodies and the fae before me became more than the tyrant king set on making me break.
“I...” I started and then paused to catch my breath and give myself courage. “I can’t say I love you.”
Balefire frowned and stepped back from me, dropping his hands. I quickly kept going, closing the distance between us once more.
“Not without saying something else first.” I paused and locked eyes with him. “I forgive you for what you did, and I also know that for me to love you, I have to love every part of you. While you are fae, there are things about being human that require more.”
“More?”
“Yes.” I nodded, urged on by his willingness to listen. “I don’t want to play power games with you. Flexing your latest conquest to me won’t make me want to be with you. Being there for me, listening to me,” I glanced around the garden and smiled, “sharing parts of you with me. That’s what will make this work.”
“So... you’re saying you love me?” Balefire smirked, jumping right into it before I could even get the words out.
I laughed and shook my head. “I’m saying that I have feelings for you. Complicated ones that might be love, okay so they probably are but you still have a lot to make up for and I’m not quite done making you pay yet.”
“I thought you didn’t want to play games.” Balefire frowned
I looked up to the ceiling where the sky beamed through and lifted a shoulder. “Okay, maybe a few games but only when they benefit me.”
I screeched as Balefire scooped me up into his arms and then covered my mouth with his own. I kissed him back wholeheartedly, not sure what the future would bring us but more than happy to find out.
When I pulled my mouth away from him, I asked, “What did your note say?”
Grinning down at me, Balefire said, “It said get your ass out of bed and love me.”
“It did not!” I giggled and smacked him on the arm. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I brushed my lips over his as I murmured, “I already did.”
Ericka’s Famous Ham & Cheese Quiche
>
Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup half-and-half
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 cups diced ham
1 cup shredded swiss cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 deep dish frozen pie crust
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Melt butter in a small nonstick pan and cook onion until soft. Let cool slightly.
In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, half-and-half, salt and pepper.
Stir in ham and both cheeses. (I like to leave a small handful of cheese to sprinkle on top.)
Stir in cooked onion.
Pour filling into pie crust, set on a baking sheet and place in oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until set.
Serve warm or chilled.
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Also by Erin Bedford
Alice was wrong – Wonderland wasn’t so wonderful after all.
Kat never expected to be back in her hometown, but when house sitting turns into a mad rabbit chase, Kat finds herself with a whole new set of problems.
A two headed bird with a Game of Thrones obsession, a party full of tea addicts, and a Cheshire Cat who could seduce the pants off her grandma? And if the citizens weren’t bad enough their prince was off his rocker.
This wasn’t your run of the mill Wonderland. This was the Fae world, where rules are rules, and some things are exactly as they seem.
Start the series!
