Dark Fae (Skeleton Key)

by Lillian Cartier

  He lowers us to the floor as he whispers that I am always going to be his. Nyx takes us back to the bed, where he pulls me down to the mattress and kisses me hungrily. We both strip, in between long kisses, and he presses his body against mine as his cock rests against my entrance. "I can't believe that I found you. I always thought that I was going to be alone." I see tears in his eyes and pull him down for a soft kiss.

  "So did I," I whisper, as he pulls me closer. He slips inside of me as I wrap my legs around him, all in one fluid movement. "Make love to me. I need you, Nyx."

  He drops his forehead against mine as he moves without restraint, knowing that he cannot hurt me. We are both Fae, and we both deserve to be here in this world together. I finally belong somewhere. Tears slip down my cheeks as I silently thank my aunt for giving me all of this, even if it is too late for me to know her. "I love you," Nyx whispers. I rock against him to find my release, as he slips his hand between our bodies.

  "So close. Don't stop," I mutter, as his finger presses against my clit, thrusting into me harder with every push. "Oh, Nyx. I'm coming."

  The second time is as explosive as the first, and I hear him moan my name as he thrusts one more time, and then stills as we both recover from the intensity of our embrace. "I never thought that I would ever feel like this for anybody or with anybody. I love you so much. Stay with me?"

  I take a few deep breaths as his words take a moment to sink in. "In general or in this house? What do you mean?"

  "Both but I want you with me every morning when we wake up. I want to make love to you every single night and feel you falling asleep in my arms. I can't be away from you ever again, now that I have found you," Nyx confesses in a strained voice as I smile.

  "I want that as well. I will always be with you, Nyx. There are a lot of things in the house that I need to go through, though. You see, my mother never told Aunt Lauren that I existed, at least not until many years later. She gave me all of this, gave me you, without knowing anything more about me, apart from the fact that she loved me." I look into his face before he kisses me softly. "I have to get to know her, whatever that takes. Will you help me?"

  "I will. We’ll figure this out, but no matter what, we're together." He kisses me harder this time, and I feel my body heat up, as I know that I want him all over again.

  I am looking forward to getting to know about my aunt and her life. I’m looking forward to getting to know his family, as well as the other Fae in my new home. I know that I’m going to miss my job, but nothing is worth leaving Nyx, at least nothing in my former, lonely life. Who is to say that I can't perform here in some way? I can even give Nyx his own private show, which is sounding pretty exciting.

  The possibilities are endless, and I groan as he urges me to get on my knees for him. Taking me hard from behind, Nyx grips my hips and I drop my head onto the pillow in front of me and push myself against him.

  I am home.

  I slept fitfully this past month, despite being next to Nyx. I’m awake before the sunrise, and I move to sit out on the balcony, to watch it come up. I stare at the land I call my home, lots of lush green grass and trees, with houses sprinkled around the quaint landscape. It offers me peace so much of the time, but right now, I just feel conflict at everything that is going on. I miss Lauren more than ever now, and my heart breaks for Ryder. He had looked so miserable when he left last night. It stayed with me all night, as I dreamed about my aunt, seeing images of her face in all of the pictures I have.

  It makes me sad those are all that I have to remember her by. I’m thankful to have Nyx by my side, I can’t picture being without him. We’ve fallen into a routine that meshes well, pieces of a puzzle that complete a masterpiece. I can’t imagine Ryder’s pain losing Lauren.

  I hear the door slide open and glance behind me to see Nyx stepping out onto the smooth wood of the balcony, dressed only in some soft pants. His torso is firm; his wings as dynamic as always, and I lose my breath for a moment. “Hi.”

  “You didn’t sleep well again last night. I’m worried about you” His voice is laced with concern as he comes behind me and strokes my hair back gently. “Come back to bed, love.” He grabs my hand, leading me back to bed.

  I’m lying in bed with him, in our room filled with a lavender scent, as I stare at his face. He always goes out of his way to care for me. We just made love mere hours ago, and it never becomes dull. It seems to only get better to me. A piece of my nightmare pops into my head, “You said that Rebekah left this world, right?” He frowns and nods slowly as I think for a moment. “When was that?”

  “I guess it was shortly after your aunt left to find you. I was so tired of her advances. I was absolutely relieved that she was gone. Come to think of it; she reappeared soon after Lauren died.” Nyx’s face pales when he mentions Lauren and I turn to look at him.

  “Do Fae normally leave like that and come back? I know that my mother did, but that seems rare. Everyone is so happy here,” I note as he shakes his head.

  “No, they don’t. I think that she and Rebekah were close, at one time, since she was an orphan. Her parents weren’t strong Fae and passed from some poison a long time ago. She seemed to like Lauren but something changed that,” Nyx tells me and I gaze at him. “I don’t know what. I was pretty distant from all of the other Fae for a long time.”

  “Oh my God.” I roll over to my side and stare at him. “What if she had something to do with Lauren’s accident? Rebekah would know that metal would kill her.”

  Nyx sits up as I feel the beginning of tears in my eyes. “Is she capable of that?”

  “I don’t know.” We call Ryder and ask him to come over. I dress in one of Lauren’s pretty spring dresses, and Nyx pulls on a pair of pants and a shirt that he buttons up over his wings. Most of the time, I just push his wings through anything that he wears, since I love them. I touch them as often as I can, and find that he reacts strongly to it, now that he knows I’m safe around him.

  We know that Ryder is coming soon and that they are going to get Rebekah and bring her here to question her. It scares me that there is a basement here, just for this kind of thing, since it is such a lovely home otherwise.

  Ryder knocks on the door, and I let him in before I step away to make some tea. He settles himself on the couch in the sunken living room, across from Nyx, as he fills Ryder in on my suspicions. I bring the tea in, as well as some cookies that I had made today, and snuggle beside Nyx as he slips his arm around me. “What do you think?”

  “Lauren was run off the road by a hit and run driver,” Ryder informs us as he looks angry and worries his hands together. “I wasn’t with her that day, since I was here for a while, but I heard the details. I went right back there and brought her here, but the accident took place in a spot that would cause a great deal of damage to her car.” He clenches his fists before he rests his face in his hands. “I never thought that it might be caused by one of us.”

  I slump against the cushions as I try to make sense of why someone would kill Lauren intentionally. “Why? Why would she take her away from me?”

  “Rebekah is vindictive. She was kind to Lauren, at first, because she was such a loving woman. Rebekah lost her parents too early, and she suffered a lot mentally from it.” Ryder looks at Nyx and I. “If she knew that you were part Fae, then she knew you would have a mate here. It’s just the way we are. Maybe she knew that it was Nyx, somehow.”

  “She pursued me for a long time. That would make sense, but to kill Lauren…I can’t imagine it,” Nyx says slowly, as I look at them in horror. “I hated that I had to do it sometimes, but the reason that she might have is beyond my comprehension.”

  I start to cry as I realize that someone has taken my aunt’s life and taken her away from me. Rebekah had also taken Lauren away from Ryder, just to try to claim Nyx as her own. He wasn’t even interested in her, and she should understand the ways of the Fae and how they mate.

  “She has come on to me since Lauren died, as
well,” Ryder tells us as tears slip down his face. “I turned her away, since I can’t imagine being with anybody but Lauren, but she did that knowing she killed her.”

  I feel again that I had caused her death and that pain surrounds me in this room. I lean forward and feel both of their eyes on me, as I start to cry again. “I am so sorry. I did this.”

  “It’s not your fault. It’s hers,” Ryder says as he looks at me. “We need to talk to her. We need to know.”

  “I agree.” Nyx has settled down since we have been together, but I watch him sit up straight as his eyes darken. “Let’s see her tomorrow,” Nyx responds as he wraps an arm around my waist.

  Ryder leaves after a little more planning, and Nyx leads me back to bed. He holds me close and lets me cry as I hold onto him. I love that Lauren led me to him, but I hate that someone from her world killed her. I feel so guilty, and he strokes my hair as I sob into my pillow. “I love you, Tessa. It will be all right.” I know that he hates to see me in pain and will do almost anything to fix that. “She will pay for what she has done. I promise.”

  “I just feel so bad,” I admit as I lean back into his hands.

  “Killing another Fae is a crime punishable by death. She knows that.”

  “I thought that you were done with killing,” I respond softly as I stare up into his eyes.

  I would do anything for you, my love,” Nyx promises me, as I move to my feet and wrap my arms around his neck. “Anything. I won’t let her do this to you anymore.”

  Ryder knocks on the door sometime after we finish breakfast, and I sit on the couch. I watch as they go over their plan. Ryder is clearly upset, and I look down at the floor as the guilt floods me all over again. I know that my mate has killed before, and while he isn’t going to do that today for certain, the idea of him killing another Fae hurts me. His role in the village is to kill humans to protect his people, and I was very lucky to be his mate and not to have to suffer my death at his hands.

  I love his hands and every other part of him, but I can imagine how easily it can be the other way around. I shudder as I think about it and feel him sit beside me and slip his arm over my shoulders. “Stop, love. It didn’t happen.” Somehow, he can sense some of my strongest emotions, and I am certain it all shows on my face.

  “It could have. If I hadn’t been your mate…” I let my voice drift off as I shake my head slowly.

  “But you are, as well as being part Fae. I would kill anyone who tried to hurt you now, Fae or otherwise. I am a prince, and I have some leeway with the rules.” He winks at me, as I look up at him before stealing a kiss.

  Ryder is looking at us, and I see him look at me for a beat longer. I know that it bothers him that I look so much like my aunt sometimes, and today it must be brutal. “We should go, Nyx.” His voice is soft but firm, and Nyx nods.

  “Don’t go downstairs, Tessa.” He kisses me again, and I cherish the feeling of his lips against mine. “I love you.”

  I watch them leave, and my mind wanders to the day that he had been outside with Kris, and I had been caught watching them. Nyx knows I am not good at staying out of matters that involve him. Not that I want to see Rebekah die…or maybe a part of me does. If she is the reason that my aunt died, I hate her on a level that I have never known before in my life. I was never about hate, and I have always accepted things in my past. My focus has always been just to get through whatever was happening at the time.

  Rebekah is different, though. She has possibly taken away the last living family member of mine, someone that I wished I had the chance to know. She wanted my mate so much that her mind was soiled, and she took drastic measures to keep him. I will never forget the day that she walked into the house, and I almost left Nyx.

  Now that I understand the idea behind mates, and how strong the connection is, I don’t worry about that part of our relationship. It is clear that we aren’t going to fade, just from what I have seen the past few months, as well as the love that his parents clearly share. We are not going anywhere.

  I clean up the breakfast dishes and try to read in the bedroom for a while. The windows are all open, and the weather is lovely as always. It does rain here sometimes, but somehow it always seems to be beautiful. Nyx has taken me exploring farther outside several times, and I found so many places that I love. I have discovered that I love photography as well, and the house has a few of my prints hanging on the walls. Maybe creativity does run in the family. I have learned that my mother was a writer before she died in the human world and had a few things published, but they were all rather dark and ugly.

  I have never been able to return to Lauren’s cabin and get her sculptures on my own. Luckily, Nyx has managed to get through the door long enough to grab just a few pieces for me from the other side of the world. Nyx always wants to be sure that he is able to prevent humans from further coming into our world. He didn’t want to risk losing me to the human world.

  He has also brought over some other pieces of her work to the house, and they are placed lovingly around, as yet another reminder of my wonderful aunt. Ryder has some as well, and I love that she lives on in the hearts of so many Fae. I wander out to the balcony with my book and look over the land as I pick at some lunch at the table.

  The sound of a scream fills the air, and I drop the sandwich on my plate as I lift my head. They must be back, and I turn my head toward the house as my hopeless curiosity tries to get the best of me.

  I have never even seen Rebekah. Surely that is worth a look. I didn’t have any desire to see my competition that day in the kitchen; her voice had been enough. Her words still stuck with me. I stood and walk back into the house carefully, only to bump into Nyx. “Hi,” I say nervously as his eyes search my face.

  “We have her secured downstairs. She put up a fight getting here, but we’re going to talk to her now,” he informs me as he frowns at me. “Where were you headed, Tessa?”

  “I needed some more wine,” I reply, as I head to the kitchen. Fae wine is sweet and light. It’s amazing, and I get the best buzz from it, which is something that I need right now.

  “Be careful, my love. Stay up here and be safe. Please,” Nyx begs me, as I pull the bottle from the fridge.

  “How is Ryder handling it?” I ask him, as I look into his concerned beautiful eyes.

  “He’s the most emotional that I have ever seen him. I should get down there,” Nyx says slowly as I nod. He comes to kiss me just before heading toward the staircase that leads to the basement. I watch and then pour myself a glass of the wine that I completely lied about.

  I did need it now.

  I take it to the balcony and try to sip it as I skim the pages of my book. I have never been a big drinker in the past because I focused on survival. I didn’t have the time or luxury of letting that go. Even now, I know that I don’t. I know that the wine will make me slip up and go in there, but I take a long sip. I need something to get through this.

  Once I polish off two large glasses, I walk back into the house and move back toward the bedroom. It has been at least an hour since I’ve seen Nyx last, and I glance at the heavy door that leads to the basement. It reminds me of the door at Lauren’s that showed me this world, and I frown at it as I try to walk past.

  It is heavy and the color of dark wood and so much easier to open. It only locks from my side for some reason, and I assume that it’s because Nyx lived here alone before me. He also didn’t handle all of his…business down there all of the time.

  Would it hurt just to take a quick look?

  I look around slowly before I push down on the handle to open it softly. The sound of voices carries up to me, and I frown as I take a step down the thick wooden stairs. I hear Ryder speaking in a tormented voice, and a woman responding in a voice that I recognize, all too well. I keep walking as I stare forward and find a place where I can sit in some darkness and watch what is happening.

  Rebekah is secured to the wall with metal chains, and I stare at the red skin
of her wrists as she struggles. She is gorgeous, even like this, with bright aqua eyes and the palest blonde hair hanging in loose ringlets down her shoulders as she looks at the men. How is Nyx able to resist her advances? She is seductive, even chained to the wall, as she tries to convince them to free her. Her wings flutter uselessly as she stares at Ryder, attempting to calm him. “I know you want to set me free. You don’t think that I did this, Ryder.” Her voice was low and husky, and I shiver from the tone as I look at Ryder.

  “Why did you leave this world when Lauren did? Where did you go?” Nyx demands, as Rebekah turns her gaze to him.

  “I just wanted to play there for a while,” she tells him as Nyx shakes his head. “The human men are much easier to seduce than the two of you.”

  “You are not my mate,” Nyx reminds her, as she tosses her hair and shakes her head. “I am only connected to Tessa.”

  “That bitch told me about her precious niece. She told me how she suspected that Tessa had a mate here, and she wanted her here so badly,” Rebekah hisses as her eyes darken. “I don’t know how, but Lauren thought that it might be you. You are my prince. I could have made you so happy.”

  “You never made me happy. You only caused me misery,” Nyx declares as she glares at him.

  “I know your darker side, Nyx. I have seen it, and I know that I could feed it.” She softens her voice as she looks at him through long dark lashes. “You know that as well as I do.”

  “No, you would just make that part of me worse. I only did the things I had to do to protect our kind. I couldn’t do that for Lauren though, could I? She was vulnerable in the human world,” Nyx speaks slowly, and I watch as she laughs and throws her head back.

  I guess that some Fae can suffer from mental illness. There is something off with Rebekah in her demeanor.

  “I found the perfect spot. Those mountains gave way to a place where I knew her car would be demolished. There was no way that Lauren would survive it.” Rebekah looks at him with a dark glare for a moment. “That was supposed to be it. You were supposed to be mine once she was gone.”