Cadence of Ciar (The Fate Caller Series Book 1)

by Zoe Parker

  Benjamin, the baby of the family, holds out a perfect orchid blossom. I take it and thank him with a kiss to his cheek. He turns a lovely shade of red and ducks his head. Oh, he’s adorable.

  Brownies tend to all favor each other in looks and coloring and these ones are no exception. They all have varying shades of brown hair and eyes, but their faces are distinct. I’m pretty sure I love them already.

  “We’re going to be helping you redecorate, but I was wondering if it’d be okay to bring in some Fairy friends of mine… they’ve had a rough go lately,” Ralphie asks, wringing his hands.

  “That’s fine, just let me know what we have to pay them.”

  He frowns at me.

  “Pay them? They’ll be happy to just have a safe place to rest. Territory has gotten slim with all of the new laws regarding Unseelie—" his words cut off.

  “They can stay here with us, we have several acres of land that we won’t be doing anything with,” I offer, without regret. With a finger I push his chin up and mouth closed.

  Next thing I know I’m swamped in hugs from all four of them. What in the world? Not sure what else to do I hug them back. When they move away, chattering happily together I look at their dad in confusion.

  “I’m Unseelie too, you know.” The chatter stops. “Now let’s have some breakfast and talk about decorating. I have ideas, but I don’t really know what I’m doing.” When they stand there staring at me, I worry I’ve done something wrong. “What?”

  “We can eat with you?”

  “Well, yeah. Who’s good with colors because if it’s left up to me everything will be pink.” They laugh, and a small table appears, and we chat all through breakfast. By the end of the meal we have a solid plan.

  No pinks except my room and then only minimal. Gertie put her foot down and made a valid point. You can have too much of a good thing.

  The kids were going to rip all the awful wallpaper down all over the house while I’m at the Menagerie, something that Ciar and I need to speak on.

  Wait. “Where is Ciar?”

  “He had some errands to run, but said he won’t be gone long.” Gertie answers, cleaning up our breakfast mess. I stand up with the intention to help but a stern look from her sits me right back down.

  “What is today?” I scrub a hand down my face. That’s how messed up I am right now I don’t know what day of the week it is.

  “Sunday, my dear. Why don’t you go get cleaned up? There are clean clothes and towels waiting for you in the bathroom upstairs.” With that said she shoos me out of the kitchen.

  The upstairs bathroom is huge, the size of our dorm room at least—former dorm room. Gods, did I really agree to move back in here? Yes, yes, I did. Sighing I cross to the old cast iron bathtub dominating the room. A bath sounds like a good way to relax.

  Maybe all my problems will wash down the drain?

  When I twist the taps, I don’t know what I’m expecting but it’s not the crystal clear, instantly hot water I receive. A nice surprise and probably arranged by my new Brownie family.

  I need to get them some nice stuff for payment. I wonder if they like donuts?

  Stripping, I walk over and put my dirty clothes in the hamper just in case Gertie is nearby and slip into the blissfully hot water of the tub. The brand twinges in protest but only for a minute. The minute I get comfortable the hot water does its job.

  Hot water with a perk. The healing magics in it—though small—still feel incredible and tickle my skin as it goes to work. I’m going to love having Brownies around.

  Sighing, I cover my eyes with a hot washcloth and let myself enjoy the heat sinking into my bones and the relief of being able to simply veg out for a little while. To float and not worry, not think about all the shit that’s happened.

  “Do you want me to wash your back?” Smiling, I keep my eyes closed. Ciar is sneaky, I’ll give him that—I didn’t feel him coming either.

  “Sure. Can you start with my feet first? I hurt all over.” I’m only half joking. Several seconds of the sound of the water dripping being the only sound makes me think he left as quietly as he entered.

  The shifting of the water around me as another body slides into the bathtub shocks me enough that I freeze. I know that body and the feel of that skin and—those wonderful magical hands as they take one of my feet into their calloused heaven and begin to knead.

  Gods that feels so good. Something the moan that slips out tells him loud and clear—if his chuckle is any indication.

  “What do you think about dropping out of the Menagerie?” His question almost makes me sit up, but I fight it and keep laying back, I don’t want him to stop rubbing.

  “What will Mada say?”

  “Mada doesn’t have anything to say anymore. You did what she asked and no longer need to remain there, unless you wish to.”

  “Not really, I don’t belong with those people.”

  “I have one request.” He moves to my other foot and I moan again. Gods, his hands…

  “What’s that?”

  “We complete our dance at the Mixer.” My lips twitch, but I manage to hide the smile.

  “Sure. It means I get to wear whatever wonderful concoction they make for a dress.” Something I’m looking forward to seeing. It also means I get to dance with Ciar again.

  “You can dance with me anytime you want, monster girl.”

  “Was this the entire point of her sending me… us here?” His hands move up past my ankle to knead the bottom of my calf. It sends an instant jolt of pleasure through me.

  “She knew about us, I told her the minute I knew.”

  “What if I hadn’t Awakened?”

  “I’d still be sitting in this tub with you, rubbing your hairy calves.” I laugh, a full belly laugh that makes the water splash around us. He isn’t wrong, the forest isn’t some place you worry about things like leg hair.

  He reaches down under the water and pulls the plug. As the last dregs of the water gurgle down the drain he turns the water on again, letting it run but not filling up the tub.

  He puts my foot on the rim of the tub and moves around a bit. Trusting him inexplicitly, I stay relaxed and wait for him to settle back down. His long fingers slide something cool and smooth up my leg all the way past the knee. All the way around and down the back of the leg that’s hanging out of the tub.

  The cool metal of a razor blade makes me tense for half a second before I relax again under his ministrations. Ciar is shaving my legs.

  “You going to paint my toenails too?” I tease.

  “If you wish it.” I laugh again and laugh harder when he firmly moves my other foot to his lap, where I encounter other things. Well, that’s… it’s… holy meatballs.

  I don’t move my foot. In fact, I smile and let him know I know what’s under my foot. It’s his turn to freeze in place but only for a second.

  “Why do you still want to do the Mixer? I know you don’t like people.” My curiosity drives me to ask.

  “I want one magical dance with you before our lives change. One memory where it’s just you and I.” I can feel his honesty through the bond that’s wide open on his end.

  He’s letting me in to see.

  Ciar isn’t jealous of them—or insecure in any way—but he wants something special that’s his alone. I can understand that. After all, he’s been with me most of my life. Wiped my snotty nose, kicked my stubborn ass. Picked me up off the ground when I fell on my face.

  The other two might be part of our Triad, but this time here is ours. Pulling the cloth off my face, I stare at him. Whether he realizes it or not he’s integral to my life, to my happiness.

  I can’t exist without him, I won’t.

  Carefully he slides the razor across my skin, dips it in the running water and then repeats it again. Slow and steady. Rinsing my now clean-shaven leg, he picks up the other one and does the same thing. Watching him slather the shave cream on is borderline erotic.

  When the other leg i
s finished he reaches down and plugs the water again. As the water rises I follow it up his body. Gods, he’s beautiful all lean muscle and pale skin. There are even a few scars, which shouldn’t exist but do and I’m assuming it’s like with his calluses, he chose to leave them.

  The thin pale scar across his right pectoral… I gave him that. Angry that he was pushing me I pushed back as hard as I could and caught him with the tip of a blade. We both know he let me do it.

  He kept the scar.

  When the water is lapping around his chest he calmly reaches over and turns it off. We sit there, silent, staring at each other. Green eyes burning as they continuously watch me. I plant a foot on each side of his hips and he stretches his legs out towards me.

  His feet are even attractive.

  Slowly I pull myself up and then using my arms to hold my weight slide myself onto his lap. My heat solid against his. The water laps around us as one of his hands spans my waist, his fingers moving against my skin. The other hand grasps the back of my neck.

  Seconds tick by while we stare at each other and I’m aching for him. My hands start their journey at his shoulders and I trace a finger over the scar I gave him, over the ridges of his stomach, and then back up again.

  “Are you sure, monster girl?” His voice sounds breathy and hoarse. The smile I give him is all woman because now I know how much I get to him.

  Staring at his face I study his expression. His eyelids are half closed, his mouth slightly open, and I closely watch as his tongue flicks out to lick his bottom lip.

  My mouth on his is my answer.

  Our first physical union isn’t going to be about love and emotion and all that soft business. We’re Fae. The thought is proven true when he unfreezes and reacts. Ciar is not gentle and I love every second of it.

  His mouth tears away from mine to follow his hand on my body. A hand that’s a vice on my flesh as it squeezes my breasts and rolls my nipples against his calloused palm. Sharp teeth and a hot mouth quickly follow. The other hand dips below the water and two magical fingers slip against my aching flesh.

  Throwing my head back, I dig my hands into his hair and roll my hips with his movements.

  Ciar touching me is a heaven I’ve denied myself long enough. Growling possessively with a nipple in his mouth and his fingers buried inside of me, I cry out when he yanks them out and I feel him pulsing against the core of me, hard and burning hot. Feeling empowered by his focused desire, I lower myself down enough to take the head of his cock inside of me.

  His claws lightly pierce my skin, mark me as his. The bond opens wide between us and I feel what he feels, he feels what I feel. The sensations are enough to make my muscles quiver around him.

  When he grabs my hips and slams me down on him, burying himself completely inside of me, the last bit of our bond completes itself. Part of my psyche unravels and travels down the bond to wind around him in a tight, unbreakable knot that can never be undone.

  And part of him locks into me. In more ways than one.

  Instantly, I orgasm and my cries echo off the walls. I don’t care and when he says my name like a prayer I get louder. When I smother his mouth with my own and our tongues tease and taste and our teeth nip and bite, I feel complete for the first time in my life.

  He feels what I feel and pushes harder for it.

  Gods, I’m an idiot for waiting this long.

  To say we made a mess of the bathroom is an understatement. We forgot the tub full of water and managed to flood the entire room, but magic held the water back from the hallway. Gertie at work.

  Ciar stands me up and proceeds to dry me off like I’m delicate and breakable and gods do I love it. Slipping a robe on me, he dries himself off with a wolfish smile, and then picks me up and wraps my legs around his waist.

  Feeling my surprise, he laughs and says, “You didn’t think that was it did you, monster girl?”

  “At least you two can’t flood the bedroom. Off with you, there’s a bed made up on the floor.” Gertie appears and pushes us out of the wreck of a bathroom.

  Laughing, he carries me to the bedroom and there is indeed a bed made on the floor. Candles are lit, and soft music is playing, bless Gertie’s romantic heart.

  He kneels with me still in his arms and kisses me, keeping our lips together all the way down to the floor. This time when our flesh melds together, it’s soft and sweet and I swear I hear the humans’ mythical angels singing.

  I also hear him whisper he loves me.

  Snuggling against his chest I sigh in contentment. For a little while I can forget the mess of things, the world. For a little while.

  “Monster girl, I’m a Puca who’s waited a long time for his girl. I’m good for at least five more.” I scream with laughter as he pounces.

  Set your heart to rest.

  The Fairyland buys not the child of me.

  ~William Shakespeare

  Laying together exhausted and a bit sore, I rub my hand back and forth over the smooth, soft skin of that magical place right above his hipbone. Occasionally the skin twitches but no other reactions so I keep doing it.

  “You’re calling Calsis today?” I nod against his chest.

  “He’ll buy most of this junk and sell the rest for me.”

  “Greedy little fucker,” Ciar mutters. He lifts my hand to his mouth and kisses my palm. It instantly turns me on and I groan, there’s no more energy for that right now.

  Ciar is a demanding lover.

  Laughing, he does it again and slips from under me, heading to the bathroom. Giving him long enough to do his business I follow him into a completely spotless bathroom. He’s in the shower—of the completely spotless bathroom—and the door is half open. That’s an invitation if I’ve ever seen one. Of course, I take it.

  With the bare minimum of horsing around we manage to wash off and get out and dressed without making a mess.

  Gertie just achieved godhood in my book because waiting on the kitchen counter for us are two sandwiches with a two pieces of chocolate cake. Still warm chocolate cake.

  Maybe I should marry Gertie?

  “You want to get married?” Ciar asks, a sly tone to his voice.

  Choking on the mouthful of sandwich I crammed in my mouth, I wait until I can breathe again before answering. “Isn’t that what this already is? A marriage of sorts?”

  “Oh, my gods you’re a big chicken,” he teases, eating half his sandwich in one bite. Instead of saying anything else that will make the hole I’m in any deeper, I cram more food in my mouth.

  Reaching over to wipe something off my face, he keeps smiling as he eats. I have a feeling I’ll be hearing about this a lot now because he doesn’t look like he’s one bit afraid of the M word.

  I’m terrified of it, don’t ask me why because I don’t know. I’m now permanently bonded to a Puca and I panicked when he said the word marry. There’s something wrong with my head, seriously wrong.

  Ciar keeps laughing and teasing me about it while we eat our lunch. The doorbell ringing makes me jump. All this jumping is getting ridiculous. I grew up in the forest with flipping Sluagh for crying out loud.

  Grow your balls back, Keri.

  Voices reach me from the direction of the front door. I frown. Who answered it.

  “Gertie. While you were panicking, she got the door.” Throwing my cake at him is a hard no, but I do throw the dish towel hanging on the cabinet at him and miss, per usual.

  “Keri, this is Bis, one of the Fairies that Ralphie spoke to you about at breakfast.” Turning around, I have to catch my breath when I see him. He looks so much like Peter that it takes my brain a few seconds to realize it isn’t him.

  Cheeks flaring with embarrassment, I cross the room to shake his hand. Like Peter, he’s of the more delicate type, small in stature but stronger than they look. Smiling up at me shyly, he exposes the cutest dimples in his cheeks.

  The ghost of Peter’s face vanishes and I’m able to relax.

  “Miss Gertie said
you might have room for some of us…” He’s waiting for me to say no, I can sense it.

  “Yes, we do, lots of room. I figure we can take your entire clan as long as they don’t mind that there’s only a few hundred acres.”

  His eyes raise to mine. “There’s only eight of us left.”

  This causes me to look at him in shock. Fairy folk have no issues breeding, at all. In fact, they breed faster than humans do. Their clans normally number in the hundreds.

  Not willing to ask him what happened to his clan I look over my shoulder at Ciar then back to Bis.

  “Are you criminals?”

  He shakes his head and then looks incredibly sad, I feel bad for asking.

  “We refused to give up an Awakened to an Elf clan, marked one.” That rocks me backwards.

  “They killed people because you wouldn’t give them your Awakened?” He nods his head.

  What the fudge?

  “Can you really be punished for that? I though it was a scare tactic or some such?” I turn to Ciar.

  “His situation is extreme—but they are enforcing the old laws now. Not enough Awakened anymore, monster girl. Don’t you read the news?” Ciar chastises. No, I don’t, my heart hurts with all the sad stuff in it and the media makes it worse by sensationalizing every small detail of it.

  That it’s my people causing most of it.

  ‘I think that the worries you have in the back of your mind about who your parents are can be let go. You’re a big old softie, monster girl.’ For a moment I find myself staring at him with total adoration before I turn back to Bis.

  “Go grab your people and bring them here, we’ll figure out how to get housing.”

  “We can take care of the housing and will make the ground keeping our tasks. We’re also helping the Brownies work on the inside of the house. If you need anything—anything—you let us know, we’ll be in hearing distance.” With a bow he turns and in a poof of green dust zooms off.

  I slide down the wall and rest my forehead on my knee. I’m setting up a household like a real Triad. This brings it home hard and when the laugh escapes me I’m only a little surprised.