The Man of Her Dreams: A Sexy Shifter story.

by Robie Madison

She shut her eyes tightly and swallowed the bile that rose from her rebellious stomach when the horse stood up. She did not want to see how far off the ground she was. Or see the horse walking toward the river—she could feel the ungainly sway of its body under her, thank you. And she especially did not want to see the water close around her, cutting off her precious supply of oxygen. All she had to do was to hang on and trust Owain.

  The jolt as the horse landed on some hard surface and the sound of its clattering hooves jarred Megan out of her misery. It also loosened her tenuous grip on the animal under her and with a sharp cry she fell off, landing in an ignominious heap on the said hard surface.

  She blinked and then blinked again at the sight of the silver tiled floor beneath her, the gold columns holding up the roof where walls should be and the silver, gold, and jewel-toned furnishings that adorned the massive room. An incessant buzzing sound, like that of insects investigating flowers on a lazy summer day caught her attention.

  She looked up and into the faces of lithesome blue-eyed, blonde and black-haired fairies, almost identical to the ones shown on the cover of the book. Their fluttering wings were making the humming noise. To a fairy, they were dressed in see-through garments that appeared to be woven from silver, gold, and jewel-colored threads. They were also staring at her with wide-eyed curiosity. Or perhaps they were looking at the horse. She could sense him standing like a wall at her back.

  Megan scrambled to her feet, feeling decidedly frumpy and fat. At least, through some bit of magic, she wasn’t soaking wet.

  “Welcome, mortal, to the court of the Tylwyth Teg.”

  Chapter Nine

  At the sound of the lilting voice, Megan turned and came face-to-face with the Fairy Queen.

  Wearing a silver-colored midi-sheath, a gold-toned ankle-length coat and calf-length silver-white boots, Rhiannon, Queen of the Fairies, looked like a refugee from a nineteen sixties go-go club. Of course the diamond-encrusted diadem atop her waist-length, gold hair did add a regal note to the outfit.

  Megan nodded, not wanting to seem discourteous, but not exactly in a friendly mood. She also stepped closer to the horse, deciding it was best to make her alliance clear up front.

  The Fairy Queen arched one pencil-thin eyebrow and smiled with seeming graciousness. “A bargain was struck. It cannot be renegotiated.”

  Rhiannon, it seemed, didn’t believe in beating around the bush. Megan glanced at the horse who, surprise, surprise, was watching her. Its big, blue eyes reminded her sharply of Owain and they seemed to say, “Go for it.” She supposed she might as well. Neither of them had anything to lose.

  “You cheated. I demand a rematch.”

  Gasps and titters of shock broke out among the fairy ranks. Even the Queen stiffened, the smile leaving her face to be replaced by a hardened glint. Megan reached out and rested her hand on the horse’s flank. Maybe a little back-up protection wouldn’t be such a bad idea right about now seeing as how she’d just challenged a magical being who had a lot more power than she did. The horse snorted and shook its head—in warning.

  Fairy folk scattered in all directions as a huge burst of red and black smoke billowed up from the floor. Except for the colors, it reminded Megan of the appearance of the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz—hardly an auspicious thought. The smoke dissipated rapidly leaving a very tall man who was way better looking than the Wicked Witch standing in its place. Elegantly dressed in black boots and breeches and a white shirt open to the navel, his silver hair tied back in a queue, he could have stepped off the cover of an historical romance.

  “Who has issued the challenge?” The boom of the man’s deep baritone reverberated throughout the room.

  “I have.” Megan hoped she sounded more confident than she felt at the moment. Obviously her choice of language had summoned this guy. As the only mortal in the room she was beginning to wonder if she was seriously outranked.

  “What is the basis for this challenge?”

  Once again his voice was loud enough to be heard by everyone and Megan understood, although she’d only been in the Fairy Realm for no more than ten minutes—and really believed in it for twenty—that she’d gotten herself involved in something very serious. Recalling Owain’s phraseology, this time she modified her word choice.

  “The Fairy Queen interfered in Owain’s attempt to break his curse.”

  At her words the silver-haired man turned his gaze on her. She was a little unnerved to find herself staring into milky-whiteness.

  “Do I have your permission to probe your mind to ascertain the truth of this charge?”

  Her fingers dug into horseflesh but she nodded her agreement. It didn’t even cross her mind that a man with his obvious magical powers couldn’t see. All she felt was a swift, sharp pain between her eyes and then the sensation was gone.

  He bowed his head slightly, as if in thanks. “You speak the truth.”

  His gaze now turned to Rhiannon. For a woman who’d been caught cheating, she didn’t look too worried.

  “The bargain is renegotiated,” he said in a voice that sent a shiver up Megan’s spine.

  At his pronouncement many of the fairies retreated even further into the corners of the room. The Fairy Queen, however, stood her ground and gave him a curt nod, a small smile playing across her lips.

  His focus swung back toward her. “Do you agree?”

  Megan thought he was talking to her again but then the horse whinnied. Apparently satisfied the man lifted his hand and, seemingly out of thin air, a large hourglass appeared.

  “Once you have crossed the threshold of your house, Owain, you will revert to your true form. You have ’til dawn.”

  “Wait,” Megan cried out when he started to lift his hand. “We have until dawn to do what, exactly?”

  The silver-haired man actually smiled and tilted his head, silently acknowledging her choice of pronoun. “To break the curse, of course.”

  Swiftly, no doubt so she wouldn’t interrupt him again, he swept his hand in a circle. Megan swore she didn’t move. That everyone else in the room and the room itself grew smaller, until she and the horse appeared on a street in front of a cottage. Unlike the court, this building actually had walls and a front door all made of wood, and what she took for glass in the windows. The house itself sat on a small lawn that was surrounded by trees. In fact they seemed to be in a forest. It was a scene straight from many a fairy tale.

  Megan tried not to think of the implications as she walked behind the horse up a stone-paved walkway to the front door. The door opened of its own accord. The horse hesitated briefly and then clopped across the threshold. Megan followed her eyes on Owain.

  The instant the horse’s tail flicked past the doorframe a familiar glow shimmered around it. Megan watched in fascination as the four-legged animal transformed into the two-legged variety, but with a difference. While this creature retained the overall musculature that characterized the Owain she knew, a pair of butterfly-like wings sprouted and unfurled from his back and the top of his ears ended in points. And, naturally, he was naked.

  Even though he’d told her he was a member of the Tylwyth Teg, Megan had somehow expected the horse to turn into the Owain she’d met three days ago at the pub. Instead she realized she was finally seeing the real Owain, free of disguises.

  Awed she stepped forward. His wings fluttered a bit and she had the impression he was testing them. This close she could see the membranes projecting from his spine covered by a layer of gossamer-like scales, white with black tips. Tentatively she reached out and ever so lightly stroked. They were soft to the touch. His wing twitched and she instantly drew back.

  “Does it hurt when I touch them?”

  He didn’t turn around and it took him some time to answer. “No. It’s just been a while.”

  Since he’d had wings, he meant and Megan realized how strange this must seem to him too. As he hadn’t objected she reached out again and lightly traced the membranous edge of one wi
ng. He seemed to find that stimulating because his feathers rippled under her touch and he bit back a groan. Intrigued she continued to touch and explore, slowly making her way around his body until she faced him.

  He was a truly beautiful, imposing creature. Unlike the fairies she’d seen at court, his skin was almost the color of burnished gold, which she took to be the effects of his long exposure to the sun. His hair was still an unruly black and his eyes were the same intense blue. They held her gaze steadily, waiting.

  Reaching up on tiptoe she kissed the edge of his jaw. His exhale sounded rough and a smile courted her lips. She moved to his collarbone and kissed it. By the time her lips brushed against his nipple it was diamond hard. She licked. A sweet taste exploded on her tongue, promising a delicious treat if she cared for more.

  She definitely wanted more. When she looked up Owain’s eyes blazed with hunger and an odd wariness as if he thought she might stop.

  She didn’t stop.

  She cupped his erection, eliciting another harsh groan from his lips.

  “I have magical powers of my own,” she whispered. “See what the sight of me does to you.”

  His laugh was guttural and he bent his head and nuzzled her hair. Much as she wanted to kiss him, she wanted something else more. Kneeling on the floor, she cupped his scrotum with her free hand and gently massaged it while her other hand pumped his steel-hard shaft. His hands clenched and unclenched beside his body and his wings slowly beat in time with each of her strokes. Finally, when she could wait no longer, she bent her head and took him into her mouth. A spurt of precome coated her tongue and she drank the sweet treat greedily.

  She sank down on him, gently scraping the edge of her teeth along the sensitive veins in his shaft until he cried out. Vaguely she heard a flutter nearby and then the tip of one wing stroked her shoulder, sending a tremor of longing through her. His sac tightened in her hand, signaling his impending release. He thrust his hips forward, begging her to take him as deep as possible. She obliged as best she could, conscious of both of his wings enfolded around her head. His shaft pulsed inside her mouth and he shouted her name as his come shot down her throat.

  She’d barely pulled back when she found herself being lifted off the floor and shoved against a wall. A hard mouth covered hers. She opened to the thrust of his tongue and shared the taste of him. Far from being sated, his penis was still erect and pressed firmly against her abdomen. Her naked abdomen. Somewhere between the wall and the floor her clothes had vanished. She couldn’t help but laugh at his over-eagerness.

  He broke the kiss as abruptly as he’d initiated it and his hand slid down her body to cover her stomach.

  “May I?” His eyes searched hers, seeking permission.

  For what, she wasn’t sure, but she nodded. Heat immediately radiated from his palm warming her.

  “It’s not your time, sweetheart.”

  Time for— “Oh, you mean I won’t get pregnant if we don’t use a condom.”

  He nodded, but still didn’t make his move.

  My God, the man’s protective streak was something else. And at that moment, Megan realized that wasn’t a bad thing at all. Her fingertips caressed his face and she kissed him lightly on the lips.

  “Then I guess we don’t use a condom.”

  Hitching her leg over his hip, he rammed into her with the force of a man possessed. His thrusts were wickedly slow, his thick cock teasing the sensitive walls of her pussy until she thought she’d die from pleasure. This time the sensations were strong, vibrant—very real. He murmured hot words in her ear and she crooned his name over and over again.

  Colored lights burst in front of her eyes and her body answered as her orgasm overtook her. He stiffened and his wings flared out, arching high above them. He brushed his cheek against hers and his harsh breath fanned her ear. His burnished skin glowed a little brighter and at that instant his hot seed flooded her womb.

  “Owain.” She brushed her hands across the shoulders she’d been clinging to only moments earlier.

  He lifted his head. Tears tracked down his face. “I’m so sorry, Megan. You shouldn’t have had to face Arawn alone.”

  “I wasn’t alone,” she whispered. “You were with me.”

  Shifting his position, he lifted her into his arms and carried her over to a green and blue jewel-toned futon covered in pillows of different hues that reminded her of her bedroom at home. Within seconds she lay snuggled on his lap, her head resting against his broad shoulder. His wings were wrapped protectively around them, cocooning them from the rest of the world.

  “I take it Arawn is an important guy,” she said.

  Owain nodded. “He is the Overlord of the Fairy Realms and the King of the Underworld. ’Twill be his word that decides our fate.”

  “I’ve already decided. I’m only sorry I didn’t tell you I love you sooner.”

  Fresh tears spilled down his cheeks. “I knew. I knew even before you proved it by facing down a horse and Rhiannon.”

  “She didn’t look too worried about being caught cheating.”

  “No doubt because she achieved her aim. Though she agreed to the bargain, she did not approve of my hiding my identity from you.”

  Megan sat up a little straighter. “Do you think that’s why she interfered?”

  “’Twould be her way, though for good or ill I cannot say. Nor do I care.” He reached up and lifted up the locket that still hung by its chain around her neck. “I need to tell you about Margaret, though, so you understand why I struck the bargain I did.”

  “All right.”

  “She was fair and charming and caught my eye the minute I spied her walking by the river’s edge one spring afternoon. Her hands held her skirt above her ankles because she thought no one was around to see her.” He smiled at the memory and then, rather absently, he reached up and fingered a length of Megan’s hair. “You share the same color of hair, though she wore hers in a knot atop her head.”

  “What happened?” Megan prompted.

  “’Tis not an offense among the Tylwyth Teg to pursue a mortal for a dalliance, but I have never been interested in playing those kinds of games. The mortal realm has always fascinated me and I think it poor sport to treat its people so poorly.”

  “Very high minded of you,” Megan said with a smile.

  Owain gave her a stern look. “I pursued her. Courted her. In short I set out to win her. And yes, before you ask, she did know what I was, though I rarely appeared before her in this form. I declared myself—”

  He stopped speaking abruptly. His thumb, she noticed, rubbed against the etching on the locket lid.

  “Did she turn you down?”

  He refocused his gaze on her. “In a manner of speaking. You see, in order to claim her as mine she would have had to come and live in this realm. She refused. And, being the arrogant man I am—” He paused again and quirked his lips. “I refused to give Margaret up and presented her with this token.”

  “She wore it for the rest of her life. It and the little bit that’s known about Margaret’s side of the story have been passed down through the women in my mother’s family for generations.”

  “Thank you,” he said and released his hold on the locket.

  “You really loved her that much?” She was curious—not jealous—she told herself. He’d been cursed because he’d refused to give Margaret up.

  His wings flared and he gave her a sharp look. “I love you. I want to spend my life with you.”

  She stilled at his declaration. Those three little words carried a lot of meaning, but they also meant compromise.

  “I love you too,” she said. “And I came here to fight for you. But I…Owain, I can’t live here. For one thing I don’t think there’s much call for website designers.”

  “Hush, sweetheart.” He silenced her with a finger on her lips. “I have not explained this well. I believed I loved Margaret, but I realize now my emotions were shallow. Love is not uncommon among the Tylwyth Teg, but
it usually takes a long time to find. Centuries.

  “I did not love Margaret as I should, as she deserved, for she should not have spent her life alone. I do not expect you to give up the life you’ve built for yourself.”

  “Then how—”

  “I’ll live in the mortal realm with you.”

  “What, but how?” She shook her head. He was being absurd. Fanciful. There was no guarantee the curse could be broken and even if it could by living with her he’d be breaking the rules all over again. It wasn’t fair. And whenever life wasn’t fair she invariably went on the defensive.

  “You’d need a job. I’m not supporting you.”

  He frowned, deeply. “I do not need your support, woman. I have a job.”

  He tilted his head and whispered in her ear. Her eyes widened in shock.

  “You’re the perfectionist client?” Who was also a very successful author of young adult fantasy books.

  “How do you think I knew you were coming to Trefriw to find me?”

  ***

  Inevitably dawn came—much swifter than Owain would have liked, accompanied by Megan’s stubborn streak. ’Twas a certainty life would never be dull with her.

  After his confession they had talked little. Fortunately, their bodies had had no trouble speaking volumes and they’d passed the hours well.

  It still awed him what Megan had done, who she’d faced all because she loved him. He’d chosen well when he’d gambled his life on her and his only regret was that he’d squandered a bargain when there’d been no need.

  She had trusted him far more than he’d trusted her. She’d shown that trust when she’d ordered him to take her to the Fairy Realm and then faced Rhiannon and Arawn. Whereas, even at the end, he’d tried to protect her when they’d faced each other on the bank of the river. He was, most assuredly, the fool Rhys had called him. He’d struck the bargain to protect his heart. Afraid another woman would hurt him as much as Margaret had the afternoon she’d told him she wouldn’t leave her family, her friends, and her life for him.

  When the Fairy Queen had cast her curse upon him he’d considered it poetic justice. Neither realm had wanted him for himself so he had been content to shun them both. Until he’d found Megan.