by C. A. Szarek
“Janet.” Her name rolled off his tongue and she trembled against him.
Janet reached for him, resting her hand against his cheek. His skin was smooth, no stubble to graze her palm, since Fae didn’t have hair anywhere but atop their heads.
Desire surged through their bond—from both of them.
Xander’s eyes locked onto her face, and his lips parted.
She wanted him to kiss her, but he didn’t. Janet let her hand drop into the water, and broke their eye contact. “I-I-I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.” He lifted her palm and traced his jaw with her fingertips, making his skin sheen with water droplets. Then Xander turned her hand over and kissed her knuckles. “You can touch me anywhere you’d like.”
She nodded, because she hadn’t a clue what to say to that. Janet wanted to burrow into him, kiss him, touch him as he’d just offered. She wanted to give him herself to him.
He gently cupped her face. “We belong to each other, Janie.”
“Janie?” She smiled. “Duncan and Alex called me tha’ as a lass.”
“I know,” he whispered.
Janet stared into his violet eyes. They were darker than normal, and her heart stuttered. She tilted her face up and Xander dipped his head down. She met his mouth with hers, opening for him immediately.
He tugged her against him; she slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him harder as his tongue danced with hers.
Someone moaned, but she wasn’t sure who.
Xander’s erection pressed against Janet’s thigh, but it didn’t shock or scare her. She burned for him, pulsing between her legs. He caressed the sides of her breasts and she leaned back as he spread kisses down her neck. She let her head fall back to allow him access, and he dragged his tongue along the edge of her jaw.
Janet cried out when his fingertips brushed her nipples. Then his large calloused hands were there, cupping and kneading her, making the already taut, oversensitive skin ache. He continued downward, dragging his hand across her belly beneath the water. Her muscles jumped as he went, quivering in anticipation of more.
She breathed his name when he touched her center. No one had ever put their fingers there, save herself during a bath.
Pleasure shot all over her body when he rubbed the tight bundle of nerves at the top of her sex. She gasped and made a grab for his wrist. “Wh-wha’ are you doin’?”
Xander kissed her in answer, nibbling her bottom lip. “Let me touch you, Janie. Let me love you.” He moved his fingers as he spoke, scattering her thoughts.
She couldn’t have told him no even if she’d wanted to. Which she most certainly did not.
“Don’ stop,” she breathed.
He traced the seam of her lips with his tongue, but it wasn’t enough. Janet fused their mouths, swallowing a groan from Xander. Deepening their kiss, he moved his hand in rhythm with his tongue, rocking his hips beneath hers.
She reclined into the side of the pool as Xander pressed closer, his chest hovering over her breasts, his nipples brushing hers. His arousal burned her hip, but he made no attempt to push inside her. He just kissed her again, teasing her core with clever fingers.
The water swirled around them, the steam making her already clouded mind even hazier.
Something was happening. An odd pressure was building that she didn’t understand. It didn’t hurt; it felt good but it wasn’t enough. Her sex ached, felt empty, despite the attention her Fae Warrior was paying to it. He probed her entrance, but didn’t plunge his finger inside.
She wanted to beg him, but hadn’t the strength to speak. Her hips rocked of their own accord and Xander kept kissing her as he rubbed her beneath the water. Janet writhed against him, moaning. Whimpering. Making sounds she’d never uttered in her life.
He nipped her earlobe and a tremor shot down her spine. “Let go, lass.”
She wanted to ask him what he meant, but his statement was a trigger. Her body knew the answer. Something snapped inside her.
Janet threw her head back as her muscles contracted and released on their own. She had no control. Pleasure made her scream his name, and she clutched at his powerful shoulders.
The pool was spinning, like her head, her thoughts. She crushed her eyes shut as Xander’s mouth descended to take hers again, but she was boneless and kissing him back took concentration she couldn’t muster.
He gathered her close, resting his forehead against hers. They were melded against the pool and each other, chest to breasts, panting in time.
“Gods, lass. You’re beautiful, Janie.”
She should be embarrassed, but she wasn’t. “Xander…”
Her fated husband smiled, and it was as gorgeous as he was. “Thank you for letting me show you pleasure.”
Janet wanted more, so much more, but she couldn’t find her voice to confess it.
“Let’s dry off and sleep,” he whispered, kissing her tenderly. His erection still seared her hip, as hard as the rocks beneath them and just as smooth.
She wanted to touch it, touch him. But she’d never… “What abou’ you?”
“Not tonight, Janie. I won’t take you tonight.”
Janet swallowed, once again losing her courage to disagree.
Does he not want me?
Or is he respecting my brother?
One answer hurt, the other irritated.
Xander caressed her cheek. His gaze was as soft as the touch; it pleased and caused pain at the time same.
Her chest burned. Tears stung her eyes and she refused to give in. Janet gently disengaged from him and couldn’t look at him as she exited the pool, wrapping herself in the blanket.
He said nothing as he dried and dressed, but her stomach dropped when he donned his trews, then his boots.
“Are you no’ sleepin’ wit’ me?” She tried not to choke on her words. Forced her eyes onto his so she couldn’t accuse herself of being a coward.
The mating bond pulsed. She could see it easier than before; it glowed an even brighter gold. Janet couldn’t sense his feelings, like he’d said they’d be able to eventually, but her own mind was full of chaos. She couldn’t order her thoughts. Her limbs were warm and sated, but her heart heavy.
Xander squared his broad shoulders. He was still aroused, but she tore her eyes away from that part of him. “I need to go outside and make sure we’re still safe. Then I’ll join you.”
She said nothing as she watched him exit the cavern.
Called herself a fool for feeling close to him, but she couldn’t regret letting him touch her.
That had been perfect.
Janet swiped at the first tear that coursed down her cheek, but ignored the ones that followed it.
Chapter Twelve
His head reeled, pulse thundering in his temples, in time with the pounding in his cock. Xander buried his hand in his short hair.
She’d been so sweet.
Why did you walk away?
He’d wanted nothing more than to take what she’d offered…take her. And despite his initiating the contact, Janet had offered herself to him. Even without words, her body had spoken volumes.
Xander could’ve had her.
Could be having her right now.
Hadn’t he been worried about the consequences of the mating bond? Getting sick if they didn’t consummate?
Janet had been spread before him. Rubbing her body into his, kissing him back with fervor that belied her innocence.
His mind spun—then and now. Xander had been swept away.
In her.
Unmanly shivers crept over his unsated body and he started to shake. His wings twitched, so he flexed, then extended them. Xander wanted to take off. Fly away. High above the falls, feel the wind in his ears and flowing over his body as he sliced through the sky. He could soar on a thermal, close his eyes, and gather his thoughts.
Make a plan.
Which he needed to, especially since questioning Mikhias had gotten him nowhere.
Looking up
at the full moon, he flapped his wings again. Moving air swirled around his face.
“Nay.” His voice startled him and he locked his jaw.
Janet.
Xander couldn’t leave her again, no matter the chaos in his mind. Besides, he didn’t know what his father and the Fae Warriors were up to. Mikhias hadn’t known.
Had they discovered where he and Janet were?
He doubted it.
They would’ve stormed the falls if they had, wouldn’t they? Xander and Alana might have discovered the cavern and the hot springs, but it wasn’t that difficult to find.
Should he and Janet move on?
There wasn’t another place to go, really.
Safety was an illusion no mattered where they chose to hide.
Mikhias and Ruark had angered his father and the king when Xander had escaped with his wife. He’d compelled Mikhias to tell him what Ruark knew, as well. They weren’t privy to any pertinent information. Not the guard schedule, not why his captain father had called the battalion away from the Stones.
Both warriors had lost ranking when they’d lost him.
“Bollocks.”
Xander had cleared Mikhias’s mind after he’d questioned him, ordering the warrior to forget their encounter, but he couldn’t do the same for the unconscious Ruark. He’d said a disorientation spell over Roark’s still form, but there was no guarantee it would work. Either spell could be reversed by a mage. If their minds were probed, Xander would be discovered anyway.
When he’d returned to the cavern, he’d intended on sharing an abbreviated version of what had happened with his wife. He hadn’t planned on what happened between them, but Xander wouldn’t have changed anything.
Well, except his loss of control.
Even if—when—they consummated their bond, he needed to keep a clear head. Despite how much he burned for Janet.
He’d promised he’d get her home.
And he would.
Using all the magic he could muster.
The Human Realm.
He’d live there. With Janet. At the MacLeod stronghold. At the expense of a piece of himself.
Again.
Tremors racked his frame.
Xander sucked in a breath and pumped his wings. He spread his arms and tilted his head, diving off the ledge.
His body plummeted, then he spread his wings and righted himself, flying close enough to the river to skim his fingers over the water. Unlike the pool, the water here was frigid, shocking his limb all the way to his elbow.
Perhaps he should plunge into it. The cold might cool his ardor, sweep his mind clean.
Cursing, Xander whipped upward, flying toward the moon. He passed the entrance to the cave, muttering his invisibility spell. He tried to avoid looking at the falls.
Flashes of Janet in his arms, naked against his skin danced into his mind. She was supple, soft, and fit his form as if she’d been made for him.
She was made for me.
After all, that was why they were fated, was it not?
Xander sighed, closing his eyes as he soared higher.
He wanted her.
Nay.
Needed her.
He also needed all the advantage he could muster to get them home. Consummating their mating bond made sense. Neither of them could afford the sickness of denial, and he didn’t know how much time they had.
Janet wanted him, too. That was plain.
Even if he went back to the Stones and stunned—or killed—whatever guards were there, it would take him precious time to open the portal. What Alana could do in several minutes had always been harder for Xander, since his cousin had more magic.
Concentrating, gathering the magic around him and focusing on the Faery Stones would take time and most of his energy. He couldn’t risk Janet’s life unless he was sure they would get to the Realm of the Humans on the first attempt.
Opening the portal would have to be a certainty.
Then again, joining with his fated mate might increase his magic, even though she was a human with none.
Xander should march back into the cavern, slip into bed with her and make her his.
Balance was the key.
Right?
Something he’d never struggled with in his long life.
Alana had many times accused him of being too logical, never thinking with his heart. His cousin was driven by hers. He’d always blamed it on her empathic magic as well as her gender, but perhaps she had the way of it.
His cousin was no stranger to taking a leap of faith.
Xander had never closed his eyes and jumped without looking. He strategized. Thought things out before acting. He was a soldier. It was in his blood.
He’d seen the tears in Janet’s sapphire eyes when he’d muttered his excuse. Felt her hurt and disappointment through their infant bond. Xander had wanted to whip around, rip his clothes back off and join her on the mattress he’d secured for her comfort.
Apologize and wipe that look off her face. Worship her body.
Instead, he’d sucked in a breath and put some distance between them. Because he’d needed it.
Selfish brute.
His reluctant mate wasn’t so reluctant anymore. At least she hadn’t been in the pool. Xander should be rejoicing that she was no longer rejecting him. Their encounter in the small hot spring was the first of that kind for her.
He botched how it’d ended. Xander should’ve reassured her. Told her how perfect it’d been. How much he wanted more—wanted her. He’d burned for her from that first kiss on the beach, and now that ache was worse.
Fate had been kind to him in that regard; no doubt he’d always desire Janet in his bed.
Xander flipped in the air. Flew upside down so the blood rushed to his head until his temples pounded. His cock was still aching. Still half-hard, but there was no relief in sight. He’d no desire to bury his hand in his trews and take care of matters. Release would have no real meaning until it was inside his wife.
A shudder racked his frame at the images in his head with that thought.
How long could he resist her?
He had no real desire to do so.
Taking her was right; driven by fate.
Xander was going to have to reach for balance in any way he could. For the first time in his adult life, his vows were to a woman that wasn’t his cousin.
He couldn’t fail Janet MacLeod.
Chapter Thirteen
“You. Will. Not.” Xander lowered his voice and spit the words.
His blood boiled. It wasn’t often he lost his temper, but his lass was firing him in more than one way.
As she had over the past three days, so many times he’d lost count.
He’d been waiting, on edge to see which one of them would snap first. Being cooped up had stressed her, he’d felt it in their bond as well as seen it. She’d taken to pacing in their hiding place.
Janet’s sapphire eyes flashed; he didn’t need the artificial light in the wide cavern to see her ire. “You’ve no righ’ ta tell me what to do.”
Through their mating bond, he felt her anger, but his own rebounded back. No doubt she could feel it. He still couldn’t read her mind, but her feelings were becoming more and more transparent the longer they were together.
Especially sleeping side by side on the mattress he’d magically stolen. The past three nights, he’d only joined her because he hadn’t been able to endure watching her sleep and not be with her. He’d crawled under the soft blankets, trying to blame it on the bond tugging at him, but it was more than that.
Her sleep-warmed body had turned toward him as if by instinct, but Xander had restrained himself from reaching for her. Holding her. He’d not even kissed her since the first night—the night she’d shattered in his arms in the heated pool.
Awkwardness had settled over them. Touching, even by accident, had slipped into uncomfortable, although they both craved it.
Since he’d pulled back, being trapped
with Janet at Grànnda Falls had only served to make him yearn for her. Flying at night had done nothing to clear his head. Even jumping into the frigid river had failed to cool his ardor. Afterward, he’d been more agitated than before.
Xander felt her hurt every time she met his eyes. Janet thought he was rejecting her when he was just trying to keep them both safe. He’d masked his own thoughts and feelings as best he could, and hadn’t explained how wrong she was.
He didn’t merely want her. Xander burned for her. He was torn between desire and the drive to get her home safely. Yet, in the back of his mind, he worried if they didn’t consummate their union, magic from the ring would start to affect them.
Xander would get weak, sick.
Since Janet’s Fae blood was minute, it could go either way for her. She could become the more ill of the two, or perhaps the magic wouldn’t have something to latch on and drain, so she wouldn’t get sick at all.
He teetered back and forth between what he wanted and what he’d vowed.
For her.
To protect her.
Xander couldn’t lose control.
“I’ve every right. As your mate. Your husband.”
Her jaw flexed and she narrowed her eyes. “We’ve not wed.”
“Perhaps in the Human Realm, but we’re bonded, as you well know. You’re my mate—my wife. You’re mine.”
Her breasts heaved and he tried not to stare. Color spread across her high cheekbones and her glare alone could have flayed him open, had it the power. The mating bond pulsed red. So did her ring, as it too sensed her emotions.
“You will not tell me what to do.” Janet threw her dark hair over one shoulder and made a move to slide past him, on her way out of the cave as she’d threatened.
Xander had made the mistake of taking her out to the ledge the night before, so Janet knew she didn’t have to get doused by the falls to leave the cavern. However, she’d get hurt if she tried to scale the face of the cliffside.
He moved fast. Xander hopped into the air, pumping his wings once, then twice more. His muscles and magic alike burned—maybe now from overuse since he’d been back in the Realm of the Fae. He snaked an arm around Janet’s waist and lifted her from the rocky cave floor.
